Does he DISLIKE milk or FRUITS?

Dear Oby,

i have some questions.


1)my son doesn't like fruits and dislikes drinking milk though i pile loads of milk in his cereals.


2) i try to feed him with african food but he loves his cereals a lot. how do i get him off cereal or rather make it just a morning routine.


Cheers sweetie
Liz

Response,

Dear Liz,
FRUITS
In the world of all fruits, I'm very sure there is one he must love. There are so many to choose from and from experience I see children eating berries. It's quite irresistable to them. Try serving him strawberries, raspberries or even blackberries. When next you go shopping, if you buy mostly apples, pears or oranges, extend your fruit choices to peaches, clementines, watermelon, grapes, kiwi etc. There are so many you can try out and see his preference. When you buy his strawberries and want to serve him, sprinkle with sugar(castor) or confectioners sugar. Also while serving him his cereal, try adding strawberries to it or any fruit that comes in handy like cubed apples, pear, banana or even peaches. Yoghurts can go a long way in making him eat his fruits. Serve him fruits with dolops of yoghurt as the fruit topping.
MILK
If he doesn't like to drink milk but uses it in his cereal, it's very well then. At least, he's taking milk which is very rich in the food elements human beings need even if it's through another means. When he eats his cereal and eats it well, then you don't have to stress about him drinking milk. Nevertheless, if you want him to try drinking milk like from a glass, why not try making the milk a little different by flavouring it. You can use cocoa to make him hot chocolate or even add a little bit of vanilla to the milk but avoid making it too sweet for fear of spoiling the appetite. Also, you can blend some strawberries with milk and serve him, I bet you he'll love the colour and reach for it instantly!!!




There is something I tried out with my son. I noticed he didn't like drinking his milk from his little plastic cup after a while and would prefer taking sips from my mug and so I bought him a baby mug. I can tell you, it worked!
Based on your second question on him not liking African foods, it's okay. Never force him to eat what he doesn't feel like. Children when forced to eat something they don't feel like might turn out hating the food entirely which is what we must avoid. It might be a phase and he might come around later to start liking African dishes.
Concerning his cereals and his love for it, please never deny him his cereals when he asks for it. Cereals are wonderful for breakfast yeah, but if he decides not to eat dinner on a particular evening and would rather prefer cereals even after your indulgence, do serve him the cereal cos it's better he eats that than go to bed without any food. Structure his meals and menu in a way that it will be exciting and eating his meals will be fun for him and the whole family also.

I hope this helps. Do post a comment if it did.
Ate ja.

Night breastfeeding - how to avoid that!

Question

Hi Oby,
I wanted to ask what I should do to help stop my baby from waking up at night to breast feed. Hope to hear from u. Cheerio
O.O
Nigeria



Response

Dear O.O,
I usually don't advice mothers to avoid night breast feeds until they introduce solid foods to the baby. When the baby starts eating solid foods, then gradually the night feeds can be denied baby till he gets used to the new routine of sleeping all through the night without waking up to for night breast feeds. You can use these steps:

• Solid foods: I usually introduce solid foods to my babies from 4 months starting with vegetables like potatoes, carrots, lettuce which I boil together and then make into a puree with a liquidizer while adding a dash of olive oil. When solid food is given to the baby, the baby's system also starts readjusting to the new food being introduced. With time, the mother graduates from veggies to more complex foods. When this is achieved, the mother can then start denying the baby night breast feeds.
• Feeding Habits: When baby has fully started eating complex foods, then the mother will be more comfortable to stop night breast feeds because the baby is eating other kinds of food to sustain him through out the night most especially. With my son, after I introduced solid food to him and complex carbs, I made sure he ate exceptionally well during dinner to keep him through out the night. This worked for a few days till he started waking up again to breast feed. Meanwhile, i knew my son loved his bottle alot and so I would make his milk, get him to drink it around midnight even though he was already asleep. Not too much work right? At least you all get to sleep through the entire night.
• Water feeding: This is my last step. If you've tried the above things and your baby still wakes up to breast feed, you can try this. Buy a feeding bottle with very soft nipples almost like human nipples, wash and fill bottle with water instead of milk. If your baby still wakes up in the night or mid morning for breast feeds, give her the bottled water to drink. Definitely, she would not like it because it is not as sweet as the breast milk she's used to and might complain by crying but don't give up. Since baby is sleepy, give water, rock baby back to sleep. If tomorrow your baby wakes up again, use the same method and after you stick to this for some time, she will see that the breast milk will not likely be coming again and so she wouldn't bother waking up to water.

Just try the above mentioned steps and I hope it works in your favour.
Ate ja.

Oby's favourite things

Happy new year to you all. Welcome once again to Icymoments!
There are some things I can't imagine life without especially in my home; the kitchen to be precise. I call them my favourite things cos they make life easier in cooking, preparation or even cleaning. Living in Europe, having a nanny is not the cheapest or most affordable luxury so I find myself doing everything I want to alone or with the help of my husband. With my passion being cooking and baking, I always find myself drawn to newest inventions in the kitchen dept. in the malls. Some I purchase from the department stores and others online. But whatever it is, I believe will become handy some day. Some of my favourite things are as follows:

• Apple/Pear cutters
• Pineapple cutter
• Egg Cup
• Deep Fryer with basket (Electrical/Manual)
• Pizza slicer
• Super chef
• Onion chopper
• Garlic crusher
• Microarroz
• Cookie Cutters
• Ice cube box
• Orange juice squeezer
• Caramelizer
• Grilling pan
• Egg slicer
• Vegetable peeler
• Salad spinners
• Bowl covers holder
• Mini-max bowls

Listing all might be too lengthy and become boring, so I will just go ahead and show you how I make these work for me at home and help simplify my life to make it more interesting.




    I cannot over emphasize shapes in foods. The 'numero uno' move to make your children(adults as well) eat what is good for them and they don't really fancy. I love to make pancakes during the weekend especially saturdays because that's the only time I have the whole family eat together without the hustle of the week of rushing off to work or school. But unfortunately, I realised I had so much to stack away after some time cos they started losing interest in the pancake. I held back a little bit and started making the pancakes bi-weekly( making on a saturday and skipping the next) and trying new things in the shape and flavour. My son at his age is so fascinated with animals and shapes and so I bought animal cutters and made out shapes from the pancakes which made him delve in for more just cos of the shapes. With flavours also, I usually freeze up fruits in season especially when they are at very low prices in freezing bags. My kids love strawberries and so I crushed them(frozen strawberries), added it to my pancake batter and how the pancakes turned out- yummmh!

PIZZA SLICER
The pizza slicer might be used for slicing just pizza but not for me. I call this my time saver. In my bakery business, I use the pizza slicer in almost all of my pastry cutting especially with the chinchin(pipocas africana). I guess those of us conversant with making chinchin will sure agree that the rolling and cutting can be time consuming and that can make it very tiresome and boring. It's gliding wheel makes all the difference. Experiment with this when next your making your chinchin; explore. With this tool you can save time, make more shapes, and have better cuts. Below is a picture of cut dough ready to be fried(chin chin) and also a video clip of dough being cut with a pizza slicer.



Coming up in next articles are more on my favourite things. Always visit and tell your friends cos there's so much to learn this year. Ate ja.

Affordable Christmas Online Shopping



                 

Free shipping in the USA. Make some extra money by selling what is USELESS to you.

Ways of cooking

How often we make our meals or food can be a determining factor if our family and friends will enjoy it or not. It can be boring when certain foods are cooked in same manner everytime. Most times I try out new things and add fun to it whenever I can. From food to drinks, I sure tell you, it can be different, colourful, healthy and fun. I will make out a list on ways of cooking and allow you compare your cooking to see if your weekly menu is becoming if not boring.

• Boiling: This is cooking in boiling water or cooking by immersion in water. Foods like potatoes, yams, pasta, rice, beef, boiled eggs,etc. This form of cooking is the most commonly used. However, I like to boil vegetables also like carrots, cabbage, peas to make them tender to eat especially for my kids whom i love to incorporate veggies in their daily meal.
• Frying: This is cooking by immersion in hot deep fat or oil. This is most people's favourite cos people like eating fried potatoes chips, nuggets, chicken etc. Some people consider fried foods as unhealthy but i always disagree with most of these recent tv programmes that classify foods as good and bad foods. I believe that no food is bad, what is bad is the individual choices we make. To eat just french fries, bags of chips and other plastic foods everyday and having no control is the bad choice and not to pin any food as bad food.
• Baking: Simply, it's cooking in confined heat in an oven . Foods like pies, cakes, bread are good examples of baked foods. Potatoes can also be baked in the oven. This I often cook with chicken or beef in a casserole with the potatoes peeled and quatered. Meats cooked in the oven are not called baked but roasted.
• Roasting: This is cooking before an open fire. This method is rarely used in small households. Some refer to it as roasting while others call it barbecue. It's usually conducted in an open space which allows the smoke to escape freely.
• Stewing: Is cooking slowly in a small amount of water at a low heat until food is very tender. Stewing meats like beef, chicken breast, lamb cut in bits gives me the best taste the meat could ever offer. With it's method of slow cooking, the meat has the time to tenderize, letting out its juices and being very palatable. I would share my recipes in my coming articles.
• Grilling/Broiling: This is cooking over or under direct heat; over glowing coals or under a gas flame using your grilling pan. Grilling can also be done in an oven. Most manufacturers provide a grilling rack in many conventional ovens. Beef, turkey steaks are excellent grill foods. They are quick, easy as well as tasty. Grill pans are like frying pans but flatter with lines in the bottom. These give my steaks beautiful golden stripes and make them irresistable.

Other methods of cooking coming up in the next article. Stay around.
Ate ja.

Driven to (2)

Once, a man came into her life and she was quite excited about him. He was from the neighbouring town and thought she was beauitful. She liked him too and tried as much as she could to make the relationship work. At the beginning, the village was aghast that a man was actually interested in Agama and had plans of marrying her. But on seeing how committed the man was, the people actually gave in to the man marrying Agama. Some people went to the Ekwu's village and tried talking to his family to dissuade him from marrying Agama but all to no avail. He was bent on taking Agama as his wife and no one would actually stop that. She opened up to him when he came asking her hand in marriage and warned him to back off from any future embarrasments. She cared less if he stayed or left because she was already used to all of them leaving after listening to all the gossips in the town. Ugara on the other hand heard about the bustle in town and was angry at first. He thought of how a man could seek Agama's hand in marriage knowing fully well she was not capable of making babies like other normal women do. Ugara was infuriated when his fellow worker informed him and he stayed the whole day thinking about it. On getting home that day, he didn't even touch his dinner and Ezigbo on seeing this, thought she had done something wrong and went in to plead with thim to eat his food. He only said he wanted to be left alone and this continued for days. He actually was jealous not because he still loved her but because somebody else valued what he abandoned and people might make fun of him later.

Nkasi

She saw her father very moody for several days and wondered what it was they had done again. That particular week, she and her mother had vowed to make everything right to avoid any problems at home and so when Nkasi saw a very moody man come in and leave the house, she went into hiding not allowing herself be seen by her father. She was turning into a young woman and would go the stream with her female friends to either fetch some water or firewood. Her good friend Enyinne was leaving the community to attend the polythecnic in Enugu state. A family friend had promised to send her to school to further her education and Enyinne was very excited. Nkasi was also happy for her friend and wished she was in her shoes. The day Enyinne left was the beginning of her big dream. She needed to get out of town and quiclkly. Tired of the life she lived, she came home to inform her mother of Enyinne's trip to the city when she saw her mother very downcast. She was really worried and asked if everything was alright. Her mother quickly told her of her father's ailment that bothered her greatly coupled with the fact of him not speaking with anyone or wanting to go to the community clinic for a checkup. Nkasi wanted to reach out to her father, but his constant fist and rage even drew them farther apart. She only tried to cheer her mother up and went ahead with her normal chores at home while keeping her dream alive. She knew that sooner or later, she would also be in Enugu with Enyinne and they would do things together like they used to.
Taking an evening stroll with her other friends in the communtiy one evening, she heard of Agama's upcoming marriage and was astonished. She'd met Agama once or twice and was convinced she was a very nice woman who treated everyone with respect though she got none from most people. Nkasi was not surprised Agama asked for a divorce because her father was a very difficult man to live with and often times she wondered how life would be without her father; if her mother would be a happier person without him. Though she was glad about the news she got, she also wondered why her father had been so sad lately, getting ill and not wanting to go to for a treatment.
To be continued...
Ate ja!

Shopping

Driven to

NKASI

Like every other girl, she had her dreams. Though life was tough and unfair, she was determined to make a pass and get to a better one. Her father died after falling ill with an unknown ailment for a short period of time. A real short period. She didn't believe that the cause of the illness was unknown because her father never wanted to visit the hospital in their little community for fear of being talked about and her mother couldn't persuade further. Coupled with the fact that they were poor, it made it all easier for her father not to visit the community clinic. There came a time some medical students were in their community, giving free medical health care, but Nkasi wondered why her father would not use the opportunity. She didn't care really if her father wanted to go the clinic or not, afterall he didn't regard her and she also on the other hand, didn't care either. Being the only child and a girl, she was more of her mother's friend and was always scared of her father's rage either at her or her mother. He was easily angered and this made Nkasi cower at his presence. She remembered her father always blaming her mother that she wasn't fertile enough even after paying her father heavily a huge sum for a bride price.

Being married to his former wife, they couldn't bear children and it was big tussle everyday; arguments and constant fights. Ugara and his first wife Agama were young lovers and couldn't stay a day apart without each other. Agama then lived with her uncle and his family and despite her uncle's warnings that Ugara was no good for her, she kept on seeing him. All sighs of disapproval from people in the community and her uncle fell on deaf ears. They both spent time together and always met either at the village stream or during firewood fetching and their fondness grew even more and more. Agama's uncle threatened to stop paying her tuition if she continued seeing Ugara and for a short while she pretended to stop because she was interested in finishing her education. After a week or two, she dropped every promise made and started staying out late with him again. Her uncle got very mad and sent Agama back to her parents who came pleading and asking him to forgive that it was all youthful exuberence. Uncle Goddy only accepted to take her back if she would face her studies and then get married to Ugara after schooling. This she quickly agreed to and returned to her uncle's house. As usual she kept up till Ugara started accusing her of not loving him again. He always wrote her love notes and dropped it under the coconut tree infront of her uncle's house. When she tried to explain to him, he accused her even more and so she decided to prove him wrong. Jumping over the fence became like breathing the air as she would sneek out at night, climb over the low fence and jump over to stay with him. She cut herself a few times but was always consoled by Ugara who told her that true love always came with obstacles. The scales fell from Agama's eyes when she got pregnant while at school. She couldn't let her uncle see this and so something had to be done fast. Once she informed Ugara, he said it wasn't a problem and told her to conceal things till he made a few contacts.

Agama knew all was not well with her but kept pulling through. The so called doctor was not a good one. She just knew it that something just wasn't right. Days passed into months and months into years and 2 years later, she was through with her schooling and passed out. Meanwhile, Ugara was the first man who came knocking and seeking her hand in marriage. Uncle Goddy didn't hesitate at all because it had always been so planned and so Agama and Ugara got married. The following few years into the the marriage, it didn't seem all fun again when Ugara started making Agama unhappy with the constant pestering of not bearing him any children. She had a gut feeling she might not be able to but kept it to herself knowing she stood the chance of being sent packing if Ugara got to know the truth. The fights and arguments continued till the seventh year into the marriage when Agama couldn't stand the pain and injustice being dished to her by Ugara. She spilled out the truth not caring again and was ready to move out and on. She had more peace without Ugara and decided to spend the rest of her life resolute. Ugara acted surprised though deep inside he wasn't and knew they stood a chance of being barren while being married. He felt guilty but always used pride to cover any guilt he felt. She should have been wise enough then and kept the baby but she placed her education above having the baby, he thought. Not quite long after the seperation, Ugara took in Nkasi's mother Ezigbo as wife. People recommended Ezigbo because she had a large family and they believed it was a trend in her family of their daughters bearing both male and female children. The first year into the marriage produced Nkasi and that remained till date. Ezigbo tried so much to conceive more children but all fell furtile. Nkasi remembered all these and saw her father as a frustrated man. She always avoided him and only spoke to him when thanking him after a meal or greeting him in the morning. His anger raved like a wild fire and Ezigbo avoided anything that would get him mad. There was a particular day when Ugara just returned from the farm and on getting home, was told that dinner was almost ready. Being very hungry, he stomped off and started screaming at Ezigbo and his daughter with rolled fists while kicking the boiling food pot and spilling it's content on himself. He got burned and raged even more like an angry bull. Ezigbo after the incident made sure dinner was always ready for him on arrival.

Agama, lived a very quiet life after the seperation from her last husband Ugara. Nothing seemed to go well with her and she was so unhappy. An argument ensued amongst them in their age clan meeting and when Agama tried making a comment, one of the ladies shut her up calling her a barren pig. It was the last straw for Agama. She had had enough of all the insults from villagers and wasn't going to take any more from anyone. Her life was already in distress with her family, friends and community abandoning her when they got to know what had happened in her earlier life. Nothing was a secret anymore and men didn't regard her as anything. She went over to the woman in their group and gave her a resounding slap on the face saying,

"I have taken enough from the communtiy and won't have it again," and with a horror stricken face, the lady fled the meeting in shame while Agama went on "the next time I hear anyone call my name in sheer disgust, then we'll see who is who" while stomping out in anger. From that day, she gained a little more respect from the community and had the people gossiping behind her rather than heaping insults right to her face.

Once, a man came into her life and she was quite excited about him. He was from the neighbouring town and thought she was beauitful. She liked him too and tried as ...

Ate ja.

Saving Money on BILLS!

Paying our monthly bills is not always fun especially when we have a huge one to deal with. This might be the case in utilities like water, gas, electricity where one has pay according to consumption. Fixed bills like mortgage, car loans, cable tv are alot easier where you at least have an idea of what's coming at the end of the month. To help lower you upcoming bills, just try and make a few changes and you'll sure be on your way to a lesser payment.




Electricity: Turn off whatever appliances you may not currently be using like the tv, stereo, light bulbs, pc, etc. During the day, why leave the electric bulb on when the sun is out. Always check if the light bulb of the balcony is turned off during the day because that's the light many people tend to forget after using at night. Switch off the tv of the living room if your busy in the bedroom. Why leave all the tvs blasting when your just in a room and no one else is in use of any of them. The refrigerator or your aquarium(if you've got one) should be the only appliances running always cos they need to. Save up money by doing your laundry at night. Electricity costs less at night so i make use of it by doing my laundry and dishwashing then. Dishwashers and laundry machines are all designed with self timers so you don't have to worry about waking up or forgetting even to put them working. I usually stack up the dishwasher after dinner(cos that's when i have the most plates to wash) and programme it to 'DELAY' some hours and start washing after midnight. When there is a necessity to do a quick laundry during the day, choose your programme and if the clothes are not thickly soiled, you can avoid using temperature. Make use of the sun during summer in drying clothes instead of using the dryer. Normally we tend to pay more electricity bills during winter than in summer but lately, we have to take care not to pay so much during both seasons with the strong summer heat and all. During summer, lower your shutters to always keep the house cool. Put on the AC and programme it to work to a certain time like 30mins-1hr depending on how long you want to keep it running to keep the house cool and once this is achieved, it turns off automatically. Use this same technique during winter and save up on those heaters.






GAS: This is the most particular to me. Moving into my new apartment, i was astonished at a the gas bill that I saw in my mail box. Doing little or nothing, I got a bill of closely 100euros and that really got me thinking of how i used the gas the previous month. I decided to change a few things in my daily living to see how it could help.

• Tap Knob: Most european houses have a central gas heater that functions thrrough the entire house. If the tap knob is in the centre of the 2 signs red and blue, it automatically gives you warm water when you turn on tap and that means the water heater comes on whenever you want to use water. So, i moved my knobs to the blue sign(cold water) so that the heater just doesn't come on everytime except when i really need the hot water. But, if your home uses two seperate knobs for the hot and cold water, then your good.
• Cooking: I started cooking less with my gas cooker and began using the electric oven/microwave to make some meals. Chicken with potatoes, rice with beef, i cooked sometimes in the oven and with my special steaming bowls, was able to steam up vegetables like broccoli, carrots and fish in the microwave. Some people do have the jar rice machine that they can use to cook rice. With all these, the deal is it's possible to cook without the gas and still have a wonderful meal(would probably talk about that in my next topic).
• Bathing: When taking a shower, try not to spend so much time cos the more the shower, the more the hot water except if you're taking a cold shower. This can help save gas and water bills.

After I applied all I listed, the next bill that came was 60euros less!

WATER: This should also be used with care. Like I earlier on mentioned, do not spend too much time in the shower. If you're doing the dishes in the sink, washing your hands, giving your kids a bath, brushing your teeth; always remember what"Barney Says"- never let the water run. Also watch out for your kids going to turn on the tap and leaving it running like my son does. The water counter won't read what you're not using, so take care to pay just what you're sure using.

I believe these tips can go a long way in helping lower your monthly bills and helping save our planet. Do post a comment if this article was helpful.

Ate ja.

Summer Sales!!!

Sears.com is a source for the wide range of products and services available from Sears. In addition to researching and buying products, customers can schedule service
calls, order replacement parts, access Sears'gift registry.




Just filling up our review form can earn you some money and better the society. Don't leave this offer. Try it now for FREE!


At Heels.com, we seek out the hottest women’s shoes so that our customers can stay ahead of the fashion curve. We provide you with a fun and hassle-free shopping experience; if you know what you’re looking for, you’ll be able to find it in a snap with our signature navigation system.


Sears.com is a source for the wide range of products and services available from Sears. In addition to researching and buying products, customers can schedule service
calls, order replacement parts, access Sears'gift registry.



Fashion58 offers a great selection of designer handbags, designer wallets, designer shoes and designer scarves.Launched in 2002, Fashion58 is an online designer boutique that sells designer name fashion items at greatly discounted prices. Our "Internet-Only" approach enables us to cut the overhead cost and offer customers brand new designer products at the lowest prices you will ever see.
Customers shop with confidence knowing that all our designer products are guaranteed authentic plus our 100% Money Back Satisfaction Guarantee. We know how important it is to only receive genuine products, and we guarantee that we will never sell our customers a fake or knock-off.



Your ideal departmental store. You are always welcome!


American Greetings Corporation is a leading manufacturer of innovative social expression products that assist consumers in enhancing their relationships.American Greetings also has the largest collection of electronic greetings on the Web, including cards available at AmericanGreetings.com


World leader in botanical beauty care, backed by over 40 years of plant expertise and leadership in European beauty care, offering over 800 products that will guarantee visible results. Formulas are 100% effective and priced within reach. All our products are developed in our own labs without animal testing and held to stringent testing guidelines for quality, safety and effectiveness.



When you think about it, all the important information in your life is now stored on a computer. Whether it’s photos and music or business documents and financial records, everything is digital. With Mozy, you can be sure your digital life will always be there when you need it.