Suzette's Parenting and Breastfeeding Blog

Sometimes I am given free samples or have discount coupons for a brand of formula that’s different from the one I’ve been feeding my kids. It is definitely tempting to switch. Whenever I tried to switch brands or introduce a new brand to my kids, hubby and mother-in-law would raise concerns: Is it fine to change formula brands? Would it upset their stomach?

I guess that is a common question from most parents. To answer that and to settle their doubts, I asked my pediatrician as well as did some Google search on this topic. In short, it is fine to change formulas* provided you stick with the same type.

Well, to me, the most challenging part when switching my kids’ formula brand is the switch of taste. I have no other concerns besides them rejecting the milk. There were occasions that I tried to feed them with free samples that I received, without them knowing that I swapped the brands. The milk just could not successfully pass their taste buds and ended up down the drain!

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Okay, okay, I know I mentioned before, all formula milk are the same to me, nothing beats breast milk. But earlier this week, I received some free sample of milk. I thought why not give it a try, to see whether there is any real significant differences?

Well, though milk is just another drink to me, I still prefer my children to take milk, especially before bed. It is proven true that Isabel sleeps better with milk! I’ve experimented this a few weeks now.

Here are 2 cans of formula milk, Friso Gold 3 for Isabel and Friso Gold 4 for Ian.

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Many years ago when I was working in a research firm, I was part of the media team. One project was to survey what people like to watch.

A surprise to me (maybe not to you), many old women (particularly Indian) like to watch wrestling and boxing, and the hour usually is between 1pm to 5pm.

If you do follow the boxing sport, you’ll remember in 2004, the match between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez was a draw. It started with Pacquiao knocked down Marquez 3 times in the 1st round, but Marquez came back after that and ended with a split draw. It was a talk of the sport for a while. After that historical match, they haven’t got the chance to perform a rematch, to determine who is better.

On 15 March 2008, they will be meeting again for the first time since 2004 for a rematch. Who will win this time? It is for us to find out. After all, their fighting styles might change, and we might see a completely different match.

Well, do I sound that interested in boxing? Don’t laugh at me for my earlier comments on old ladies like to watch this genre.

Anyway, to get the Manny Paquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez tickets, you need to be hurry. The match is scheduled to take place on 15 Mar 2008 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. For outside of US, you probably want to catch this in HBO Pay-Per-View?

Whenever I travel to cooler countries, I like to wear boots, coz it feels so comfortable and keeps warm. It also makes me feel more fashionable. Furthermore, in Malaysia’s hot weather, I don’t really get the chance of using boots.

I have a pair of boots that I bought many years ago. Very comfortable and useful, until late last year it finally worn out. I find it hard to buy another replacement.

My top criteria of choosing boots is comfortable and easy to remove. When I travel to US, I am required to remove my shoes during airport security check. More and more countries adopt the same procedure now. So, an airport friendly boot is my priority. With that in mind, side-zip boots is more preferred. I can’t find long/tall boots with side-zip over here, or they look like the fish-monger’s boots!

I found a site selling quality police and military boots. They have all sorts of boots, sorted by brands include Rocky Boots and Bates Boots. They also sort the boots by styles, e.g. Airport Friendly, Jungle Boots, Women’s Footwear (most suitable for us!), Side Zipper Boots (my favourite for convenience), etc.

After browsing through the site, this is my choice:

It costs USD94.95. They accept various payment including ‘Discover PayPal’ - which I yet to find out whether it is the same as PayPal. I might want to get a pair of the above on my next trip to US (hopefully there is one early next year). This way, I can save a lot on shipping.

I guess I can get a similar one in China at perhaps half the price, but I can be sure it won’t last more than 5 wears. I bought one low boot at around RM80 a pair and after arrived home, found out that they actually sticked the boots with double sided tapes!!! Not even with super glue! The ‘leather’ (don’t think they are genuine) can detach easily. With that lesson, I will not buy any counterfeit products from China anymore. For footwear, I don’t mind paying for a good and comfortable one.

I worked in a few companies before joining this large MNC. Quite funny though, my experience with using a scanner getting shrunk from one company to another, and now in this MNC, I don’t have a scanner to use!

If I have something I really need to scan, I’d have to either out-source or ask my husband to help me scan. Weird…

Now, I’ve come across this portable scanner. This is actually a duplex scanner that scans both sides of a document simultaneously. That is genius, can save some great time especially if scanning large quantity of documents.

It is small and light weight enough to be carried around easily, especially for people as mobile as me. It is only 17oz/475g, and with high speed USD2.0 that do not need external power supply (even better than my external DVD drive).

Maybe I can persuade my boss to buy one for our department? Well, if anything, it has to wait till next year - our budget is burst for 2007, and all my traveling is freezed.