Baby Led Weaning

Saffron is still refusing being spoon fed, much to my displeasure. I have all these images of me happily feeding my babies home made purées and them smiling and lapping it up. I suppose that will never happen.

She has decided to follow in her sister's footsteps and go the messy way. The consolation is that she eats way better, is more enthusiastic about food and takes in more. It is quite a joy watching her eat and mess with her food.

Current favorites are kiwi and carrots. She loves broccoli and French beans too. Rice, pasta, corn and yoghurt are agreeable. Tomatoes seem to give her a rash although she likes them. We tried chicken and that is a hit or miss. I'm thinking of getting some beef next week.

Sisters

Happiness is seeing my 2 daughters having a good time together.

They seem to have a genuine liking each other. Violet will shower Saffron with plenty of hugs and kisses. She will tell Saffron not to cry in the most tender way. Saffron will always turn her head towards Violet's voice and she always always have a ready smile for Violet.

The New Boo

The newest Boo!
Obviously she looks quite different from the photo posted above. After all she is already 3 months old!

That is how long I have not written an entry. So much had changed, I don't really know how to navigate the new Blogger site. Which is a pain in the arse. Can I have the more straight forward site back please? I am a mother of 2 now, no time to waste navigating the site.

So much for 2011's new year resolution about having more ME time. I will write more soon(ish)

Suppering

I think I had too much supper. I feel so bloated that I can't sleep.

I had 1 char siew bao, 2 bak bao and then, not feeling totally satiated and somewhat needing some kind of stress relief fix from battling with my toddler with regard to her bedtime, I had a huge bowl of cereal with a banana doused with full cream milk.

I can't tell you how grossed out I feel right now. Especially when I have a full term baby in my tummy at the same time.

All this in the middle of a big Braxton Hicks contraction some more.

Nap Time

"V, it is nap time" I said, in my softest voice, most impossibly gentlest tone.

And this is how she reacted. Over reacting this bad because she is at her grandma's and knows that grandma will take her side. Sigh.

Nap times can be such a battle these days. She will not go down without a fight. Making me read one book after another. Bargaining and bringing her tea set to bed, making me cups of tea and eating endless slices of cake. Singing song after song.

Bedtime at night is the same, she tries all ways and means to extend her waking hours as much as she can. We are both beat when she finally fall asleep. Toddlers really do not need much sleep do they? There are so much that they want to do, that sleeping seems like a big waste of time.

Sometimes when it all happens I will remember the book that I bought and say it under my breath, go the fuck to sleep my dear child.

Shoe Crazy

Evidence that she is our little girl? She is mad about shoes! She will pick out her shoes when we go out. If that isn't enough, she tells me which pair to wear. She comments on our shoes and she is really really happy when we go to a shoe store. The last time I brought her shoe shopping, I tried out a pair on her, she will walk to the mirror and look at her shoes, with a very silly grin and oh so pleased with herself expression on her face.

My husband must be so proud.

To take her shoe obssession to another level, she has recently taken to taking photos of her shoes with my phone.


She used to share shoe space with me, now she has so many pairs, we have to dedicate some space just for her. Yes, she has her own shoe space now.

It is partly our fault really.

Zoo

We visited the zoo last weekend and had quite a good time. I always enjoyed visiting the zoo, although sometimes I do question what I am teaching my kid by bringing her to look at animals being caged up and not in their natural environment. I have been thinking about this issue and thought that at least, she grows up hopefully with a love for animals. From that, hopefully will learn to respect them and do more for them than I ever can. Zoos are places that should educate, and in that way, perhaps, a few animals gets 'sacrificed' and become exhibits.

I hate it when I sound like a hypocrite.

She loves the tram ride! It seems to be the highlight of the trip for her. Nope, didn't go to the water play park, since she was still having the runs and recovering. We didn't want her to get anything nasty nor infect some other poor kid.

The Sam Seng

She has finally finally accepted the hat once again. And that is due to her vanity. She has alright with one til she was about 8 months old. Everytime we want to head out outdoors, the second the hat touched her head, she would yank it off.

This trip was especially fun because she has taken more interest in the animals. She knows her animals, she has some faves and she will say the darnest things that makes us flip!

Big Sister

We went to the nearby neighbourhood mall this afternoon just to get out of the house for a while, and I suggested that we pick up a present for the little sister. I couldn't go any further even if I want to. I can't, at least not on my own. She spotted some stuffed toy rabbits from a new push cart. She had 2 of those rabbits and seem to like them quite a bit, over the other stuffed toys that she has. I got her one and suggested that we pick one for her little sister. We came back wrapped it up and decorate it with stickers!

She seem to be warming up to the little sister thing. I don't think she fully understands. And I am expecting her to raise hell once meimei comes back home and nurse like the milk monster that the jiejie once was.

I found out why she gave up nursing recently. I was teasing her and ask her if she wants to nurse. She shook her head and said nope, and I asked her why. She said "Mama pain"

AAAAAAAAAAWwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I did tell her that it hurt quite a bit when she was nursing when I am expecting. I didn't expect her to give it up because of that. Moments like this makes me feel that it is all worth it. She surprised us recently too, by allowing Papa to carry her around more. She has been clingy and refusing the father to carry her. But just 2 days ago, every time we park the car, she will say "Mama tired, Papa carry V" She does walk on her own and now at least, she isn't totally rejecting her pram! She understands that I couldn't carry her as much as I used to. I am glad, and in a way, I feel bad that I can't.

She has indeed "grown up" quite a bit in the past few weeks!

Self Weaned

She has enough of nursing, and at the age of 22 months, has finally self-weaned herself! Well, sort of self wean. I did 'help' her a little. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

I thought this day will never ever come! When I knew I was pregnant the second time round, I made some effort to reduce her nursing. Mainly because she has been comfort nursing a lot, and that made me so tired. It started to hurt a bit when she nursed too long. I think the low supply of milk played a part too. She had a bout of illness and after that she decided she didn't need any mama's milk anymore! I will definitely miss nursing her, miss the bonding, but all glad and relieved to have my body back, even if it is just for 2 months til the next one comes long!

New Bun in the Oven!

I am almost 7 months pregnant already!

And that is why there hasn't been many entries recently.

I am so tired. Being preggers with a active toddler who demands a lot of your attention is energy sapping. I have not much energy left after she goes to bed. It is a miracle that I can still try to keep the home in some kind of order. So... we have decided to hire a live-in domestic helper. I really do not see how I can cope with a newborn and a toddler and still juggle the housework. I have given this issue much thought, thinking about it and considering other options too. I really would love for someone to take the load of the chores off my back for the next 2 years. The next 2 years, I just want to concentrate on my family. To be there for them, to have fun with them, to teach them about everything, take them out for fun trips, do fun things together, laughing, basically just be there for every milestone. I don't want to be tired half the time when I am with them. I want to be well rested and ready for them. A tired parent isn't exactly the most fun person to be around you know.....

The new bun is another girl. So we do save tonnes on clothes! Plus, she can play with the same toys, most of them are barely touched, since the first one didn't take much interest in them. We would be using the old cot, which is also pretty new since the first one had since moved to a mattress. We only need to maybe a new bath tub and some newborn diapers and we are ready to go! Oh, I do intend to get the sleepy wrap! I really hope that is the last baby carrier that I am going to buy.

This pregnancy was thankfully as comfortable as the first one. Sure I do get feet cramps, and some back ache now, but no morning sickness, no reflux, no heartburn, nothing so bad that I cannot deal with. The hormones are a little out of whack at the moment, but I am sure that I will bounce back soon, I do get insomnia like the last time. Unfortunately, I can't sleep in like I could with the first. When the first one is up, I had to be up! I do nap with her, so no biggie.

I seem to be less paranoid this time round. Is it a case of been there done that? Or that I am too busy with such an active toddler that I have no time to think and be paranoid?

The Terrible Twos

The phase that everyone feared has started.

I do hope that it doesn't last too long. She has been very negative lately. Everything is no. Even when she is fussing and crying, and I asked her if she wants me to console her, she would still say no. She is bossy and authoritative. She will tell you who will push her around in the supermarket trolley, who carries her, pushes her stroller, feed her, what colours you can use when you are colouring alongside with her. Yes, she wants a say in very single damn thing now.

Reversed psychology seems to work. I will just tell her, please don't do this, please don't do that, when what I really meant was for her to do just that. She will flash me a grin and do what I tell her not to do. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I wonder how long more will this trick work.

I am close to really smacking her on her butt.

Sometimes, when I am not too tired, it isn't too trying. I can even laugh at her tantrums, although I know I should take those seriously, and to her, it isn't a laughing matter.

Will continue to write more if this post doesn't disappear like the last 2 posts.

Weaning

My 18 month old never did wean off the breast totally. Yah, you heard me, I still latch her on still. I have reduced it down to just once a day, reason I will reveal a little later.

Why??????? Oh, because she didn't take to the bottle kindly. We tried all the brands we can get our hands on, no luck. Nothing works. We got her really hungry, I bottle fed her, other people fed her, I 'disappeared'. Nothing works. In short, she just wants to get straight to the milk source. Fresh mah.

Weaning her off the breasts was easier than I thought it would be. She is a toddler that comfort suckles a lot. She wants to latch on and then doze off to sleep. Very bad I know, but I didn't know how to undo that habit. She cried every time I refused her her latch on on the first 2 days, after that, she was surprisingly okay with not latching on anymore. So yes, the weaning was pretty painless. She didn't have epic bouts of crying her lungs out, more like angry, unreasonable toddler tantrums kind of crying.

Degressing.....

So anyway,

Good thing that I am a full time mum, so I didn't have to resort to drastic measures. But that meant that I can't be away for her too long. That was when I bought those doidy cups. I would express milk and leave it to whoever is baby sitting her and have her drink out of the cup. It is a little more troublesome in the beginning because she was drinking quite slowly compared to if she would have been drinking out of a bottle. Sometimes, she took just enough to starve off her hunger til I (more accurately, my boobs) return. But slowly, she was going pretty well. We used the cups when she started taking juices, water and other liquids too.

We did try to get her to use sippy cups, because it was less messy, but she wouldn't take to the sippy cup either. It was a relief when she finally figured out how to use the straw when she was about 10 months old! She hates formula milk, preferring whole fresh milk instead, and she wants them cold. We tried a few brands, nothing caught her fancy til she had a go at Pediasure Chocolate flavoured milk. I make it cold and gave it to her in a bottle with a straw. Think she is the only toddler who drinks her milk cold. I am using the doidy cup more for milk now since she is able to use the cup on her own a lot better. I will place the cup on the table next to her food. It could be milk, juice or water. It is very heartening to see her feed herself. She does it in the most orderly way too. When she wants to drink, she will push her plate of food to one side and pick up the cup. These days, she is more careful not to spill any liquids. When she is done drinking, she will put the cup down and push it away and then pull the plate closer to her and start eating again. All the months of messy eating and drinking have finally paid off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As much as I would love her to take to the bottle like most babies and gradually to sippy cups, giving me a little freedom and less mess. Looking back now, it isn't entirely a bad thing either. I didn't have to wean her off bottles nor sippy cups!

Now is time to think about potty training!

One for the Parents

I love books, and I love buying books for The Little One. Well, partly for myself sometimes. The beautiful illustrations, the innocence of the story, the simplicity. They can be quite good de-stressers. I came across this book that looks like a children's book but for tired parents who have problems putting their children to bed. I can totally relate to that! I feel like buying it, but of course I got it hide it well away from little little hands, until they are old enough to understand the humour in that 4 letter word.

A sample verse..
The cats nestled close to their kittens now.

The lambs have laid down with the sheep.

You're cozy and warm in your bed my dear.

Please go the fuck to sleep.

This is so rude I love it! I am so tempted to buy this, should I should I????????????? Am I a bad mother for liking this?

My 10 Favorite Baby Things

After being a mother for 16 months, I have things that I come to love.

One of the first few things that come to mind is California Baby's calendula cream. It was great for The Little One's ezcema, was great when her skin was too dry, great for rashes, great even for small scratches! I like it that it is organic, smells wonderful and has none of those nasties that a lot of other baby creams have. It is even wonderful for me as a night cream! It was so good, we started using the bath products for her as well. They do cost quite a bit more, but I LOVE LOVE their products. Speaking of which, I ordered some stuff online, and they would be here next week. HAPPINESS!

I know of some parents who shy away from using Desitin diaper rash cream. Some aren't too comfortable with it containing zinc oxide. But hey, it works for her! She used to have pretty nasty rashes, so we slapped on a generous amount of her butt at every diaper change. we tried other brands, nothing works as well as Desitin for her. These days, I just use it when we are out and that she hasn't done her poop of the day yet. Yes, she is done to a poop a day now, forever gone are the days of multiple poops! Further digressing.... ever since she was able to stand well, I have taken her to the shower stall to wash her butt every time she does a poop. Cleaner and it saves on the wet wipes. I know I can still wash her butt in the shower stall even before she can stand, but being the clumsy person that I am, I didn't know how to hold her, wash her butt, and try to stay dry at the same time. When she was a newborn, we put her in one of those sleeping bags instead of using a blanket because I was really paranoid that she might suffocate! It worked like a dream for us!

I love Grobag, it being soft and lightweight. She was happy, I was happy, knowing she isn't freezing her little ass off. I can't remember when she started to protest being in the bag, it should be at about the same time she started walking - around the 10th or 11th month. She hates the blanket, even now, so she goes uncovered most of the time. Everyone seems to have a Sophie these days. It used to be her most chewed on toy! Actually, it is the only toy she seemed to like chewing on. We are lucky that she doesn't fuss too much when she was teething. I know of babies that are cranky all the time, couldn't sleep, and very very difficult. She is a little more difficult than her usual self, being a little more whiny and clingy, not eating too much, but most part of it, she was OK. She didn't really need to gnaw on her teething toys, no fever, no runny stools, no excessive drooling. I can only pray that the second one is the same! Not exactly baby products, but I can glad I got her books. She loves her books, more than her toys. In fact, I given up buying toys already. Ok, we bought her a kitchen set, but that is because she likes to pretend play and I am hoping that she can pretend cook along side with me while I cook! Ok, back to the books... When I first started shopping for her books I was still pregnant with her. I always love children's books, especially those with beautiful illustrations. I was pretty enthusiatic with the buying, in the end I ended up with books that weren't age appropriate. They were too complicated, too wordy and most importantly, too FRAGILE! I did buy some small simple board books, like Pat the Bunny, Spot and some others. Her favourite ones are the ones with photos of real objects, not illustrations. I never thought those were great, but those are the ones that she likes. I went on to buy more of those. She likes pointing out the things that she knows. Lately, she is showing more interest in the other books, and to my present surprise, was willing to sit with me while I read the book to her. She likes it when I read and use my fingers to point at the words. I love wearing my baby. I love my sarong which is so versatile! I use it when I nurse her in public, I use it to carry her around. Even now, when she falls asleep when I am out with her, I will just sling her in the sarong and carry on with my business. We have another baby carrier - the baby bjorn, that we used a lot before she got too heavy. That was great too, but being me, I never put her in there for too long a period, half and hour max I will take her out. I have a mai tai that I hardly use, not because I don't like it, but she was just getting too heavy for such things, and besides, she wants to walk everywhere now!

I bought a dozen of those inexpensive muslin diaper cloths and they are fantastic! I always have one in my diaper bag. I use it to lay on changing counters in nursery rooms when we are out. I use it in the car in the even that we need to change her in there. We used to cover the stroller with one when she falls asleep and it is just too bright outside. That was when she was little tiny, now she doesn't even want to be in the stroller. We have also used it to cover her when we were caught in the rain! It was also a towel when she got herself too wet playing in fountains or water features or whatever you call those things. I never thought the Jumperoo would be so worth the money. She was always so happy to be jumping in that thing. She would go on and on and on in it if she can, but usually I would have pluck her out after 15 minutes. She jumped so wildly and so hard, I was afraid that she might break it. It is amazing that it survived. The thing gave me some time to rest a little back then when she didn't like to nap, didn't like her toys, and all that she cared was for me to be with her, play with her and interact with her. That time almost drove me nuts. As much as she doesn't dig the stroller anymore, I still love the Peg Perego P3 Switch. We were out an awful lot, and without it, we wouldn't be able to have meals, coffee or even a stroll in the park. we can't put her in a carrier for too long can we? It was sturdy and doesn't tip over like how some strollers could. She could be facing us, or facing the other way if she gets bored of us. It could recline all the way so that she can sleep, it has extensible handles for tall folks like us, so that we do not need to hunch. we will start trying her in the stroller again, because, I can't afford to be carrying her any too much longer. Her Stokke Tripp Trapp. Yes, it is expensive, but it is a handsome little thing! I love the design and the fact that it blends right in with the rest of the house. It doesn't have its own tray, so she sits at the table with us, not away from us. Of course, without a tray, it means the mess isn't contained, and cleaning up takes double the time. That is the only gripe I have about it. So, this is the 11th thing that I am listing, but I am lor sor like that. The internet. Again, not really a baby baby product, but I never need to leave my home to shop for books, clothes, baby gear, read about baby stuff, like milestones, development, parenting, and other boring baby/parenting stuff that only parents care about. I never would know about the calendula cream if not for the internet.

Last one! I promise! We had a mobile for her cot. It was colourful, plasticky, moves and had music! Ignore the matching outfits and look at the plastic fantasic piece of mobile at the background. She loved looking at it go around and round and would get pretty excited, kicking her legs (perhaps to the music, I dunno...) It was heaven's sent for times when we had to get ourselves ready, or to distract her when we change her diaper. It was great, til one day, The husband decided to carry her up to where the mobile is, and with one mighty grab, she crippled it. It stopped moving totally.

Baby Led Weaning

When my baby was almost 6 months old, I got myself a BabyCook. Next, I went to the supermarket to pick up some apples, pears, pumpkin to make them into purees. I was so excited I went straight into making them that night and freeze them in those puree trays.

The day she turned 6 months old, I dished out one portion of the puree for her. She made a face, gagged and spat it out like it was the worst thing that she had ever tasted. (OK, that was the onlything she had ever tasted apart from my milk and a teaspoonful of cereal we gave her when she was 5 months old.) I wasn't too discouraged then, thinking that she needed some time to get used to taste and texture.

I tried again, and again and again. I tried them warm, I tried serving them cold. I tried giving her before milk, I tried after milk, I tried after just a little milk. EPIC FAIL. Then I got a little desperate and gave her store bought ones. Again, I tried warm, cold, sweet, savoury. ALL FAIL. I was getting a little disheartened. I tried porridge and then I tried cereal and yoghurt too. FAIL FAIL FAIL. She would take none of all those things. She didn't even want baby fruit juice, drinking only water instead. (Not that that is a bad thing.) Soon, she doesn't even open her mouth when a spoon came close. That was when I decided to go BLW way. Basically, it believes in letting baby lead the way when it comes to starting solids food. When baby is ready, baby will eat. It skips the entire process of purees and spoonfeeding, and instead, giving baby chunks of food and allowing baby to eat however much he chooses.

We didn't get much success initially. She played with her food a little then got bored and decided she had enough and wanted to be out of her high chair pronto. There were some stuff that she will eat more, like bananas and pasta and leafy vegetables. Sometimes she would take a little fish. More often than not, 10 mintues and she is done with eating.

It was until she turned 1 that she started to eat a lot more. Even allowing us to spoonfeed her a few spoonfuls now! She had her phases, right now she eats nothing but white rice, grilled unagi, cheese, soup, vegetables and fruits and. She starts her day with a little yoghurt. Sometimes she will take a bit of bread. She snacks on cheerios and she adores chocolate! We just found out that she loves iced milo! She has been rejecting meat for a while now, don't really know why. She loves her bak kwa and bacon though!

There are still days when she will eat little and days when she will eat a lot more. I try to trust her that she is getting in enough and not worry too much. That is so hard to do! Especially so now that she is an active toddler and losing her chubbiness. It makes me feel like she is not taking in enough. Got to constantly remind myself, children are healthier when they are not that chubby! Got to remind myself too, that as long as she is developing well, not losing weight, happy and contented, I really shouldn't be worrying so much.

Messing with the pumpkin puree that she refused to allow me to feed her with

Having a banana. Don't ask me how that mess could resemble a banana. If Van Gogh painted with bananas, it would look like what she is

Eating bread

Stealing handfuls of my carrot cake. Got to be careful she didn't take any raisins or nuts.

Noodles and pasta were a hit for a long long while. Still is!

Having Indian food. She takes some pappadam, rice and paneer. We eat out quite a bit and sometimes when the cuisine isn't too suitable because it is too spicy, we pack some stuff for her. Most times, before she turned one, I do prepare her own portion because I was paranoid about the sodium levels in the food!


This baby has rejected the bottle and we had never successfully got her on the bottle ever. We gave in and gave her the cup. So we went from the boob to the cup straight. We were only too happy when she got around using the straw when she was about 10 months old.

No, not loving it.

Roast chicken and rice.


There are days when she allow me to feed her some yoghurt. I allow her to play with the near empty tub.

Cream cheese.

The whole apple. These days, when I would share one with her, with me eating most of the skin because she hates it and would spit it out. The things I do....

Having a field day with whipped cream. It was Children's Day, I thought I indulged her. She messed up real good!


The beginning of more in the tummy and less on the floor days.

Dad eating her leftovers and she playing with her food.

She loves loves bananas!

Trying to use a fork. Still trying to get a hang of using cutlery. When she tries, it gets really messy.

Helping me with the salad. She loves cherry tomatoes. She chews and suck on them then, spits out the skin. Pretty gross I know, and she does that to meat and some vegetables too.

My Baby

Her sian face when she has to wait a little for us to get ready to go out.

Trying her best to entertain herself with a book while waiting for us. She loves her books, just likes them better if she has someone to read them with.

Most times she is happy and contented like this....

Other times, like times in the car seat, she is pissed off like this.

Lunch time is getting less messy now that more is getting into her mouth and that she seems to enjoy eating a lot more now.