Come as you are. As i want you to be.
One of the babywearing question i always get asked is “Do u like Tula or Lenny Lamb better?”
To be honest, you won’t know which one u’ll prefer unless you’ve tried it on.
Here’s a comparison between the Tula and the Lenny Lamb.
Both are Standard Size and Wrap Conversions in this case.
Left: Lenny Lamb (Charlotte)
Right: Tula WC (Berry Sweet)
Continue reading “Tula or Lenny Lamb?”
Here’s Nadya choice of food, or rather MY choice of food for Nadya when she was 8 months old.
I eliminated purees and replace it slowly with Oats & Rice Porridge. Initially she was refusing chunkier oats & rice porridge so i gradually change the consistency and i’m so proud that she can now eat rice. Calrose rice / Sushi Rice mainly cos it’s softer and sticky.
She is also better at self-feeding now that she prefer self-feeding all the time!
Mango + Strawberries + Blueberries Oat Porridge
Threadfin Fish + Silken Tofu + Carrot + Spinach Rice Porridge.
First time introducing Tofu to her and no allergies so far!
Baby Pasta + Cherry Tomatoes + Chicken & Carrots
Silver Fish + Sweet Potato + Baby Spinach
Banana Strawberry Oats Porridge.
Pan-Fried Salmon + Steamed Carrots, Baby spinach & Cherry Tomatoes.
The start of chunkier food for Nadya and surprisingly she ate everything!
Mashed Potato + Broccoli & Cheddar Cheese.
First time introducing Cheese to her and like her Papa, she loves cheese!
Baby Shepherd’s Pie
• Boil potatoes & mash with cheddar cheese.
• Pan-fry minced beef, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach & shallots with extra-virgin coconut oil
• Mix everything. Drop spoonfuls on the same pan. U can drizzle bits of coconut oil.
• serve & steal a bit of baby’s food.
Salmon Sushi Rice Ball & Tofu / Shimeji Mushroom Soup.
* Steam calrose rice & tomato. Mix together.
* Steam salmon & baby spinach. Mix with rice & tomato.
* Shape it into mini balls & serve!
* Soup was made with the homemade vegetable stock. I added in Silken Tofu & Shimeji Mushroom
Sweet Potato + Baby Spinach + Cream Cheese
Homemade Chicken stock
Carrots, Potatoes, Onion, Garlic, Ginger, Basil leaves & Lime leaves.
Boil everything together under medium heat for 2 hours and store everything in ice cube trays.
My little Nadya turned 8 months last week.
Pretty interesting and scary actually. First off, the week before she turned 8 months, she fell terribly sick. Her fever was bearable, hovering between 37.5 – 37.8 degrees only so it’s still considered quite mild. But she was having chesty cough and runny nose, it was so kesian to see her like that.
Sleeping was pretty difficult. She’ll wake up few times at night cos she was uncomfortable and was terribly cranky during the day. Upon the bestie’s recommendation, we finally found a good PD at Bukit Timah Plaza, Dorothy’s Baby Clinic.
The PD was so patient and very thorough in her checks and told me it was best to put her on nebulizer cos of the phlegms and all.
and so we did. For 3 days, 4 times in a day. The phlegm, cough & runny nose did subside after that. So i’m extra careful when we bring her out these days cos of the haze. She caught this from the initial haze i think.
At about 7.5 months, she can finally sit up without support. It was too cute. i swear my husband damn jakun one. Kept looking at her sit still hahahaha.
So yay to her finally being able to sit in high chairs when we go out & eat. Lol
She’s also quite an explorer! I’ll leave her for a while and then she’ll go and explore the house on her own. This was her being cheeky when i called out her name and then she was grinning from ear to ear!
Or sometimes i’ll find her at weird places like these.
and i really think she did major milestones during the last few weeks cos she finally learned how to pull herself up and stand with support.
But oh boy, it’s tiring! She kept wanting to stand at every opportunity and then will climb all over me when i’m lying down and over things just to reach for something that appeals to her.
All that fortress i’ve build to make sure she don’t touch anything at the TV console. Buang masa je lah k. She’ll climb over it and then support herself at the TV console and bounce herself up & down. U tell me, camna nak marah?
and we have a new problem.
Teeth! Too many teeth!
She sprouted her 1st two bottom teeth at 4mths. The the top 2 at 6mths. Now at 8 months, she’s got4 fully grown teeth and 4 more halfway up/down.
So yes, 4 on top & 4 at the bottom and why is it a problem?
Cos her gums are itchy and she wanna gnaw everything!! Including my knees. Oh and she’ll bite you if you attempt to put your fingers in. Very garang this one. Lol
But more teeth means she’s more capable of eating on her own now!
I’m beginning to think she prefers feeding herself these days. So i try and incorporate tea times for her where she can try and feed fruits / vege on her own while i try and feed her porridge now & then.
Oh, u might wanna try not to feed the red-flesh dragon fruit to baby.
The poop colour was an ah-mazing shade of red. HAHAHAHA
I got so scared and then remembered she ate dragonfruit. Lol
My mini couch potato.
I swear she has our pemalas genes. Kerja dia asyik nak melepak je.
Dasar anak melayu. Malay genes very strong this one. Lol
Ok ending this post with this one cos too cute tak boleh tahan! I cannot wait for her hair to grow. She really got boy’s hair now.
Ok just realised i posted so many of her pictures in one blogpost. Now can u imagine how my phone camera roll looks like?
And i guess nothing makes me & rusly happier than seeing Nadya happy. And she really had fun last weekend cos we went to the S.E.A Aquarium on saturday.
We initially wanted to bring her to Gardens by the Bay but the haze was back and I don’t think she would appreciate flowers at this age cos they don’t move? Although the colours would definitely catch her attention. So maybe we’ll wait for the next Tulipmania next year.
I was keen on bringing her to S.E.A Aquarium cos i personally love the marine life. I find it interesting and i know bright colour fishes moving at high speed would definitely catch her attention.
We bought the tickets online (Mastercard 15% off Promo) the night before. Printed the E-Tickets & exchanged for an actual ticket at Guest Services, skipping the Ticket Box, thank god!
We brought along the pram cos we thought it’ll be easier for her to sit and view the fishes but only for a while cos we end up carrying her in our arms so she could take a closer look and try & ‘touch’ the fishes! So yes, don’t bother bringing a pram cos i think they’ll have limited visibility if they sit on the pram.
Her face when we put her in the pram cos she couldn’t bounce up & down. Lol
Nadya’s favourite aquarium was the one with lotsa neon fishes! So bright & colourful she kept shrieking each time one of them comes near. It was too cute!
One of my personal favourite is the seahorses aquarium. They were so…. elegant. I can only come up with that. The way they were bobbing up & down. So understated.
It was a short excursion out. She slept even before we could exit the place!
We did however managed to get a family photo taken and because it was disgustingly expensive, i told Rusly i’ll get it only if Nadya’s looking at the camera.
And there you go, my big round-eyed girl smiling at the camera, as usual. Of course i have to get it lah!
These were candid shots taken by Rusly and these pictures make me happy. It’s almost like seeing us from his point of view.
and here’s a short video of Nadya talking to her fish-friends!
Once the haze is gone, we’ll go and visit the zoo soon!
So last night after the trip to E’s place to meet the bloggirls and baby Danyal (in another post!), we went back to my parents place.
I had the intention of leaving Nadya in their care while i go down to the shops and then see if she’ll cry. So we went down and i swear my heart was beating really fast. Too scared to hear her screams. I know i would be tempted to go up and scoop her up in my arms. But i read that if u plan to leave, just leave and don’t keep coming back to check on her cos it’ll makr it hard for baby and also my mom.
So i told where i’m going, kissed her and told her i’ll back in a short while to meet her again and said goodbye.
I was half expecting a call from Mum 3minutes later to get my ass back up cos she’s crying but nope. So i walked towards the store.
Still no calls after 15mins. I think we spent 30mins at the supermarket before heading home. My girl was playing with her aunties. She did let out a manja cry when she saw me though. But no meltdowns!
So we tried again today. Rusly need to do some video recording with his 2nd band and i wanna go shop for stuff at Textile Centre and it’s so hazy i don’t wanna bring her outdoors for no reason.
Again, i did the same routine. It’s been 30mins. So far no calls yet. I’m really hoping it was just some beralih bulan thing she always do 1 week before her monthly birthday. Let’s hope it is!
Nadya’s going through some major separation anxiety right now. She cannot let me out of sight else she’ll cry her lungs out. I’m not kidding, it’s so loud i finally know what’s ear-piercing cry sounds like.
It’s so kesian cos i know it’s normal and won’t go away that soon. She’ll still allow u to carry her, play with her and all but the moment she sees me walking away, she’ll scream.
I read up on how to control the situation and it seems that telling her where i’m going and then kiss her before i leave, seems to work sometimes. But at times tak work jugak.
Frirnds who are SAHM told me this period is tiring. Cos we’re the main caregivers and they won’t want anyone else and i gotta agree. It is so tiring. I lost patience few times and then i istigfar because Nadya tak paham apa2 seh.
I think motherhood either will make u a better or horrible person and i hope to be the former.
Nadya won’t allow Rusly to carry her if i’m not around. Neither can my parents so i’m guessing we won’t be leaving her at their place as often as we used to.
I can’t even shower without her crying. So Rusly will carry her and let her watch me shower. What privacy you talking about? No such thing as privacy now.
It’s endearing to know she only wants me. But nobody told me it’ll be so so hard.
Somebody was out & about for a new adventure yesterday morning! We woke up really early for a 10.30am appointment.
My little human is 5 months now. Oh so much joy in this 5 months period.
Nadya is so so playful now. It’s almost entertaining. She doesn’t sleep much nowadays, the time has come! While she’s still sleeping through the night, her naps are undeniably shorter now and she’s a light sleeper in the day! But a heavy sleeper at night. Heran aku. Naps are usually about an hour if i’m lucky and 15mins if ada abang motor bodoh kat bawah blok aku decide to perah motor dia yang tak seberapa tu. I tell you, you get very very cranky when u have a baby trying to take her nap, only to be woken up by really stupid noises. Especially when you’re making an effort to tiptoe around the house making minimal noise.
Flipping from her back to her tummy is really easy for her. But she has not started to flip from tummy to her back yet. I don’t know when they are supposed to start doing that, but i honestly don’t care lah. Dia dapat flip one way dah kira bagus. She’s also lifting up her butt now but i think her upper body muscles are not strong yet to lift her body off the ground yet. So i’ll let her be..
Sitting assisted is fine for her for now. I think we still have a long way to go before she start sitting up unassisted.
She’s quite good at entertaining herself these days. Playing with her pacifier, sampai terhantuk kat kepala and all. And she love playing with her dangling toys. Tak sia2 aku beli benda2 tu. Lol. And they all have their own name. I think i’ve mentioned this before. We’ve given them English names at first. Pas tu mak dia sedar diri dia melayu, takkan anak dia nya kawan2 semua nama mat salleh kan. So we have malay names for her toy as well. Her favourite is Khadijah & Mariam. Nama english dorang Katie & Mary. HAHAHAHAHA.
So far, Nadya reaaaaaaalllly like people. She’ll smile when they smile at them and while it’s cute, this paranoid mummy takut nanti dia dah besar, dia ikut orang yang dia tak kenal so maybe i should teach her to be more jual mahal sikit. Don’t follow strangers, baby!
I’ve kind of started giving her food to taste and today, we’ll be starting her on solid. We’ll start with Potato Puree 1st. I figure since she’ll be turning 6mths really soon and she’s a full term baby at 40 weeks, no harm in giving her now. Cos she has been really curious when she see watch us eating, it’s adorable seeing her stare at us while we eat.
We also celebrated Father’s Day for Rusly last 2 weeks. We kept it small and simple. I made reservation for dinner at 1Market on the day itself. Alhamdulillah. Thank you Allah, for allowing Rusly to be a dad. He has been good at it.
Sometimes i wish he makes an effort to do more. Then i see postings of other mummies in some parent groups in FB, complaining about their husband, i really bersyukur that Rusly help out as much as he can. I think it’s not fair for me to expect too much also. So far, he’s comfortable with bathing her, changing diapers, making her sleep at night and all. But he’ll say no to changing poop-filled diapers. LOL
What to bring for a holiday with a baby? I’ve googled for a sample packing list but some were too extensive (foldable bath tub and all! Lol) so i downsized the list and bring what’s necessary for baby.
Clothes & Accessories
Basic Necessities
Toiletries
Travel System
Things to take note of:
All these might sound petty and honestly, if it’s just me & rusly, we really don’t bother but having a baby with you means you gotta be extra careful. Especially cos Nadya is still young and her immune system is still not as strong yet. The last thing you want is a sick baby on a trip.
We are back from Penang!
Nadya survived her plane ride. Yes i must mention that because that was my biggest fear. That she’ll end up with airplane ears. To be honest, i hate flying cos i get airplane ears all the time, and that is why i’m not a stewardess (apart from being too short & fat, of course. HAHAHAHA)
So yes i know how painful airplanes ears are and was pretty scared if Nadya kena also. It’ll be so kesian cos the other infants in our flight were crying bloody murder.. But i read up and found tips on how to get baby to survive airplane rides and i’m gonna share how i did it.
Voila! She didn’t cry at all. So i’m guessing those tips worked. I also think that the plane engine noise was kinda comforting to her cos it’s white noise. She slept thru’ it. Amazing.
Now, packing for a baby was another story. I knew it would be tricky. I didn’t wanna overpack but i also didn’t wanna miss out anything and then get flustered over it. So i do up a travel packing list (which i’ll share later!), print it and tick it off one by one, making sure i did not leave anything out.
Previously, me & Rusly only need to bring a cabin luggage to fit both our clothes for a 4D3N trip. Now, we had to use the largest sized one and because we are now packing for three and she have her toiletries and all, i got myself a luggage organizer from Qoo10 and it was helpful! It helped us to sort out our stuff and we didn’t have to rummage thru’ the entire luggage for our stuff.
So neat & tidy and we were able to separate her toiletries and ours etc and only took out whatever’s necessary.
What we brought for our trip. I babywear most of the time when we are on the streets and then when we sit down & eat, i put her in the stroller.
Luckily she loves being worn AND lying down in her stroller.
(Cos after what i’ve spent on that stroller, kalau dia tak nak duduk, memang aku deduct dari duit sekolah dia nanti! LOL)
Apart from those two things, it was pretty easy bringing an infant on a plane. I feel if you know their routine well and what you can do to appease them when they’re cranky, you’ll survive!
For this trip, we brought her favourite rattle, Katie.
Yes, i named all her toys like a freak mom would do. I’ll introduce all her friends toys to you guys in another post. #crazymomalert
We really enjoyed the trip and our Penang Trip will be in another post ok!
Deardyan 