20 months - sand and lizard

photo from sunday at the "playground with sand". we spent saturday doing our usual weekend routine of a late breakfast followed by mall-strolling. we also tried looking for a bicycle for baby at the nearby giant supermarket and two bicycle shops. 

got a superb video of baby guiding us to find the dead lizard that's been on a notice board for a very long time already. she even remembered that the dead lizard was on the purple owl on the display board, which is something we didn't even know nor point out to her previously. overwhelmed by how good her memory is!

this felt like a crazy tiring weekend, even though i didn't have work to catch up on. but we got over the monday blues easily enough so now my sights are set on the upcoming public holiday and our overseas trip! :D

20 months - in conversation

case of me trying to negotiate my way out of taking off her onesie pajamas and diapers to let her poo.

"poo poo."

"you want to pass poo poo?"

"yes, now."

"is it little bit or a lot?"

"so much."

she wins.

when it's time to put away the ipad

"good night peppa pig, see you tomorrow!"

"h wake up, h call mama, mama come"

20 months - long weekend

enjoyed the long weekend very much!

single-handedly spent friday afternoon with baby at causeway point getting her a new water bottle and doing some window shopping. baby was very cooperative as she now is everytime she gets to go out. she sat in her pram while i wheeled her everywhere and didn't fuss when i told her it was time to say goodbye to a) a bicycle b) a bat mobile kiddy ride and c) the indoor playground which was full of older kids running wild and made me afraid that she'd get knocked down or get lost. she also behaved herself while waiting for the train and also in the train ride to/from the mall. at this rate i will be bringing her out more!

i like it that she can "self service" when it comes to the pram. she scrambles in and out very easily but at the same time she knows when to stay put and doesn't worm herself out unless we give the go ahead most of the time.

visited the zoo briefly this morning for breakfast and then took the less frequented route to see the crocodiles, pygmy hippos, white tigers and kangaroos. left as soon as the rain started, but i think baby had fun in the short time we spent there.

then it was off to see baby maya! i had almost forgotten how small newborns are! they are tiny!! and I could hold her in one hand for so long without feeling tired. not so for h nowadays!! h slept through the whole visit which was good in a way because we got to talk and not get distracted. 

we also managed to eat at longhouse on its last day before it is gone for good as an eating institution. :( i will miss having the best pork ribs noodle within decent traveling distance going forward. at least h got to have a taste before the store moves to balestier.

20 months - sick

baby fell sick over the weekend and is still recovering now. we've been feeding her a whole cocktail of meds - from amoxicillin to ibuprofen to ventolin to loosen phlegm, stop cough/cold, prevent vomiting and earlier to bring down her fever. 

a sick baby is a grumpy baby is a baby who doesn't sleep well. this whole week has left me short of sleep but surprising still able to make it through the work day relatively alert and energetic (does this mean i don't actually need 8 hours of sleep??!). some nights were bad - her getting up every hour and crying or whining for a least 15 minutes afterwards before settling down again. 

dealing with a crying baby is no fun. i try to tune it out where possible but actually i get more and more stressed with all the crying and sometimes i do feel like yelling at baby (not like it will stop the crying).

because we let her sleep without the aircon, she would also come over to our room and look for me knowing full well which side of the bed i slept on, and drag me to her room (mummy come, mummy lie down here, mummy stand up).

she'd also decide that she needed to poo in the middle of the night (h pass poo-poo now, yes.) and i would have to wait for her to poo in her potty while hiding her hands (it's the poo-ritual).

she's probably also over-consumed peppa pig videos this entire week as it is one of the few things that can keep her occupied for upwards of 10 minutes, allowing us some much needed zone-out time. she really loves those peppa pig videos in the app and knows how to ask for my phone or the iPad (mummy phone have also), which icon will play which story (at least 10 that she knows so far). i do like the series quite a bit too, as there are many mini lessons that we can use to teach her about sharing, taking care of others, saying sorry and respecting others .... 

really glad she's on the mend already. i need a good night's sleep of 8 hours in a row soon!

20 months - days of the week

baby is becoming more aware of our weekly schedule. monday to friday mornings see us getting her into her school uniform and then changing into our work clothes before setting off to her school. she will point out my jeans or work clothes and say "mummy wear this and go to work hor???!!!". she also says "h wear school uniform ... go to playground school!" and "mummy wear this one!" 

she's also beginning to link the weekends to "no need go playground school". she also knows she gets to stay home with the both of us when we don't change out of our pajamas in the mornings. 

one more day of "playground school" before the glorious weekend!

20 months - poo ritual

her latest ritual is to hold my hands while she does her dump in the potty. it's all very endearing and it's probably the longest span of time where i can hold her hand without her squirming away so i savour every moment. she also holds my hand when i am sitting on the toilet bowl. lovely.

to buy or not to buy

it's so easy to get caught up with baby-related consumerism when you're having your first child, but i have realised that some things aren't actually that necessary, no matter what the shop promoters and advertisements say.

1. strollers - by all means get one so that there's somewhere to plonk the baby while she is asleep so that you can eat/shop/whatever more comfortably while you are out, but don't splurge on a pram unless you are pretty sure your kid will stay in it for more than 5 minutes while awake. a baby carrier worked much better for us. 

2. fancy schmancy food prep machines - was very tempted to get one but realised there wasn't a need for one of those fancy contraptions when one preps baby mush in bulk. steaming/boiling veggies using normal kitchenware and the blender worked just as well.

3. high chair - the plastic white IKEA one works fine. we did get another booster seat so that we could use it at both the grandparents' place, but if the kid is staying in one place most of the time, the IKEA one is good enough.

4. rocker - only keeps baby in for a short period (maybe first 3 months or so) and for short spans of time, so don't splurge. the amount of time they spend in those things don't increase proportionately to the number of jingly toys hanging from the top. a play mat with jingly toys probably will see more use.

5. baby laundry detergent - no need, please.

6. fancy diaper bag - any roomy bag can be a diaper bag, please. I doubt the fancy diaper bags would have been big enough for my milk cooler bag plus hot water flask plus diapers plus milk bottle plus wet wipes plus random toy.

7. bottle warmer - erm, for what? if making formula then make it warm from the start. if warming up frozen/refrigerated breastmilk, just plonk in a large glass of hot water.

8. shoes - before they start walking. if you buy them, know that it is only for show. plus what's not to like about barefoot babies with chubby toes/feet!

9. sophie the giraffe - erm, no need. glad i didn't buy it because she'd probably lose interest within a day. she also had other things to chew on while teething, like her other toys!

will add more to the list along the way ....

on the other hand, i think we spent good money on the following:

1. medela pump in style breast pump - you save from not having to buy crazy expensive baby formula for the first year

2. aden & anais bamboo swaddle cloths - the cloth was so light and breathable.

3. philips baby monitor - especially necessary early on since baby was sleeping in a separate room since her second week.

4. huge playpen - it was good until she could climb over the top rail. we could snooze in it while she played without worrying that she'd get into trouble around the house. 

5. baby wipes - lots of them. there's no need to spend on the high-end brands though. the beautex one works fine.

6. babybjorn baby carrier air with back support - i brought baby out in this carrier all the time, especially for walks to the supermarket and other times when i was out alone. she loved the facing-out option and it was so convenient compared to lugging around a pram while potentially carrying the baby-who-refused-to-be-prammed-around. it's now quite difficult to use the carrier because baby is way too heavy for my back to take it!

babywise and wonder weeks - the former was a gift but i am paying it forward by passing it on to close friends.

20 months - FOTZ renewed

another example of how we have yet to cover all parts of the zoo despite being frequent visitors .... today we found out that there was a goat feeding area, and only because we were at the zoo with friends for a "zoo social" and they highlighted it to us. 

so baby and friends had a go with feeding the very aggressive goats who would head-butt each other to get to the long beans and carrots held out by the kids. baby was really funny - she just kept picking out the long beans to feed the goats and left all the carrots in the bucket. maybe it is because she likes long beans and decided to only feed those to the goats.

this is one of the few times we have gone to the zoo in the morning rather than late afternoon and i think i still prefer the late afternoon visits because it gets cooler over time. but i guess it's better to go in the mornings when we plan to bring baby to the water play area.

20 months - gummy bear temptation

this is her exercising a lot of restraint even though there were piles of gummy bears in front of her. we told her she could only have them AFTER dinner and she really listened and didn't fuss. didn't stop us from squeezing in a colour sorting lesson using the gummy bears though :D

she also kept saying "cannot put in the mouth har!" and then found other alternatives to keep those gummy bears close - like putting one in her nose. it's amusing watching her handle the temptation to gobble down those gummy bears and heeding what we told her. glad she listened to us!

20 months - in review

she's at a very fun age now and i love her company even though it means getting all tired out at the end of the day.

she talks a lot and is able to relate things that have already happened to us (like what made her mouth pain-pain) or even explain why certain things are the way they are. she tells us why the lift lobby floor is wet (raining.. shaaaa!) and why she can't go to the playground or library (dark already library close. dark already playground no lights) and lets us know what she wants us to do (mummy open for you. mummy repair. mummy drive you to playground school. mummy wear for you. eat mum-mum. mummy bathe with hannah. go supermarket/library/playground together). she gets excited knowing that we have plans for the weekend, and remembers what we tell her.

she gets more complex concepts like "together", "spoil already, repair" "some more" and "so much". 

she can take off her own shoes and knows exactly which cubby hole her shoes go into at school. 

she enjoys school and dropping her off is a breeze every morning (so thankful!).

best of all, she's one of those more social babies and will have a ready wave for anyone in the lift so long as you ask her to say hi. she also somehow bonds with our friends so they like her quite a bit.

she's a great kid.