Broken sleeps

“Things are going to get better, and they will usually start sleeping through the nights after 3 months”

Or so they say. And bollocks! I’d say, with “after 3 months” being the operative words here.

It has now been more than 3 months and I have been praying and hoping and wishing that one fine night, Spud will magically begin to sleep through the night. Not for just one intermittent night when she thinks she feels like it, but every.single.night. whether. she.likes.it.or.not.

I was extremely hopeful that it should have happened already as Spud has been a rather ok night-sleeper since she was 2 weeks old; waking up, at most twice a night for a feed. For some reason though, she seems to be going in reverse at the 3 month mark.

In the last few weeks, she has mastered the art of giving us night after night after night of broken sleeps. Suddenly we are getting up every couple of hours again as she yelps, fusses and cry through the night. First it was the tummy ache, a result for not crapping for a few days; then came the diarrhea; then we thought she was teething and then it was something else. The point it, the assault to our much needed rest was relentless as we suffer from too many broken sleeps. I can tell that the lack of much needed, restful sleep has taken a toll on me.

The thing is, if Spud does not sleep well, neither do we! And, it’s not like she has a sense of whether it is a weekday or weekend, 4am or 6 am…

Funny thing is, even when she sleeps badly at night, she usually wakes up with a gargantuan smile in the morning. Call me crazy, but I do wonder if she is just taking the piss out of us. I mean, if I had not known any better that she’s just this tiny little baby with no sense of time, I could have sworn she did it on purpose just to torment us.

I have honestly been quite a wreck these days. The broken sleeps from Spud being a fuss-pot in the wee hours of the night at almost every hour are just not funny anymore. While it is frustrating and puzzling, I guess she must have her reasons for doing so. It does appear that she may just be practicing her new skills of being able to kick off the blanket, suck her fingers or rolling over or whatever skills that she wants to master at this stage. The only thing is, with every new skill that needs mastering, these broken sleeps could potentially last forever!

At the moment, my hope of Spud sleeping through the night looks bleak. I wonder how much longer this will last before I lose my mind. Perhaps, I should start embarking on some tough love!

The term “sleeping like a baby” is so misleading. I mean, Hello?! Have you seen how my baby sleep? Slap you purple!

The things I do these days

Pumping is my ritual. It is not just a commitment; it is sheer hard work which has to be accommodated into your daily life if an inexpensive and a healthy supply of nourishment is what you are after. It is a routine and I pump at least 4x a day while in the office.

Having to pump outside of home also means that I have to carry an extra load with me all the time. I HAVE to lug my pump everywhere I go these days. In fact, I need to carry 3 freaking bags when I go to the office – my handbag, my laptop bag and my breast pump bag.

3.freaking.bags.

They not only put a toll on my shoulders, those 3 bags; they also make me look like a weirdo. Seriously, who carries 3 different types of bags to the office and then shuttle to and (sometimes) from work on foot?

I’m refusing to work any later than necessary these days, trying my darnest to get home before Spud’s bedtime. Hence, I would absolutely hate it if I have to walk home lugging my 3 bags just because traffic isn’t going anywhere. If I get stuck in traffic while trying to get home, chances are, I will not see Spud till the next day. And I will be pretty bummed by it.

So, I try to get home in time and the only way for that to happen is for me to sometimes walk home when traffic becomes a standstill. It is, however, an extremely daunting task to go on foot, especially so in the evenings because that’s when the little tote-pump-bag gets heavier, as the cooler bag is filled up with sachets of expressed milk.

But I still try, by stumbling on home with those bags weighing on my shoulders, and panting away looking like a complete idiot, along with my sweaty no-make-up face and untrimmed hair all over the place to complete the picture, while cussing at traffic for blocking my way, as well as feeling annoyed at myself for not being able to walk any faster. Not the most glam sight!

How things have changed! It is not very often that I would go to great lengths such as this, you know. I mean, the pumping, the cleaning, the sterilizing, the storing, the lugging of extra weight…oh man!.

The things Spud made me do these days! And all that just for an endearing sight like this when I walk through the door; making all that effort all worth it.

(Yes, she can now stand with her feet flat on the floor for up to a minute if she's being supported!)

It's back!

Yes, my friends. That elusive Peppermint Mocha has finally re-appeared after 2 years of hiatus from the market. It was such a great beverage that I was surprised, not to mention very disappointed when they took the beverage off their list during the year end season for several years!

There's definitely something about this Peppermint Mocha drink. I'm so, so, so addicted to it that I would not mind having it every day if I can.

Just to be clear, I'm not exactly a big supporter of Starbucks. I think they are over-priced, a bloody rip-off, and I have known of better places that serve much better coffee than Starbucks ever did for a third the price. However, there are 2 things I can't quite find anywhere else as easily; and so patronising Starbucks is just a matter of convenience:

• They serve decaf
• They now have that Peppermint Mocha drink

I have been waiting for this particular drink to make a comeback for ages! And, I have yet to find another place that serves better Peppermint Mocha at half the price. So, in this case, it will my exception to the "no Starbucks coffee" rule.

Ahh! Peppermint Mocha. Have it cold or hot and I still think nothing else beats the splendour of this minty drink for that festive, year-end feeling. I can smell that holiday feeling already!

And, NO. I.am.not.sharing.my.cup.

Sit & Grab

Spud has been busy learning new tricks to amuse us parents in the recent weeks! These days, she has been able to lift herself up to a sitting position, and then pull herself up to stand on both of her feet when we hold her hands. I guess that is considered quite an achievement for a 3 and half months old baby, eh!

Here are just a few recent pictures, capturing her sitting up (albeit a little wobbly!) while trying to grab one of her foot on one hand, and balancing herself by grabbing my fingers on the other hand.

Spud hates tummy time, though. Put her on her stomach for a few minutes and she gets royally annoyed. I reckon she won't be crawling anytime soon if she hates being on her stomach!

The one with expressed milk

Sometimes I feel like a cow which has its udders perpetually strapped to a milking machine.

You see, pumping (breast milk) has become an absolute necessity for me now that I am back to work. It is, of course, a personal choice for me to provide Spud with exclusive breast milk for at least the first 6 months of her life, and, I am fully committed to make this work. This is especially so after the initial hiccups of having to supplement with formula in the initial stages where I was led to believe that I was not producing enough milk.

There has been a mantra I live by, after being told by several well-meaning experienced moms who support exclusive breastfeeding that, unless you are diagnosed with a terrible medical condition, there is no such thing as not having enough breast milk. And, as I learnt with breast milk, it is nothing but a supply and demand process. More nursing or pumping will result in a greater milk supply. If one consistently decrease nursing or pumping for several days, the overall milk supply will decrease and apparently, you can expect to see a lesser pumped output.

As such, keeping up my supply of breast milk is more of a challenge now that I am not able to feed on demand any longer. Granted, pumping is actually a hell lot of work! I used to get so obtusely frustrated and annoyed whenever I had to pump. Not only do you have to ensure that the bottles and pumping equipment are clean and sterilized, you also have to ensure that they are cleaned-up well after every pumping session. Do this for 10-15 minutes, up to 7x a day, every day just to keep up your milk supply, and it would be enough to drive anyone insane! Not the most fun thing to do in your spare time, I assure you.

It is still not the thing I enjoy doing most these days, but pumping has now become a daily ritual of mine that I guess I can easily do them while being blindfolded. What became an interesting find during that few weeks of ‘boot camp pumping’ before I was due to go back to work was how close the amount of pumped milk to Spud’s intake was.

Simply means, whenever Spud feeds from the bottle almost at the same time (+/- 1 hour lapse) when I pump, I noticed that the amount of pumped milk vs Spud’s intake were almost similar (+/- 5 ml). This was not a once off thing, but truly at almost every feed and pump session done in tandem! Isn’t the body just strangely amazing!

I used to scoff when I heard people saying (one of them being Silver Bullet telling me) that thinking of the baby and visualizing the baby suckling can help with increased flow of breast milk while pumping. I thought it was all complete bollocks; that is, until I gave it a go. For some reason unbeknown to me, it worked like a charm and I’ve got milk flowing like there was no tomorrow whenever I think of Spud while I pumped away!(in spurts, not the entire pumping time!)

Honestly, as graphic and icky as it sounds, I swear the breasts just got all full and engorged whenever there was a crying baby nearby; as if a signal for me to immediately feed every baby on the streets or go pump all the milk out.

I know what you are thinking; but cross my heart, hope to die that I am not exaggerating here. The body is truly amazing, and sometimes, these new experiences overwhelm me.

One thing for sure though: with all the pumping, bottle feeding and the occasional  breastfeeding I get to do nowadays (night feeds only and intermittently over the weekends), I’m quite certain there will be no major issue of weaning Spud off my breasts when the time comes. (Fingers cross!)

New toy: Meaning of life

There can never have too many remote controls in one household these days. You know, that little device with lots of buttons that can be used to control a machine or apparatus from a distance meant for lazy bums like us, and usually comes as a separate component with the TV, the DVD player, the fan, the stereo, the air-conditioner, the satellite or cable box, game console, amplifier…

You name it and they probably make a remote for every single household item you can think of! And that is how we ended up with at least 6 remote controls just for the living room. Just about 5 too many.

Not only do these devices take up lots of space, contributing to unnecessary coffee-table clutter and fast becoming an eye-sore with just too many of them, it is also difficult to keep up or sort through the dozens of different remotes for the various electronic equipment.

So we’ve had it with those darn remotes and decided to do something about it. We smashed them up, pull out all the colourful buttons, karate-chopped them into bits, put them all in a blender and then stuffed them into the microwave oven.

And then it was magic.

Enter the Universal Remote.

(Ok. Obviously I lied about what we did with all the remote controls we have…although there were times aplenty when I felt that way!)

So. This magical remote has been supremely god sent; thanks to my father-in-law who planted seeds of geeks into Silver Bullet’s already geeky head. I never realised that my father-in-law is a closet geek (sorry dad!) but I remember seeing how his face lighted up ever so LED-bright as he so passionately and animatedly told Silver Bullet about this nifty little device. Apart from the price, we needed little convincing. Within hours, he got Silver Bullet excitedly drooling (more than Spud ever did) over a piece of an electronic device that could potentially improve our way of life. All hook, line and sinker!

Within days, we had Silver Bullet scouring online and within weeks, this little device was sent to our home.

Enter the Logitech Harmony Advanced Universal Remote Control. It is so smart; it is the most fabulous thing on earth. (I have every reason to believe that was designed by a geek.) It is a one touch activity-based control where you can program up to 15 electronic devices in ONE remote. Believe it or not, that is really all it takes to watch TV or a DVD, listen to the radio, watch TV, play a game or turn on the fan. No more going through a bunch of remotes just to turn on the TV or spend precious 15 minutes figuring out what went wrong or most importantly spending hours explaining to guests how to work those remotes when we are not around.

The buttons can be customized for specific tasks. Backlighting is provided for the buttons as well as the LCD display. The remotes are also rechargeable via the charging station, with low battery notification available when in use.

Getting started is as easy as using the included USB cable to plug the remote into the computer. Then, all you have to do is enter the make and model numbers of the components you have and answer questions about your entertainment setup—like what components are needed for different activities, how everything is connected, and what input is needed for what.

Best of all for an idiot user like me, if, any other component(s) that may be required to use it (such as turning on a TV also when playing a DVD) is not turned on, you can just press a button for help. The device is so smart that it will start searching the set-up again. Once rectified, it will prompt you to answer with a “Did that solve your problem?” All you have to do is hit yes or no. If no, the device will continue to search for the problem and rectify the problem immediately.

Tell me that this isn’t the most intelligent thing ever! What I’d do without my closet geek father-in-law and my darling geeky husband, right! It has only been 3 days since we started using it, but its presence has already made its mark on us.

Super-dooper-yippee-yay! Now THAT is the meaning of life.

Stacked shelf

One of the better tips given to us by a know-it-all-new-parent to a soon-to-be-new parents (us) was to get a stacked shelf for our newborn baby. Although unsolicited, it turned out to be one of the better advices we got from random people.

It also was easily one of  "those things" which we don’t really think about when we were about to become parents. I have to say, for us, it worked like a charm as buying it was one of the best decisions we ever made. With so many baby items to store, this stacked shelf scores a perfect 10 for convenience and practicality, simply because it allows you to keep things handy for as and when you need them. It is also best to get those stacked shelf with rollers as then you can push it along with you everywhere you go around the house.

It is just so nifty to have around. I know without this, I will be driving myself mad if I have to run to the room every time Spud does a poo/pee, (which in combination, can be up to 12x a day), a spit-up, or just having to change clothes because she wets them while at it

It took us a while to find this shelf in Bangkok, and we finally managed to find one we like from Home Pro. We can’t be happier with the purchase. Certainly a great thing to have!

Quote of the day

"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world"

So simple, so loaded. It is such a beautifully phrased sentence.

The lioness' den

The day-cot which we used to have, tucked in between the living room and dining area where Spud was once "displayed", has now been banished to Spud’s soon-to-be room.

While it was a convenient thing to have in Spud’s early days (we don’t have to shuttle between the bedroom and living room when she is awake) and a convenience for later (it is also a travel cot), we felt that with her developments in the recent weeks, she’d be better off not being in the cot in the day time.

So, just about 3 weeks ago, the day-cot has now been replaced with something else that is more appropriate for a developing baby. This Tiger-Leo baby now has her own “den”!

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we are stuffing her in a cage like an animal or something. Rather this “den” allows her to have a little bit more freedom for acrobatics on the hard floor rather than on a squishy day-cot mattress. On top of that, it is a much safer alternative where she can be left on her own for a little while; yet allowing us to observe her from afar as we attend to other stuff. It also works with the cats as we don’t have to worry about those munchkins jumping into the cot and onto Spud when she is unsupervised.

Spud is actually much happier being in there where she can observe the world around her. It keeps her occupied for a little bit longer and her attempts at acrobats are no longer hampered by a squishy mattress!

Once in a while, you get the cats watching Spud from outside the "den". I have an inkling that they are just glad that they aren't the ones in it! And when this lioness roars...the cats will quickly make themselves scarce!

Flat shoes

I remember how my feet ached like crazy whenever I wore heels after the 2nd trimester of my pregnancy. The pain on my feet was so bad that it continued to throb long after I had taken off my shoes.

Being the katek* that I am, I actually shunned away from those flats mainly because of vanity. At only 155 cm tall, wearing heels was my way of deluding myself that I am “tall enough’, and if throbbing feet was the only price I had to pay for a decent height, so be it!

(Un)Fortunately, I could not last that long, as wearing heels really took a toll on me as my weight increased in proportion to the size of my pregnant tummy. I remember how the bottom of my feet would hurt to no end for days and days. So bad was the pain that I had to a switch (unwillingly, may I add!) to wearing flat shoes! And flats were my only mode of transport when I am out and about for many, many months. Until recently.

Now that I am no longer pregnant, I rejoiced at the thought of being able to wear all my heels and platform shoes, and finally feeling decently ‘tall’ once again. However, after a 9 hour work day in heels for several days, (and still trying to lose my pregnancy weight), my optimism and attachment to heels was met with some discomfort of aching and sore feet. My feet had undergone a very rude shock.

I guess I should screw it with vanity; I really should consider going back to flats. They can indeed be the most comfy shoes ever!

*Katek means shorty in Malay

Rainbow

Saw a partial rainbow on my way to work today. It has been a while since I last saw one, too. What a lovely sight to start the day!

The one with new friends

Spud made some friends recently when a few of us moms decided to get together for a Mom's meet just a few weeks before I went back to work.

These babies range from 3 to 8 months old here with Spud being the youngest. An interesting combination of various nationalities (Dutch-Singaporean, Australian, American, Japanese, ) had one of the moms mentioned of the pictures being oh-so-Benetton!

All are charbos and at a certain stage when the picture was taken, they were just grabbing each other's hands and stuffing hands that don't belong to them in their own mouths! Hilarious.

I'm gonna miss such Moms' meet now that my weekdays are spent being a corporate slave.

*Charbo: Meaning girl in Hokkien

The Nanny story

[Warning: An extremely lenghty blog post]

Disclaimer:
Not intended to slight the capability of The Nanny, rather this was written from my POV based on a first-hand experience of having to hire and work with a domestic help for the first time in my life!

So we fired our previous nanny who has been working with us for more than 3 months just last Monday evening. I thought I had jinxed it when I mentioned the other day about having a nanny whom we can trust. It turned out that firing her might have been the best decision ever since we have found someone better and definitely more capable than she ever was.

To those curious, what actually happened was this:

Just a week before I was due to go back to work, The Nanny decided that pissing me off without rhyme or reason was her right.  Apart from coming in late, and not just for a day, but for subsequent days after that, she turned up for work with a long face and looking all grumpy as if she had been forced to cry over a her sworn enemy. To make matters worse,  she pretty much minded her own business the moment she walked into our place by cooping herself in the laundry room and ignoring not only Silver Bullet and me, but Spud as well.

Although I generally don't like the idea of having a nanny around, that sentiment was not personal. Her change of attitude really came out of nowhere as I had not felt anything amiss prior to this. Initially, I shrugged it off as just a bad case of waking up on the wrong side of the bed. When I first asked her about it on the first day when she was at it, she snapped at me with a "why you say like that?" accompanied by a glare I have not seen before. 

While I was a little taken aback, I let it slide and shrugged it off when she said "it was nothing". I continued to observe her for the next 2 days, hoping for some improvement. It went from bad to worse as she basically ignored Spud completely and was not attentive to her when I expected her to take over. After all, I am going back to work soon, so might as well relinquish some control. However,  I caught her staring into space  several times while she had Spud on her lap. She did not even interact with Spud and left her to her own devices. Worse, she let the poor kid cried frantically and did not make any attempt to soothe her even though she was carrying her in her arms then. She went just stoic and literally did not give a damn, waiting for me to take over so she can go home early.

When I finally confronted her about it after having seen her long and black face* 3 days later, she finally LET.IT.RIPPED. She said she was not happy because she thought I was not happy with her, just because I never said anything about liking her. She basically accused me of preventing her to get to know Spud by not allowing her to be a part of the family. She felt mommy and nanny should be doing things together all the time for the well-being of the baby. She went as far as to say that her previous employer had jokingly said to her that they were jealous that their kids were closer to the nanny (i.e. HER) than their own mother;  as if to say that she did such a good job as a nanny. In my mind, if any mother had said that to the nanny, there really is something wrong in the relationship. The Nanny added on, as if patronising me, by saying that the mother should not be jealous of the nanny because the child knows how to differentiate the two. The mother should let the nanny do her job as a nanny; but they have to do everything together.

But excuse me, I see everything wrong in all of that for obvious reason. I want my child to grow up with our values, not The Nanny and certainly it is not up to The Nanny to mould my kids as to how The Nanny wanted them to be! What a freak.

It appeared that she had  been bottling up her resentment of  having done more of the household chores and less of nanny-ing all this time whilst I have been on maternity.Honestly, it was not something she did not know. We had emphasised that over and over again when we hired her, and I reminded her what she signed up for having accepted the job when I confronted her. 

I thought it was sad when I had to point it out to her on the fact that I needed the 3 months to spend time with my own daughter simply because I will not be able to do that anymore during the day when I start working. While she acknowledged that, she still emphasised on "doing things together" because now she "doesn't know my daughter". I am not sure if she was just stubborn or daft, but I felt like she thought she should be the one to take over caring for the baby, of which I figured, she would have ample time to do that when I go back to work!

However, why she did what she did when she knew I was going back to work within a few days was beyond me. I was willing to give her another chance after our chat, but unfortunately while she did try to act civil, I could tell that her heart was not in it. She was cold and inattentive. On Friday, I came home with Spud and found her sleeping with her head on the dining table instead of doing the rest of the housework which she was supposed to do. I started feeling uneasy and somehow, Spud seemed to sense the tension and got crankier. Nothing The Nanny did could calm her down and, only when I took over from The Nanny did Spud stop crying. When she left that Friday evening, she did not even say bye to Spud. That was when I decided that we had enough of her attitude and we should not be tolerating such behaviour in our own home.

Honestly, had she waited it out till when I go back to work proper, it would not have come to this.

When we both came home together that Monday evening, she actually smiled a million smiles, looking happier than the week before. However, our mind was made up. Perhaps she did not see it coming, and if anything, she did this to herself.  We told her that we actually have been quite happy with her up until last week. When we told her that we think she should leave and that it was her last day with us, we thought she looked surprised. Her parting shot to us was this, "When you not around, I can do my Nanny work. I waiting for this week when you not home, and show you what I can do with your baby. My old employer, happy with me and baby happy". She did not even say bye to Spud when she left.

Somehow we have not been on a level plane. She clearly misunderstood that in no uncertain terms did  we ever want to leave Spud completely in the hands of The Nanny and give her the autonomy on raising our child her way. I guess it was something she was used to as her previous employers were hands-off parents, making her the main caregiver of the child. The same is NOT true for us.

I guess we should have seen the signs earlier on. Alarm bells were ringing, but we did not know any better since it was our first time hiring a nanny/domestic help. For instance, she was not too willing to carry Spud , limiting the carrying from the cot to the bouncer and vice-versa. (We thought it was normal then). She would cringe when Spud start to suck on her arms,or on any part of her skin Spud could find to suck on. Spud usually does not like it when her diaper is a little wet, but The Nanny would not change it if it is 'not wet enough'. Her idea of watching over Spud is literally just watch her by sitting next to her cot, limiting physical touch. She hardly ever acknowledged the cats, and will avoid touching them, always shooing them away when they come near Spud instead of introducing the cats as friends to Spud. She unabashedly reported to me that she had to call one of the maids for help when I left her alone at home with Spud as Spud was screaming her lungs out because she was hungry. She panicked as Spud got hysterical and she had to prepare milk. (She did this a few times; once she called me several times when I was out. I thought it was forgivable since Spud is not a very easy baby). Our chemistry has been lukewarm, sometimes cold and uneasy. On a personal level, I hated her baby-talk voice.

On top of that, she raided our fridge all the time. Our sack of rice was gone in 2 weeks when it usually will take both Silver Bullet and me TWO MONTHS to finish one bag. There were also several occasions when I wanted to cook and realised that nothing was left. She simply took them without asking. Our grocery bills were doubling up week on week.

Looking back, there really was a weak fit and she simply took our kindness for granted. I guess we learn from our ignorance and mistake.

They say everything happened for a reason. As silly as it seemed, we have her to thank for pulling such a stunt. Had she not done what she did a week prior to me going back to work, we would not know what we are missing.

We have now found a new nanny. Currently, we could not be happier with our choice. She seems dedicated, genuinely loves Spud (Spud took to her like ducks to water) and extremely hardworking. What is most important is that we are very comfortable with her and confident of her skills.

We hope we can catch a break and that this works out better for us this time round.

Spud & Nanny #1:

This was the very 1st time I caught her staring out into nothingness. She remained like that for a good 15 minutes, unaware that I was snapping away right behind her. At that time, I thought the image looked nice for a photo opp. Now I knew better.

Hand-to-mouth phase

Spud has been quite a joy to hang around with these days. I wonder if it is the doing of our new nanny, or just the fact that she got to the 3 months mark where everyone says "it will get get better!"

I managed to snap a picture when Nanny #2 exclaimed excitedly to me as Spud tried to grab the bottle and put it in her mouth herself just before I walked out of the door. I almost did not want to go to work!

What a funny, yet an endearing sight!

Baby Carriers in review

Carrying a baby strapped to you like a starfish is the best there is when navigating the streets of Bangkok. I could hardly call myself an expert on this, but I guess having been wearing Spud for a while now does count for a bit in terms of the experience with the different types of baby-carriers.

Interestingly, those who wear their babies here are in the minority. This is quite evident from the (un)availability in the different types of baby carriers sold commercially in this city. It is pretty hard to find suitable baby-carriers from the big departmental stores here, and if you do find one, chances are they are usually sold in some sort of specialty stores.

[Baby Björn]

It is of no surprise that the first carrier we owned is Baby Björn. We decided to buy it in Singapore months before Spud was born simply because the brand is widely available. In fact, the brand came highly recommended as the best-selling carrier by the salesperson we interacted with (DUH! right, come to think of it.) I honestly don’t have any major issues with Baby Björn for when I first started using it, I thought it felt very comfortable. We had used Baby Björn only in the first 2 or 3 weeks of Spud’s life intermittently. The only reason I stopped using it was mainly because I started to experiment with other types of carrier. It was later that I found out from the internet and subsequently from the Baby Wearing Club that while Baby Björn was responsible for making baby wearing mainstream, there were a lot of controversies behind it. Apparently, there have been some suggestions that the position of which the carrier seats the baby can be detrimental to the development of the hips and spine. The way it was designed requires the the baby to be suspended by its crotch with legs dangling about; forcing all of baby’s weight to hang from his/her pelvis which puts undue stress and pressure on that little pelvis and spine.

I am not sure how true this is, so to each his/her own. However, I do realise that the dangling legs position is not very natural for a small baby and I did notice that Spud tend to slump whenever she was being carried in the Baby Björn .That Baby Björn is not cheap, mind you! Since we hardly use it, it is now collecting dust in the closet.

[The Sling]
I got on to The Sling out of curiosity since it was a gift from my brother and his wife. It was cumbersome to use initially and it took a bit of getting used to. I did notice that with The Sling, Spud always calm down almost immediately whenever I put her in it.

For me, one other advantage of using The Sling is really the ability to breastfeed in public discreetly. The only drawback however, is the fact that all the weight is carried by one shoulder and it does put a strain on my already bad back…which is not good!

One thing I learnt from wearing The Sling is how important the texture of the material is. As mine is one that is soft and silky, while is nice and cool to the touch, it tends to slide quite a bit from the ring. As a result, I have to keep adjusting when I have it on me as Spud will keep sliding down because of her weight.

The best material for the sling would be a sturdy cotton material that will not slide from the ring that easily.

[Mei-Tai]

This is my favourite baby carrier so far simply because it feels really snug and comfortable. It did take Spud a little bit of adjustment but once she got used to it, she loves being carried in it and will easily fall asleep while in it.

Not only does it give me a better shoulder and back support as compared to The Sling, I also feel more secure carrying Spud in a Mei-Tai. So secure that I think I have mastered the art of discreetly breastfeeding hands-free while I’m in a taxi or walking around in a mall and just about anywhere. And so far, unless they peer into my kangaroo pouch, no one has caught on when a froggy-leg positioned Spud is being breastfed whilst she is tucked snug in my Mei-Tai!

I am currently intending to look for a different variation of Mei-Tai, just because they can be so cool looking!

*Image from onelovebabycarriers.com

[The Wrap]
The Wrap is essentially a long piece of cloth that needs crazy tying! Certainly needs a lot of getting used to and currently, it is a little bit too daunting for me to use.

It definitely is the most versatile from what I have seen so far and I reckon, I will need loads of practice to master the use of The Wrap. I am slowly warming up to it though and it is something I would like to embark on. I am still researching a little bit more on this before I commit to a purchase.

While baby wearing can be such a cool thing for new age moms, I swear baby wearing is an art in itself. There are so many cool looking carriers out there and they pique my curiosity to no end. I always wonder how the different types of carriers carry.

Call me silly, but I think baby wearing is just so awesome!

What a morning!

Boring days? Nah...! In fact, boring days are rather hard to come by these days. If anything, my days have gotten to be rather colourful. Especially today. Stressful, but "colourful".

Happening #1:
Our day started with an early morning visit to the hospital  for Spud's blood test for the diarrhoea she has had since last week. While at it, we lugged along her diapers full of poop as evidence for the doctor's examination. It was a visit neither Silver Bullet nor me enjoyed very much especially after seeing how the nurses tried to draw blood from her while trying to look for a vein . It was quite heartbreaking for me to see Spud in agony as they poked her again and again in one arm for quite a while when they tried to draw blood. And after a lot of tries which seemed like eternity, they had to search again  from Spud's other arm and started the poking all over again while she screamed her lungs out. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do but try to hold her still as she screamed her lungs out in agony. I cannot imagine that it is a pleasant job for these nurses.  As an adult, I hate that vein routine...what more for a small child! I squirmed and cringed and even let out a tear or two while they manhandled Spud. It certainly was not a pleasant morning for us!

Happening #2:
When we were almost done at the hospital, we gave our new nanny a call to let her know the time she could start work. As fate has it, she had actually texted us earlier, informing us of her medical emergency with her niece and therefore could not turn up for work. I have to admit that I did think that she might have decided to suddenly turn her back on us. I started to wonder if we should continue our search for a new one as I was afraid she would not show up the next day as I have to be at work! That thought loomed in my head the whole day, but was assured by Silver Bullet's confidence of her.

We.shall.see.

Happening #3:
An American guy had committed suicide in my office building by jumping off  the 3rd floor just when I got to the main building. Had Silver Bullet dropped me off at the usual entrance, I certainly would have had faced death right on my track. What made my hair stood on ends was that it happened within mere minutes just when I entered from another side entrance. I am just glad I did not see the scene for I do not know how I would react or how the sight could have affected me for the rest of my day.

[Somebody had blogged about it, taking pictures of the scene and all. However,I don't feel right sensationalising someone else's plight by providing the link here. May he rest in peace.]

I don't think I could take anymore excitement for the rest of the day. Any more to this would give me massive heart palpitations.

Chalking up experiences

My first day back at work was a little overwhelming as I get back into the grind by catching up with all the work I have missed, undertake new ones as well as trying to manage my stress level with The Nanny issue looming over my head after an extremely stressful weekend. I can only remember the day as being in a big huge frenzy.

We can't seem to catch a break with the last few days being particularly hectic:

• Search for a new nanny began last Friday night
• Spent literally 2 1/2 days back-to-back interviews of a potential babysitter/domestic help since Saturday
• Spud had an inflammation of her intestines and been having diarrhoea for a week. Diagnosed with food allergy on Sunday.Have to go for blood test on Tuesday.
• Me starting work on Monday. Loads of projects to catch up on.
• Having to fire our current Nanny on Monday evening.
• Missed out on hiring a really good candidate by mere minutes as when she picked up our call, she has just finished and interview of which she was hired on the spot. (major, major boo!)
• Cancelling on one candidate whom we thought we were going to hire. (Super stress!)
• Hiring a new babysitter/domestic help by end of Monday night.

What a way to start a work week after a 3 month maternity leave! Life should be so interesting.

Three Months

Another month passes by, another milestone for Spud as she hit the 3 month mark today.

When I hear stories from other moms, I have to say that Spud has not been the easiest baby.

These days though, while she can still be somewhat cranky, she has been mostly smiles, drools and gurgles and most times, pleasant to be with. When not fussing, she is quite a happy baby and has started to let out strings of big laughs as well.

I reckon she has started to recognise her environment and beginning to sort out who's who in her life. We know she definitely prefers me and Silver Bullet. She accepts the nanny and while acknowledges other people and strangers talking to her, she will not tolerate them carrying her. On this, I foresee a big challenge ahead as, at present, we have a major nanny issue at such untimely period when I have to go back to work! (A rant for another post, another time).

They say it gets easier once babies get to the 3 month mark. We can only hope it holds true for us.

Here's another mugshot taken for more documentation and coincidentally (again!) just a few days shy of being 3 months old. It seems quite hard to get a flattering mugshot...and on this one, I have no idea where she got those hideous ears from!

Smiles everywhere

Thailand is such a baby-crazy country that almost every Thai on the streets would coo, giggle and probably ovulating at the same time as soon as they see a baby.

These days, it is so easy to elicit a smile from people on the streets just by having Spud around with us. I swear that every turn we take, there’s almost always someone smiling at us. This is what they usually do:

Look at me (or Silver Bullet).Look at baby. Look at me (or Silver Bullet) again.
Grin.
Coo.
Giggle. (Ovulate)
Smile.
Look at Spud again. Look at me (or Silver Bullet).
Grin.
Coo.
Giggle.(Ovulate)

I’m telling you it is almost like clockwork!

What struck me as plain weird (and even annoying) is that while they remember to smile whenever they see a baby in tow, for some reason they forgot the most sensible thing --- like holding the elevator door for you while you struggle to get into it with a baby that is either in the stroller or strapped to you.

Sometimes I wonder if this happens only when you are in Thailand.

Opor Daging

This dish does not look visually appetizing, but the taste definitely over-compensates what it looks like. It is a dish that does not include chillies for a start. For a dish that is usually served on special occasions, it definitely is easy to make without much hassle!

Ingredients:

• Chicken or Beef
• 2 tspn ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• half an inch fresh ginger peeled and coarsely sliced
• 3 roasted candle nuts or raw almonds or macadamia nuts (I used mac nuts in my dish and it was heavenly!)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 6 shallots, sliced
• 1 tspn ground white pepper
• 160 ml of coconut milk
• 1 thick slice of galangal*, bruised
• 1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
• 1 piece cinnamon stick
• 2 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 tumeric leaf (sliced finely)
• 2 tablespoon tamarind water
• 1 teaspoon of palm/dark brown sugar to taste
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Cut the chicken/beef into pieces
2. Grind/blend coriander, cumin, ginger, chosen types of nuts, garlic, shallots and white pepper into a paste
3. Toss in the blended paste in #2 in a wok with about 2 tablespoon of oil and fry till fragrant
4. Add the chicken/beef pieces and stir fry into the paste
5. Add in coconut milk, galangal*, lemongrass, cinnamon, lime leaves and simmer gently, uncovered until the meat is cooked and gravy is thick.
6. Add tamarind water, sugar, salt and stir on low heat
7. Lastly, throw in the finely sliced tumeric leaf and continue to simmer for 15 minutes
8. Serve it with white rice or ketupat (rice cakes)

The recipe is taken off "Southeast Asian Food" book, and as always, I have modified it a little bit by playing with the portions. My version did not have any galangal in it simply because I only realised that I have run out of galangal after preparing everything else and they have all gone into the pan. Somehow, I don't think it made much of a difference without it.

This is truly a case of never judge a book by its cover.  For, as hideous as it looked, it tasted absolutely yummilucious and worth a repeat. Definitely one of those recipes for folks not too fond of spicy food.

Commuting nightmare

Every time I walk on the streets and pavements of Bangkok, I cringed at the thought that one fine day, heels or no heels; I might just trip-up, fall flat on my face and break my ankles.

Me being a major klutz aside, the sidewalks of Bangkok are not too friendly for pedestrians on foot. With uneven pathways, pot holes and weird things sticking out of nowhere, Bangkok is certainly not very stroller-friendly . Considering the existing condition of these sidewalks, being out and about with a stroller can be quite a feat.

Add that to the fact that all BTS stations here were not constructed in the most efficient way for commuters as escalators were poorly installed. As such, anyone who is wheel-chair bound can expect a very cumbersome commuting experience. Imagine the sheer difficulty of trying to negotiate your way when all BTS stations tend to have only ONE escalator for each direction and always only going UP. While ascending to the station will not be a problem, descending crazy flights of steps with a stroller can be a sheer nightmare!

We found that out the hard way when we brought our stroller while trying to commute by BTS. It was frustratingly idiotic as we both had to haul the stroller down many, many flight of steps once we get out of the train to exit the stations. What baffled me was the fact that only Siam station is installed with an elevator! O.N.E (or probably two as I thought I saw an elevator at Asok's station) measly station and then you will be shit out of luck when you get out of the other stations as they don’t have any elevators around. Help is also not easy to find since most people would already throng their way out of the stations as quickly and as far away from you as they can! I was thinking then that there is no way I can manage the stroller and a baby on my own if I were to take the BTS to get around! That being said, I really cannot imagine for a second what life would be like with a baby and without the baby carriers!

It already is hard for people with babies with strollers. Can you imagine how difficult it is then for the wheel-chair bound? It really is a shame that there is certainly almost no room for the wheel-chair bound to navigate their way around the public transportation system in this city.

Funny how we started thinking of these when we now have a baby on-board.

One Love Mei-Tai

My Mei-Tai goes everywhere we go these days. With Spud around, we don’t leave home without it. Funnily enough, wherever we are, we tend to attract a lot of attention whenever we put our Mei-Tai in motion. To my surprise, a lot of people really seem to be intrigued by it and I have had a few moms and moms-to-be asking me about my Mei-Tai.

I knew about Mei-Tai from the first Baby Wearing Club session I went to where I had the opportunity to try on several different types of carriers. I got hooked on it and promptly bought it from the business owner of One Love Baby Carrier who was participating in an event a few days later.

As I needed an alternative carrier rather badly at that time, I bought one that was already in stock. The one that I have is a 2-pocket Mei-Tai. The pockets come in very handy to stuff in a couple of diapers and wet-wipes, allowing me to be hands-free.

I have not looked back since and it is now a trusted buddy. Even Silver Bullet likes it. (Although he does wish that the strap is longer to accommodate his cute tummy!).

One Love produces only one unit of each design per production batch. If you like, you can get yourself a customised Mei-Tai from her online shop as well. I like the fact that you can design your own Mei-Tai and do mix and match based on what they have. I do think the prices are reasonable, too.

Certainly a great (and definitely useful) item for gifting, if you ask me!

Last Leg

My days at home of being a full-time mom are numbered as I stepped into the very last week of my maternity leave on this first week of November.

How do I feel about that?

To be really frank, I can’t quite answer that question for I don’t exactly know how I feel about that. It somehow feels like I have taken an extended “vacation” from work and like any other vacation, I eventually will have to get back into the grind. At this point, my honest answer is that going back to work is just something I have to do.

Am I looking forward to it?

Well…my answer is, yes to a certain extend as I think I can benefit from the social setting the workplace generally provides as well as the mental stimulation that comes with it. Okay, some form of mental stimulation (or not!) depending on the types of morons I encounter on a daily basis.

On the other hand, the thought of not being able to see Spud’s development first hand is not very appealing, while dreading the fact that she has to spend most of her time in the hands of a Nanny.

So, no; at this point, I don’t really have a concrete answer to those questions. I am only glad for the following when I rejoin the workforce:

1. Spud has taken to the bottle like a champ and is still taking the breast with no problems at all
2. We have a nanny whom we can trust (or at least, we think so)
3. I should be able to ease in into my job smoothly

With all other things, I guess we should be able to sort them out as we go along.

These days, I try to get out of the house as often as I can without bringing Spud along with me just so that she can get used to not having her momma around all the time. And suddenly I have some time on my hands to arrange lunches, go for a deserving foot massage and even a session of much a needed mani-pedi! (yes, I have nice feet and fingers again!)

While it really is nice to be able to get some time-out for myself after an intensive full-on, 24/7-in-your-face-on-the-job-training of mommydom  for 3 months at a stretch, I actually started thinking about Spud and then realise that I miss her after only being away from her for a few hours! Funny that.

I surprise myself sometimes. I guess I have come a long way…

Saturday Brekkie

Half an hour hunky-dory morning drive ...

Nice, cool weather…

Quiet, peaceful ambience…

Fabulous spread of eggs, cheese, toast and taters…

Yummilicious lattes - Macadamia Nut Latte for Silver Bullet, a Decaf Toffee Nut Latte for me and plenty of expressed breast milk in a bottle to spare for a potentially hungry baby…

Luscious chocolate fudge cake...

And most importantly, Spud being in an absolutely fantabulous agreeable mood made the day extra pleasant than it already was.

What a delightful family breakfast at CDC on a Saturday!

Doting Grams II

Lucky Spud has another set of doting Grams from far away Holland coming by to visit her in the last 2 weeks bearing a suitcase full of gifts. Yes, one mid-size suitcase full of nothing but gifts of clothes and toys just for her! Spud should be so lucky.

Unfortunately for both Opa and Oma, getting acquainted with Spud was a little bit of a challenge despite they coming by almost every day and spending more than 5 hours around her each time for almost 2 weeks straight. It seems that Spud has recently been at a stage where she has begun to recognise people, and as such does not take on to unfamiliar faces that easily. To add on to that, we had just started to put her on the bottle round about the time they were here. At that time, Spud was mostly super cranky and not easily comforted, which had only made “making friends” a little bit harder than it should.

While both Opa & Oma faced some challenges when they tried to carry her (usually followed by a kahuna of a wail!), they did spend a lot of time entertaining her face to face. If timed at the right moments, Spud will usually respond with Ah-goos, smiles and squeals whenever Opa & Oma talked to her. Although difficult at first, Opa & Oma did managed to bottle feed her several times and (*drumroll*) put her to nap when she got tired! I am glad that despite some hiccups, they at least spent quite a bit of quality time together!





I don’t know how baby’s mind work, but I do hope she is able to retain some memory of her paternal grandparents when we visit them next year!