Crawl, baby crawl.....stand, baby stand.....

Our little one has managed to progress from commando style crawling to proper crawling at around 6.5 months. He's been elated to discover that he can actually move so much faster with his tummy off the floor. I also discovered that his legs are quite strong, they can even take him up slopes.

The above picture was taken at Gymboree, whereby he was encouraged to crawl up a slight elevated slope of about 30 degrees. He managed to reach the top and this mummy was so happy......hahahaha.

And a month later, he started pulling himself up to a standing position in his cot. I know, I really should lower that cot before he falls off.

He is really growing too fast.......and I know I will soon miss this baby stage.

Play, baby play

This cheeky baby is no longer interested in his own baby toys. He is more interested in koko's toys as seen in the picture above. Although there is a 3 year age gap between Josh and Bryant, they play very well together. Of course there's the occasional snatching of toys and resulting cries but nevertheless, it is a joy to watch them playing together. So heartwarming to see them enjoying each other's company.

Recently, B has been babbling more and more. And we can finally make out certain sounds. At 6.5 months, he could say "ba ba". J started with "ma ma" first. And a couple of weeks later, B included "ma ma" in his vocabulary. He loves to "talk" a lot. And he is really cute when he does so.

Constipation in babies

Our older son, Joshua never suffered from constipation. I guess he inherited more of hubby's genes. Both of them defecate easily. However Bryant is not so lucky. He is more like mummy. Even before I started solids, he wasn't able to have a bowel movement everyday. He usually poops once every 2 days.

When Bryant started solids at 5 months, his constipation got worse. I did a google search and discovered that rice cereal can lead to constipation. Thus I stopped rice cereal for a couple of days and fed him avocado and sweet potato instead. His stool became softer and he seemed much more comfortable. Therefore, to prevent further constipation episodes in Bryant, I had to do my research on what food to feed him. Food that can lead to constipation are:

• rice cereal
• apple
• banana
• carrot

So I had to give him food that are more easily digestible, that would help his bowel movement which are:

• avocado
• sweet potato
• pumpkin
• prune
• pear
• peach
• plum

However, the above four constipated food are also good for him and high in nutrients. How do I get him to eat those food without causing constipation? Combos! Below are some of his favourite combos:

• apple + sweet potato
• apple + pumpkin
• rice cereal + prune/peach puree
• carrot + pear
• banana + avocado
• banana + peach

Feeding a baby also requires research eh? =)

Our 6 month old

Look at the cool baby...hehe......with his pair of sunnies. The sunnies don't last long on his head. He would fuss, cry and then yank them off his head.

So 6 months have passed since we welcomed this adorable little angel into our lives. We've had ups and downs. Downs mainly from his reflux. But other wise he's been ok, quite a good and easy to take care of baby.

I started giving him solids at 5 months, at the advice of his paed. I was told that solids would help his reflux problem. The food and the milk will hopefully stay in his stomach and not move upwards to the esophagus since his stomach content would be heavier. However, after a week or so, he suffered from constipation. So I added in avocado. And later had to mix and match other fruits/vege. He eats more of sweet potato, avocadoes, peaches and pears as these help his bowel movement.

At 6 months, he can sit for a while without support. However he is not very keen on sitting. He prefers to be on his tummy. He has been crawling commando style since 5.5 months. He pushes his lower body off the floor to be on a proper crawling position at times. But he is still clueless on how to move his hands and legs properly to crawl. I can foresee that he'll soon be mobile all over the house =)

Australia 2012

Yup, you heard us right. In April, we braved a 7 day holiday in Australia with a 3.5 year old preschooler and a 3.5 month old baby. Did we survive? Of course we did. And we all came back in one piece =)

The purpose of the trip was to attend hubby's colleague's wedding in Sydney. So since we were traveling all the way to Australia, we decided to visit Melbourne as well. Melbourne was our home for 3 years when the hubs and I were studying for our degree at the University of Melbourne. It is always nice to go back there - for the food and for the memories.

Of course the grandparents, especially the grandmothers shared their concern. Moreover, it was approaching winter in Australia and they were concerned about the boys, especially baby Bryant. I was having second thoughts too, after B was diagnosed with reflux. However, hubby and some other close friends were very supportive and managed to allay my worries. So we purchased the tickets, booked our accommodation and got ready for our first holiday as a family of 4.


Here's a picture of the boys, at the SIA check-in counter. B slept on the way to the airport and only woke up after we had breakfast at the lounge. Perfect start to the holiday huh? =P

B was very well behaved during the 7 hour flight. He only fussed a bit. No loud crying or screaming. Needless to say, he received compliments from our fellow passengers. 

We were only in Sydney for 4 days, including the days we travel in and out. So basically, only 2 full days in Sydney. No strict itinerary. We had planned to meet up with an old friend beforehand and so we headed out early the next day as soon as we all got ready. 

The two boys, Joshie and Oscar, before we headed into the Sydney Wildlife Park. They have not seen each other for 14 months. They were a bit shy at first but warmed up quickly. The indoor park had a wide array of animals for the kids to see. Perfect since the weather outside was so hot and sunny.

After that we headed to the Darling Harbour playground where the boys had a blast. Here's Joshie on the mini flying fox. 

We did not do much for the rest of the day. Headed back to hotel to rest and in the evening, had a long walk to Chinatown for dinner. Nothing to shout about. 

The next morning, we woke up bright and early as we wanted to have breakfast at the Sydney Fish Market before the wedding. It was a real disappointment. The food wasn't half as good as it was 9 years ago when I ate there. And we had to wait nearly 45 minutes just to get a cab. Because we have a baby. Unlike Singapore and Malaysia, Australia has a strict ruling regarding the use of car seat for infants. So we had to get a cab with a car seat. 

Rushed back to hotel and got ready for the wedding. It was a long bus ride to the church. Here's a quick picture of the bride and groom during the wedding ceremony. Luckily both boys were well behaved during the church wedding. 

After that, it was a mad frenzy getting the boys back again to the hotel. Feeding time and bath time before we all got ready for the wedding dinner. Can't remember the venue but it was overlooking the Opera House and the Sydney bridge. Beautiful scenery. And lovely picture, thanks to our camera-friend. =)

The following day, we were up early again, getting the boys ready and packing our stuff before heading to the airport to catch our flight to Melbourne. We were in Melbourne for 3 full days. Only took a few pictures in Melbourne. We felt so at home, so didn't feel the need to take pictures =) LOL. Anyway, Melbourne was a lot colder than Sydney and it was raining a lot too. Cold wind pressing against our cheeks each time we were out. B didn't really like it and he was quite fussy, but still manageable. As for J, the hubs and I are really amazed. He loved the weather and didn't complain about the cold at all. We had to force him to wear his sweater. 

Here's the two boys, on a cold rainy morning in the city where their parents first fell in love!

 So how did we survive out trip?
1) Make no solid plans. Let your itinerary be flexible. I'd rather see/eat less but have happy kids who are not too tired.
2) Pack only what is necessary. Of course medication is, and everything related to the kids. The hubs and I packed very little for ourselves. I wore the same dress for the church wedding and the dinner =) All in, we only had 1 big luggage, 1 check-in sized luggage, a diaper bag and a sling bag each for the hubs and I. I managed to stuff all the diapers in and brought a container to cold sterilize B's bottle. So no need for the bulky steam sterilizer.
3) Remember to bring the kids' loveys or favourites. I brought B's pillow and his white noise machine. As for J, I brought some of his favourite toys and books.
4) Bring the iPad!!! LOL.....at least J had the iPad to entertain him when we needed a break from his constant chatter.

Will we travel with our kids again? Of course........can't wait for our next trip in December =)

Bryant at 4.5 months & Joshie at 44 months

This is my favourite  picture of my two boys. I am really glad that they love each other so much. Joshie is really besotted with his didi and Bryant adores his koko to bits.

Time really waits for no man. Our Bryant has now passed the newborn stage. He is now much easier to take care of. I had the most stressful moments with him between weeks 5 to 12. He rarely napped for long then, usually only 5-10 minutes and would fuss when his reflux acts up. Once in a while he'd take a long nap but that was really rare. Now at 4.5 months, he's more or less fallen into a flexible schedule.

He is much more attentive and alert now. He enjoys tummy time a lot. Since he mastered the skill of rolling over from back to tummy last week, he'll automatically turn to his tummy when you put him on the back. He's still not very good rolling the other way though. Thus, I am awaken a couple of times at night when he can't roll to his back. However, he's been quite a good night sleeper. Now, he's only feeding once at night, usually around 2-3am.

As for my Joshie, he seemed to have shot up a lot in height since the beginning of this year. Most of his clothes do not fit anymore. Friends have also commented that Joshie seems to have grown up a lot after being big brother. He is generally very good to his didi, but being a child, still does not understand certain dangers. He loves to hug his brother very tightly, too tight at times. Sometimes he'd put his whole weight on his brother, practically squashing him, and we have to pull him back.

His vocab and speech has also improved. We are amazed at the amount of things he learns in school. But of course only the good! Many times, he answers us in a really rude and arrogant manner, which he picked up from some of his peers. We have to keep scolding and reminding him that there are certain behaviours which we do not tolerate.

I sometimes wish I can freeze time. My boys are growing up way too fast. But they will always be my precious babies =)

How the hubby babysits

Someone tell me, is this good or bad?