Darling is 14 months Old!

Paying full attention to the TV commercial!

Darling turned 14 months old today! Did I miss anything???

She's a little adventurer now goin around with her soon-to-stabilise steps to discover every corner of the house. Lots of fun and exercise for all of us! If we pick her up while she's walking happily, she will be making noises an just wants to get down to the floor.

Oh no, I just realised my little gal has grown so much. Real soon I will be missing carrying and holding my baby! :'(

So that you won't be regret later? Make sure you had lots of skin-to-skin contacts since your baby is born. Carry your baby will definitely not spoil them!

Soap Master Wannabe!

Of late I have been spending lots of my very limited free time in making soaps. That's my latest hobby :)

It all started by attending the soap making class by Puuuv Soap. The class was specially designed for making breastmilk soap. 30% of us are nursing moms :) we had a really great time sharing breastfeeding tips and making soaps from our very own breastmilk.

Yes, those are our very precious breastmilk!

After securely placed in the mould, wrapped in towel or placed in cooler box to keep warm for 3 days.
Can't wait to unmould my soaps!

The result? Wonderful!

My very first handmade breastmilk soap!

Interested in making your own breastmilk soaps?
I highly recommend Puuuv Soap, just speak to our friendly instructor, Suumey!

I'm officially a Soap Master!

A Year Wiser

It was my first birthday celebration after having my baby. As my literally first birthday after giving birth was too busy with confinement and overloaded with sleepless nights and messy routines.

Hubs told me the day before,"Tomorrow we go for dinner ok? Just the two of us." Hmmm... It was rare cuz we've been goin almost everywhere without leaving our Darling behind.

So he brought me to a nice English pub, Bull Dog in Sri Hartamas. It's been a while since I had my last pint of Strongbow, love it! We had some awesome authentic English pub food.

It's been a while since my last pint of Strongbow!

The signature dishes are Toad in the Hole, Pigs in the Blanket, and some really good porky stuff. While leaving the place, I told Hubs that we must do this often. Date nights mean so much to me! (Which Mommy doesn't agree!)

Publika is the hottest in town!

Next, we headed to Publika for dessert. This place is totally hot! You'll forget that you're actually in Malaysia. Plan B, the place where we had our dessert, was jam-packed that you line in the long queue to get a seat. And the dessert? Totally yumbs!

Must-Try in Plan B: Chocolate Truffle Torte & Carrot Cheesecake!

I was so satisfied with our date night, without hoping for any birthday present. Hubs surprised me with a pretty handbag. He said I can use it as nappy bag, so I can look good being a mother. Isn't he thoughtful?

That's how much I can stuff into my new nappy bag!

My Sweetie Turned 13 Months Old!

"Muah!"
A wet kiss that melts my heart falls on my face, as her arms go around my neck and she rests her head on my chest.

Sorry, Mommy forgot about it! My Darling turned 13 months old last week and I forgot to jot down her milestones as I did religiously every month over the whole year. She has became sweeter & sweeter each day.

You're an expressive little Darling. At bedtime, instead of falling asleep in my arms, you'll search my chest and tell me, "Nen Nen." Before pooping, you'll tell us,"Poo Poo."

Other than that, you can already recognise lots of things by names and pronounce rather accurately. Only thing is that you still calling Grandpa as "Ga Ga" instead of "Gong Gong". :)

You're a little music talent. Dancing away by shaking your butt with raised arms everytime we play you nursery.
When I'm only humping the tunes you'll know which song and join the singing.

We're more amazed each day as you learn so quick. Instantly pick up new gesture or words after only first demo. We are so proud to have you! :)

Love ya lots,
Sweet Pea Mom

Scary Mommy Manifesto

Learning to walk soon!

My sister-in-law recently came back from Melbourne with her 2 kids - a three years old toddler and a six months old baby. We were having great times (Yea, great) together, practicing my mother skills with this energy-never-dry-up toddler. Well, I would say that I'm so looking forward to my Darling's toddlerhood (....NOT!).

I solute how my sister-in-law handle her two kids, can't imagine how am I gonna do it myself. I better be well prepared in case I turn into one of those moms who's completely drained and just wanna get out of it! If you ever get caught in the situation, you'll find yourself more related to the article I found recently:

Please solemnly recite the following before proceeding:

• I shall maintain a sense of humor about all things motherhood, for without it, I recognize that I may end up institutionalized. Or, at the very least, completely miserable.

• I shall not judge the mother in the grocery store who, upon entering, hits the candy aisle and doles out M&Ms to her screaming toddler. It is simply a survival mechanism.

• I shall not compete with the mother who effortlessly bakes from scratch, purees her own baby food, or fashions breathtaking costumes from tissue paper. Motherhood is not a competition. The only ones who lose are the ones who race the fastest.

• I shall shoot the parents of the screaming newborn on the airplane looks of compassion rather than resentment. I am fortunate to be able to ditch the kid upon landing. They, however, are not.

• I shall never ask any woman whether she is, in fact, expecting. Ever.
I shall not question the mother who is wearing the same yoga pants, flip-flops and t-shirt she wore to school pickup the day before. She has good reason.

Self -feeding in progress :)

• I shall never claim to know everything about any child but my own. (Who still remains a mystery to me.)

• I shall hold the new babies belonging to friends and family, so they may shower and nap, which is all any new mother really wants.

• I shall attempt to not pass down my own messed up body issues to my daughter. She deserves a mother who loves and respects herself; stretch marks, cellulite and all.

• I shall not preach the benefits of breastfeeding or home schooling or organic food or co-sleeping or baby wearing to a fellow mother who has not asked my opinion. It's none of my damn business.

• I shall try my hardest to never say never, for I just may end up with a loud-mouthed, bikini clad, water gun shooting toddler of my very own.

• I shall remember that no mother is perfect and my children will thrive because, and sometimes even in spite, of me.

Excerpted from "Confessions of a Scary Mommy: An Honest and Irreverent Look at Motherhood: The Good, The Bad, and the Scary" by Jill Smokler. Published by Gallery Books.

How about you? Are you looking forward to your baby's toddlerhood?

My Darling is 1 today!!!

Looking forward to toddlerhood!

My Darling is 1 today!
She's growing too fast isn't she??? I couldn't keep up at all!

Which day that you won't surprise Mommy with your little tricks?

- This morning you stirred from sleep, rolled over on me, rested your head on my chest, gently patted me :)

- You have been doin 'Touch the Bug, The Bug Flies!' by touching your finger tip on your palm, but Mommy still trying to show you to raise your hand when the bug flies away

- When someone farted, you'll go "Oh!" then follow by "Poo Poo". You did that when you farted too :D

- When Mommy sing, "How much is that doggie in the window?" You'll go, "Wow wow!" that's your favourite song of the month :)

- You learned to 'share' your food. Picks up a piece of bread, give to Mommy but wouldn't let go and put it back into your mouth! But sometimes I suck it out from your tiny pincher grasp and say thank you to you ;)

- "Where's your phone? Hello Hello?"
you'll put your toy mobile phone near your ear and smile :)

- "Where's your ear?"
you'll hold your ear and when we're impressed you smile delightfully

- Express your sympathy when you heard someone "Ouch!" or cry from pain, you'll ask with a "What's wrong? Are you alright?" face, then gently touching with your hand

- Rest your head on our chest when we said,"Oi Oi". Or you'll rest on the cushion when we throw you one on the floor.

- Mommy's got the first-time moment with you! After happily seeing Mommy making monkey sounds, you started making your own! That was oh-so-cute! :) then you kept making that sounds to get Daddy's attention :D

- Whenever someone's phone rang, you'll be the most excited one who's looking for the phone and reminding others to answer the call!

- We're still going strong in breastfeeding (Yes, I know!) I'm so proud of my little nursing champion (Proud of myself too!).

- And did I mention that you have a total of 8 teeth now? That's such a great milestone for my little gal! :)

I'm prouder each day!

Love,
Sweet Pea Mom
xoxoxo

Overreacted?

I'm hurt. Really hurt that I can't think.

My heart aches when Darling crying out painfully, with her finger numbed from excruciating pain.

Hubs was trying to put on her suction bowl by pressing down with full force & made a few twist (that's for securing the suction), without noticing that Darling's little finger tip was caught under the bowl.

She screamed terrifyingly that my heart hurts too :'(

I can't help but telling Hubs that how much it hurts, please don't do this to her again, etc... Maybe I sounded a bit more angry (which I was) or naggy, but instead of admitting his fault, he shut me up & trying to divert the mistake that I was the one who didn't put on the bowl correctly that it came off. At that point I lost it and I told him off that he's trying to blame something else instead of admitting his fault.

He's saying that I didn't help the situation but to make it worse by losing my temper and shouting to everyone.

Oh. So I'm supposed to keep my mouth shut after seeing my Darling being hurt. Didn't know that.

I told him in the face that if he expects that from me, he better does it himself and keep his word. Because so often, and always, he's the one who nag, scold, then scold again after shit happens. Don't tell me that doesn't make thing worse and helps the situation.

Confused. Am I overreacted over the incident or should I really stay calm and keep my mouth shut?

Cystoscopy for Kidney Stone

This culprit is causing unbearable pain!

It's 5.30pm. I'm like the ants on the hot pot, just couldn't sit still. Anxious, worried, really worried.

Hubs being sent in to the operation theatre since 1pm for his cystoscopy procedure to extract his kidney stone. Checked with the nurses, checked at Doctor Kamil's clinic, all I got is to wait. Finally caught the nurse who sent Hubs in just now, she said he just came out from OT, now in the recovery area under observation, should be sending him back to the room in a while. Read about cystocopy here.

Phew, at least he's out of OT? While waiting for him I looked up for the cystoscopy. Apparently it really hurts, during and after the procedure, along with burning sensation while urinating. Ouch.

My Hubs who doesn't drink water as if it's his enemy, diagnosed with 1cm + 2mm kidney stones two days ago after admitting to the emergency department at 6am with severe pain. The 1cm stone is out of his kidney and lodged in his urethra which causing the unbearable pain.

His Doctor called these people 'Stone Former' who prone to recurrence stones, must go for annual checkup to make sure stones are detected earlier if there's any. And this is the 2nd time Hubs suffering from kidney stones. Only first time was much smaller, 4mm, which he had ultrasound blasting to break the stone and flush out with urine.

Stone Formers have one thing in common, bad habit:
1. Doesn't drink plain water, at all.
2. High sodium diet

At 6pm Hubs was sent back to the room, finally, after waited for 5hrs. He got to keep his beloved stone for memory. That little culprit looks like a mini coral with uneven surface. Hubs joked that next he aims for a gem stone, mad mad mad! >:-C

Flower!

Checking out her new toy, Ikea's MULA Shape Sorter

I got so surprised this morning when I heard my Darling saying 'flower'! I know she really meant it when she looking at the floral patterns on the curtain.

She pronounced it almost 100% accurate! The other day mom just told me that out of the sudden she heard Darling saying 'powder' while pointing at the baby powder.

Looks like we'll have a little chatterbox real soon! :)

Happy 11 Months Old My Baby Gal

Hmm what are you looking at, dude?  :D

My Darling turns 11 months old today! Can you believe it!?
I gotta start planning for her first birthday real soon :)

You turned into a smart little gal you know that? You've learned so much that Mommy can't keep up!

Solid foods are goin well lately, we've started lumpier food instead of the mushy purée.

Porridge with fish, pumpkin, carrot, spinach, potato, tomato and I've changed her white rice to organic mixed grain of brown rice, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, oats and barley.

Enjoying Pumpkin Porridge!

Last week you joined Mommy and Daddy for Japanese udon for the first time and you loved it! :)

We've been practicing to have you on the high chair with us during meal times. You really enjoy the bread pieces and sometimes plain rice and happily feeding yourself with fingers :) Mommy's getting you your utensils and we'll practice self-feeding with spoon k! One thing is, you hate it when Mommy pointing your leg on the food tray and say 'put down', you'll be whining but putting your foot down unwillingly :)

You've learned so much and I hope I didn't miss anything here. Among your first words are:
Mama (Mommy)
Dada (Daddy)
Papa (Popo)
Wrow wrow (Dog)
Mao Mao (Cat)
Rerrrrr Rerrrr (Lion)
Duck (yes, Duck!)
Baba (Bao Bao, Bye bye, Apple, Pineapple)
Be ber (Bird bird)
Mum mum (Eating time)
... (I'm sure there's more but my mind's stuck!)

Favourite games of the month:
Peekaboo - You discovered the curtain and you'll pull it over your face then pull it away to peekaboo with me :)
Be 'caught' - When you're doin certain things that you're not supposed to do and someone approached to say 'no-no', you'll fall right onto the mattress excitedly and plant your face to it.

In the morning I'll be waked up by this cutest voice calling Mama :) And you said Mommy yesterday for the first time!

Mommy love you so much my baby!
Sweet Pea Mom
xoxoxo