Beautiful

16 Months Old!

Daddy, when are you coming home?

Can't believe my Darling has turned 16months old!

She's totally grown so much. Each day she shows me surprises of what she learned when I come home.
That's the little surprises that keeps me going, especially when the day is tough!

The list is gonna be so long so I'd just try my best:

Enjoying her flashcards!

Speech:
She can say pretty much every part of her face and body. Each time I ask her where's her nose, she'll point at hers then she'll point at mine, and Popo's too.
One of her favourite bedtime story book, A Kiss Goodnight, that I read to her every night, about Mommy kissing Baby from toe to head before bed. Each time we open first page, she'll raise her toe to me saying "doe"; turning 2nd page, she'll show her knee saying "niiiiiii". But 3rd page onwards usually she'll lose her interest and roll away!
I love it when she sings too! Her favourite song: Old McDonald Had A Farm, Elmo Song. She also creates her own tunes and happily hums away. Such a happy baby :)

Potty Training:
I'm proud to say that Darling is officially diaper-free in the day! She'll tell,"Ng Nnnng" each time she wanna poop or pee. She even knows how to use it as a trick to get us to carry her away from the high chair or avoid sleeping! Next we will be training for bedtime too.

Motor Skills:
Claps, dance, sing (that's the cutest singing I've ever heard!).
She can also stack toys with her IKEA MULA Stacking Rings, sorting the right shapes through the hole with IKEA MULA Shape Sorter. Picks up rubbish, walks to the dustbin to dump it in. Keeps her toys into the box. Plays her little piano well. Turning the winnie pooh toy's twist dial with her little finger to make it move.

Social Skills
She learned to hi-5, fist bump, wave to bye, "Muah" with flying kiss, sayang and hugs. She'll be so excited whenever she sees babies and run to them, sayang and bao-bao (hug). It's so cute!


Mmmmmmuah!
Sweet Pea Mom
xoxoxo

You Don't Have Enough Milk?

Proud to say that I successfully and EXCLUSIVELY breastfeed my Darling through the difficult journey of 16months, we're still going strong. It's my mission to help other mommies who's fighting the batter too. Recently found out from two friends who just gave birth, are supplementing infant formula to their babies. Reason being is they don't have 'enough' milk.
It made me feel like I'm so helpless when coming to see all those commercial infant formulas making their way through to the families which were breastfeeding well initially. It's like all the effort goes to waste.

Most new moms struggle to make it past the first few weeks and many stop breastfeeding long before they even reach their personal goals. How is that possible when the majority of breastfeeding problems (95%) are easily prevented and fully resolvable with the right help?

Chances are your baby is going through a growth spurt in the first few weeks, which last about 7-10 days. During this period, your baby will nurse more often than usual (sometimes as often as every hour) and often act fussier than usual. It also often takes a toll on a newly gave birth and exhausted mommy (that's when they give in to infant formulas!). Hang on in there!

What is the best way to handle a growth spurt?

Follow your child’s lead. Baby will automatically get more milk by nursing more frequently, and your milk supply will increase due to the increased nursing. Supplementing (and/or scheduling feeds) interferes with the natural supply and demand of milk production and will prevent your body from getting the message to make more milk during the growth spurt. In that way, after the growth spurt your supply stays the same while your baby's intake increased. No wonder you don't have enough milk! 

Each ounce of infant formula you supplementing = each ounce of your milk supply reduced.
Understand what your little one is doing to your body and you'll be happy you followed his guidance and be able to meet his need.

Be Strong.
Cheers,
Sweet Pea Mom
xoxoxo

Happy 15 Months Old My Darling!

Posing for the camera already!

2 days ago I got to spend a day with Darling as Mom fell sick so reasonably I took leave.

Darling seems to know that it's rare that I'm home with her. She's rather clingy to me since morning. A bit more cranky than usual too. Wanted me to carry immediately after she woke up and refused to be in the playpen even though I was so desperate to pee!

In the end I had no choice but to put on her shoes, send her out to the porch with Grandpa who's doing gardening, at least she'll be under supervision. The moment she turned around and I wasn't there, she started crying. All I can do is dash to the loo, take a quick pee and rush back. Grandpa was inside the house with her as he worried that she'll be the target of mosquitoes. Smile all over when she saw Mommy :)

I love that she hugged me and lay her head on my shoulder while I'm carrying her to sleep. Occasionally she'll look up, gently touching my eyes, nose and mouth (she learnt about hers lately). Or, she'll 'sayang' my face and give me a gentle kiss. When she got so close to me, I rubbed my nose with hers. She just loved this new game and picked it up right away. Came close to me wanted to rub my nose! :)

I'd say that I pretty enjoy the day with Darling as it's really only once in a while. I don't mind the clinginess too! As a mother who practice attachment parenting, I appreciate it instead of avoiding it :)

Again, happy 15-month-old my Darling! Mommy Daddy love you so much!
xoxoxo

Forza Azzurri

I took part in a Euro 2013 bet by chance, kinda by luck too. It's been a while since the last time I woke up in the middle of the night joining Hubs to watch football ever since Darling came to our lovely family, so in terms of football knowledge I'm the most outdated one. Without investing even a tiny bit of hope to win, I choose my final teams to be Spain, Germany & Italy.

Congratulations Spain! And to my favourites Fernando Torress & Xabi Alonso, I am so proud of you! Seen here with Spain Daddy players with their proud cutie kids & family.

It was a special night for Fernando Torres, the footballer won the Euro 2012 Golden Boot award 

after scoring three goals in the tournament 

Xabi Alonso celebrates with his wife Nagore Aramburu and their children Jontxu and Ane

Sorry Italy that you lost the final, but without you I wouldn't have own the bet! 
Oh, did I mention that I won this Euro 2012 bet? I also won the previous bets twice? :D

So... Forza Azzurri!!!

xoxoxo

Weekend Home Spa: Ginger Honey Scrub with Organic Raw Cane Sugar

I'm sharing one of my favourite recipes (by demand!), so get your gears and enjoy a organic weekend spa at home! 

Isn't it lovely? :D

1 cup Organic Raw Cane Sugar

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tablespoon Organic Raw Honey

2 teaspoons Ground Ginger

8 drops Ginger Essential Oil

4 drops Lemongrass Essential Oil

Combine all ingredients and stir well. 

Store in an airtight container and you may use it immediately. I keep my scrub in the refrigerator, because I like it cold. Scrub on hands and body then rinse with your favourite shower gel.

Now happy scrubbing! :)

Day Out In The Park!

Grandpa busy with the little adventurer!

It was yesterday that we decided to just go for a walk in the park. First time ever since Darling started walking by herself. Shoes on, let's go!

It's late afternoon after the sun came down a bit so it was rather crowded. We chose a spot with flat cement trail to put her down but she's kinda afraid of touching the ground and only wanna cling on me.

So I carried her for a while (regretted not to bring along the sling!) around to show her things and people with kids. Then we put her down near the pond with lots of birds nearby.

At first she kinda refused but Dad managed to distract her by holding her hand and walked her to the birds. In less than a minute she got used to the grass and enjoying with smiles all over on her little face.

Having fun after warming up :)

The ground is slightly uneven and rather hilly that she fell a few times but no big deal. Just that she's kinda freaked out when her hands touched the grass! :D

A few times that I came close to her, she'll try to cling on me instead of walking. So I kept my distance and let Grandpa and Grandma to entertain her.

Everyone had a great time, especially our little adventurer :)

Review: Nursing Tea

While celebrating my milestone of nursing passed my Darling's first year, I'm struggling with low supply lately. It's getting obvious especially after my beloved menses coming back on the dot of my Darling's first birthday. Milk supply dropped dramatically to half of my production I used to make.

So I was searching high and low on galactagogues that can help me increasing my supply. Started with fenugreek, 1 teaspoon mixed with warm water. I surrendered to the bitterness that made me almost puke. So I added honey that at least diluted the bitterness a bit. After a few weeks of trying, it's been rather disappointing so I stopped and try the Joy Angel Nursing Tea from Fabulous Mom instead.

The result? It doesn't work for me.

RM38.90 comes in 20 sachets

Few of my breastfeeding Mommy friends swear by Earth Mama Angel Baby's Organic Milkmaid Tea. So out of desperation I decided to give it a try. 

RM41.90 comes in 16 sachets

The result? Pretty satisfying!
My supply increased 1-2oz each pumping session. Still not enough for me but it works!
My nursing colleague Mel researched that the right dosage should be 3 sachet (a sachet each cup) a day but previously I was taking only 1 sachet for the entire day. So I'll increase the dosage and we'll see if it works better!

Comparison of ingredients: Milkmaid Tea's ingredients are all certified organic while Joy Angel's are 100% natural.
As you can see from the boxes' label, Milkmaid Tea includes wider range of herbs which I guess why it works better for me!

Important to note:  Before working to increase your milk supply, you need to first determine if it's actually in need of a boost.  There are many things that can make you think that it's low when it's not.

Read more: Lactogenic Foods for Breastfeeding

Does any of the nursing tea work for you? What other booster you would like to recommend?

Breastfeeding Joke #1

While we Mommies are exhausted from nursing around the clock, now take a break and enjoy your daily dose of joke (Yes, we have more to come!).

Which is your favourite? :)

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!