Back in Melb
Took the flight back with Kiddo on my own last friday. Not bad.. managed to carry her in the backpack carrier and drag along a handcarry sports bag with all her barangs. The night flight (SQ A380) was smooth and comfortable. Though the flight was full and there were at least 6 other babies onboard, Kiddo was pretty well-behaved and managed to sleep for a straight 4-5 hours inbetween meal service. I was lucky that the stewardess serving my area was really attentive and voluntarily helped me jaga the kiddo (when i need to go toilet) and came by to check on us ever so often. Much appreciated especially for a 'single' mom travelling with a toddler . Kiddo woke up about 3 hrs before we touched down and i even managed to gave her the meds (in the toilet though cos' wouldn't be nice for her to scream along the aisle right?)
Side Note : Wilk read this and say that i relish this whole 'single' mom business all too much. I got a bit pissed with that. It is not like i wanted to come back with kiddo all by myself for the heck of it. I had to attend a WEDDING of a friend. Sure, i can choose not to go, but i want to. It is not like i am going to be SG often or that my friend will get married again (choi!). Why is like i was the one 'inviting' trouble?? In any case, i don't see what's wrong with me feeling proud that i managed the kiddo on my own for the last wk in SG and on the flight. If wilk want to do the same and then feel proud about that, i say, be my guest. Hurmph.
Okie back to my original blog...
On the first day we came back, it started to hail in the afternoon. And i mean seriously HAIL. The met office said that there would be thunderstorm but this is SOME storm! We had ice pelting along with huge gust of wind and heavy rain right against our apartment. I pity the cars parked out front, till we noticed that it was starting to flood as well... As the water started to gush downhill... we realized that our car in the basement could be in serious trouble. Thankfully, there was only about a foot of water in the carpark by the time the storm ended... not so good luck in some areas where there was flash flooding though. We had some problems too. The rain was so heavy and wind so strong, rain was coming in through the windows. Our guest room was on a verge of being flooded. It was a blessing that we were all home and managed to 'bail' out the water as it came in. Some exciting homecoming eh...
Weather back in Melb has been cool.. and bordering towards winterish cold. Looks like i've totally missed summer here (yay!). Kiddo is back in her sweaters and leggings, looking as cute as a button. It is also good to have my kitchen back again though it also meant having to do housework as well. Still, it wasn't too tough even though wilk has started school. Coming back to Melb also meant having to reset Kiddo's routine all over again. That means no more sleeping next to Mami, no more having buffets, no more having other different people to entertain her, no more napping on Mami's big bed and no more nursing to sleep. Before i came back, i've already decided that i will take the opportunity for this 'change of environment' to take two issues: letting kiddo learn to sleep on her own and weaning. Since i am going to reset her routine, might as well start on the one i want her to be having for the long term.
Right from the start, she was cranky. Predictably, probably from the jetlag and change in places/routine. Whatever it is, she was going to be cranky anyway, i just went ahead and start her off in her new routine which is roughly the following:
- no more nursing before breakfast, once up, straight to breakfast (9.30am)
- after breakkie, a short rest time then it is bathing time (10.30am)
- followed by playtime and a bit of milk (whole milk in a cup - if required, she can nurse abit but not to sleep)
- naptime (she starts yawn around 11.30am) for about 2hrs
Her nap time routine is similar to bedtime.. once her energy dips and she gets abit sleepy, i will take her to the room, close the blinds, read her a little from her book, give her the paci and pop her into her cot. Then i zip outta the room even if she started to fuss. She will continue to fuss for abit before she KO on her own, then i go in to cover her up and remove the paci. So far so good.. i am hoping for the day she would stop fussing altogether when i put her in the cot. Her evening routine looks abit like this:
- Dinner (around 6.30pm) then rest awhile
- Bath time (7.30pm)
- Play/Reading time (8 - 9pm), we will also give her some snacks like fruits and a cup of milk (so far she will finish about 90ml)
- Then brush teeth (i will wipe using a cloth) and saying good night to her stuff (like photos on the wall etc)
- Goes to her bedroom and i will read to her again, and give her the paci.
- Put her in her cot around 9.30pm even if she fuss and i zip out again.
Initially i had to go in once or twice to comfort her when she cried really badly or pick up her paci from the floor but the duration seems to be reducing. From 1hr to 45min and today, 5mins. I think the key is catching the moment when she is starting to be sleepy, having something warm to drink before bed, having regular timings/schedule for nap/bedtime. I think we may be on our way to helping her settle into a better routine now. As for the weaning, she is not totally off nursing (but then, i am not sure i am 100% ready too) but i am keeping for time when she needed a bit of cuddle/comfort, rather than the major feeds (like morning and nites). I hope overtime she will need it less and my boobs will also cope with the gentle weaning better than total cold-turkey. The only issue at this moment is that she has become rather more clingy and needed alot more assurance in the day. I think i can understand why, hence she is getting lots more hug/cuddles and chance to nurse (once in the afternoon).
Still on the Kiddo... she has turned 15 month old and still not fully walking independently. She does enjoy walking when we hold her hand. I've read somewhere that late walkers tend to be more careful and cautious (as oppose to being impulsive). That seems to be true of the Kiddo, who does alot more watching and looking. That may be also the reason why her memory and attention span has grown noticeably better, judging by the amount of receptive and expressive vocab she has. Pretty decent for a child her age. She has also started to put two words together (e.g. baobao Up, or baobao Down - when she want us to carry her up or down). I am still trying to keep up with the words she knows and actively uses. Her expressive vocab is about 30 words or so, of which at least 20 she uses independently without us asking her "what is this?" or prompting her. Her receptive vocab is even longer and for familiar items over a short distance, she could follow an instruction with two objects (e.g. give mami spoon and ball).
Cognitively and in terms of problem solving skills, i have noted that she is started to use trial & error strategies and a bit of self-correction with her shape sorters (meaning she is not giving up as easily or distractible, and needed only some facilitation instead of hand over hand prompts). If not for the fact that her other areas of development seems to be on par, i would have started to worry about her gross motor development. I guess all in good time... but can't say that i don't envy other parents who can take their kids to walk and tumble around. I guess, walking by holding one of my finger is good enough for now. :)
Side Note : Wilk read this and say that i relish this whole 'single' mom business all too much. I got a bit pissed with that. It is not like i wanted to come back with kiddo all by myself for the heck of it. I had to attend a WEDDING of a friend. Sure, i can choose not to go, but i want to. It is not like i am going to be SG often or that my friend will get married again (choi!). Why is like i was the one 'inviting' trouble?? In any case, i don't see what's wrong with me feeling proud that i managed the kiddo on my own for the last wk in SG and on the flight. If wilk want to do the same and then feel proud about that, i say, be my guest. Hurmph.
Okie back to my original blog...
On the first day we came back, it started to hail in the afternoon. And i mean seriously HAIL. The met office said that there would be thunderstorm but this is SOME storm! We had ice pelting along with huge gust of wind and heavy rain right against our apartment. I pity the cars parked out front, till we noticed that it was starting to flood as well... As the water started to gush downhill... we realized that our car in the basement could be in serious trouble. Thankfully, there was only about a foot of water in the carpark by the time the storm ended... not so good luck in some areas where there was flash flooding though. We had some problems too. The rain was so heavy and wind so strong, rain was coming in through the windows. Our guest room was on a verge of being flooded. It was a blessing that we were all home and managed to 'bail' out the water as it came in. Some exciting homecoming eh...
Weather back in Melb has been cool.. and bordering towards winterish cold. Looks like i've totally missed summer here (yay!). Kiddo is back in her sweaters and leggings, looking as cute as a button. It is also good to have my kitchen back again though it also meant having to do housework as well. Still, it wasn't too tough even though wilk has started school. Coming back to Melb also meant having to reset Kiddo's routine all over again. That means no more sleeping next to Mami, no more having buffets, no more having other different people to entertain her, no more napping on Mami's big bed and no more nursing to sleep. Before i came back, i've already decided that i will take the opportunity for this 'change of environment' to take two issues: letting kiddo learn to sleep on her own and weaning. Since i am going to reset her routine, might as well start on the one i want her to be having for the long term.
Right from the start, she was cranky. Predictably, probably from the jetlag and change in places/routine. Whatever it is, she was going to be cranky anyway, i just went ahead and start her off in her new routine which is roughly the following:
- no more nursing before breakfast, once up, straight to breakfast (9.30am)
- after breakkie, a short rest time then it is bathing time (10.30am)
- followed by playtime and a bit of milk (whole milk in a cup - if required, she can nurse abit but not to sleep)
- naptime (she starts yawn around 11.30am) for about 2hrs
Her nap time routine is similar to bedtime.. once her energy dips and she gets abit sleepy, i will take her to the room, close the blinds, read her a little from her book, give her the paci and pop her into her cot. Then i zip outta the room even if she started to fuss. She will continue to fuss for abit before she KO on her own, then i go in to cover her up and remove the paci. So far so good.. i am hoping for the day she would stop fussing altogether when i put her in the cot. Her evening routine looks abit like this:
- Dinner (around 6.30pm) then rest awhile
- Bath time (7.30pm)
- Play/Reading time (8 - 9pm), we will also give her some snacks like fruits and a cup of milk (so far she will finish about 90ml)
- Then brush teeth (i will wipe using a cloth) and saying good night to her stuff (like photos on the wall etc)
- Goes to her bedroom and i will read to her again, and give her the paci.
- Put her in her cot around 9.30pm even if she fuss and i zip out again.
Initially i had to go in once or twice to comfort her when she cried really badly or pick up her paci from the floor but the duration seems to be reducing. From 1hr to 45min and today, 5mins. I think the key is catching the moment when she is starting to be sleepy, having something warm to drink before bed, having regular timings/schedule for nap/bedtime. I think we may be on our way to helping her settle into a better routine now. As for the weaning, she is not totally off nursing (but then, i am not sure i am 100% ready too) but i am keeping for time when she needed a bit of cuddle/comfort, rather than the major feeds (like morning and nites). I hope overtime she will need it less and my boobs will also cope with the gentle weaning better than total cold-turkey. The only issue at this moment is that she has become rather more clingy and needed alot more assurance in the day. I think i can understand why, hence she is getting lots more hug/cuddles and chance to nurse (once in the afternoon).
Still on the Kiddo... she has turned 15 month old and still not fully walking independently. She does enjoy walking when we hold her hand. I've read somewhere that late walkers tend to be more careful and cautious (as oppose to being impulsive). That seems to be true of the Kiddo, who does alot more watching and looking. That may be also the reason why her memory and attention span has grown noticeably better, judging by the amount of receptive and expressive vocab she has. Pretty decent for a child her age. She has also started to put two words together (e.g. baobao Up, or baobao Down - when she want us to carry her up or down). I am still trying to keep up with the words she knows and actively uses. Her expressive vocab is about 30 words or so, of which at least 20 she uses independently without us asking her "what is this?" or prompting her. Her receptive vocab is even longer and for familiar items over a short distance, she could follow an instruction with two objects (e.g. give mami spoon and ball).
Cognitively and in terms of problem solving skills, i have noted that she is started to use trial & error strategies and a bit of self-correction with her shape sorters (meaning she is not giving up as easily or distractible, and needed only some facilitation instead of hand over hand prompts). If not for the fact that her other areas of development seems to be on par, i would have started to worry about her gross motor development. I guess all in good time... but can't say that i don't envy other parents who can take their kids to walk and tumble around. I guess, walking by holding one of my finger is good enough for now. :)
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