Cute for her spiky hair

On my last Tuesday's Mother's group, surprisingly I discovered there were a lot of mums that dote on Baby E. Particularly because of her spiky hair. Imagine that, the one thing I worry because she looks like a boy for that reason, but people find it adorable! One of the mums that sat in a further corner of the circle even left her baby boy to pat Baby E's head. Wow that sure filled me with a bit of pride now, even though I still think her hair grows funny!

Anyway she turned 5 months last week a couple of days ago she can crawl a little bit! She kept on moving forwards by kicking her feet. Also she is actually able to lift her body with her arms and knee, but then she hasn't figured out what to do next. So she is just stuck. Poor thing ;)

Cheeky looking child ;)

Me-time?

Wait, what's that again? :P

My friend who is a mum of a 8-year-old mentioned that even though I am occupied with taking care of Baby E, I still need a me-time... So it got me thinking.. It is certainly very hard with a new baby around, especially as Dr Sears calls it a high need one (yes, mine is!). At the moment I can't do things that I used to do anymore, like hanging around with friends at a cafe, watch a movie, or go for a long drive somewhere. No more leisure meal times!

Of course once you have come to accept the situation, you automatically learn to be better at doing things in a more efficient way. Then hopefully you will have bits of time here and there to enjoy your time, such as:

- Watching a favourite TV-show
  Must admit I can never sit for a full show until it's finished, but at least I can catch glances at the TV and pick up what's going on. Sometimes I even sit Baby E on my lap!

- Walking / Window shopping
  This is great because I can do this with Baby E still with me

- Reading
  I usually do this while nursing

- Chatting with friends or family
  Whether it's via phone calls, Skype, SMS or instant messaging or Facebook (Hurray for Technology!)

- Reward yourself with something simple
  Even just eating a biscuit makes me feel a whole lot better! :)

- Taking care of oneself
  Anything from moisturizing my skin, doing my nails, putting on make-up make me feel really good!

- Working
  I only work on weekends for half day at most so I consider this a short break

- And of course, Blogging! ♥

 What do you do during me-time? And how do you manage do it?

I like reading too, mum!

Sometimes traditional is best!

I had so many break because my parents were visiting for a week, especially since my mum does not stop when it comes to cleaning the apartment. I was also actually surprised that my mum is so good at putting Baby E to sleep!! She slept especially LONGER and more OFTEN.

The secret? Indonesian traditional sling!

5 minutes on that and ZZZZZ.. (with my mum, that is!)

I am still getting the hang of it now that my parents already left. But so far, it works quite well. Sometimes I still have to take her out for a walk for her to sleep though, because it seems easier. With the sling, it still takes me more than 10-20 minutes to rock or sometimes it doesn't work. We can even put her on the cot more successfully after! I struggled much more before..

The next step might be training to put her to sleep with her lying down on the cot... (she's already almost 7 kg wow!) but it is still good for now. My community nurse once mentioned that it is a myth that babies can sleep by themselves. It is true for my Baby E, because even if she is very tired and her eyes are already closed, she struggles to sleep on her own poor thing. I think it is also because her windy period is passed and she does not wake up suddenly of wind pain that often. Hopefully it gets better and she sleeps through the night soon.

My wonder mum ♥

Milkshake to brighten the day!

When I am feeling run-down or just need a bit of an energy boost (especially now that Spring is here!), I usually make my homemade easy shake. Just mix whatever flavor ice cream you have + milk. No need for blender, just wait until the ice cream melt a little bit then use a spoon to mix. Voilah! Saves you money from buying and you can have as many as you'd like ♥

With Connoisseur ice cream

Mothers Group... Finally!

Thursday was Baby E's 3 - 4 months community health clinic visit.. I am pleased to hear that she is all fine and healthy, but did feel a bit disappointed to see a different nurse. I really liked the previous one. Not that the new one is bad, she's just a bit too strong and all over the place. The old one was very calm. Then the nurse said The Mothers group was today! I tried to go last time but the trip was unsuccessful, besides they weren't there and Baby E still hated being in the car (so glad she is over it!). My neighbor who came with me immediately encouraged me to stay. It was almost lunch time, me being starving actually just wanted to go and eat! But I stayed.

There were ten of us altogether, plus the nurse. I enjoyed seeing other babies and other mums cope with their newborns. There was only one that was 3.5 months old like Baby E though, the rest were around 4-8 weeks old. It was certainly an eye opener for me, discovering I wasn't the only one who do a few stuff that aren't supposed to be right. Also one thing I have noticed they all seemed to adore their babies so much. It was just pleasant to see the joy on their faces. Love this group!! I'm happy I went! Can't wait for next week then...

"Lots of tummy time to relieve wind!" The nurse said.