Routine X 3

I love what I found after re-reading. Sometimes at first glance you might misinterpret or misunderstood sentences but quickly get the picture after reading it again. With these two I would be lucky to finish a book, most of 'em are read half-way, quarter-way or sometimes just few lines :P
Been reading before your kids drive you crazy, read this! by Nigel Latta and realized I've been doing some of the tricks/rules wrongly.
First, before even thinking of disciplining kids, you gotta be disciplined first. KEEP the routine until it all seems natural and NEVER give up easily.

So the last two nights, sleep training starts over. Wasn't a smooth stroll as I have big kid and small kid sleeping in the same room and methods explained in the book is quite different for both.
But heck, I gotta make this work right?
So, right after the family's fav SOA on FXHD, milk,brush teeth, diaper changing and wee-wee one after another before we hit the sack.
I'm determine to wean off Zara of boobies before bedtime. That translates to continuously pick her up-put her back to the bed. I even lost count on how many times she tried to climb out but noooooooo, she needs to sleep inside the cot not stealing Aresha's space.
She seems to love head massage, well, more like body massage. Took like 20 minutes before she finally yawned. Her sister however, tried her tricks on
 'oh, I'm not sleepy'
'I can't sleep, mommy'
'Can you stay longer?' 
right until the ultimatum of not going to school trip, she slept all through the night, without stealing our bed. Alhamdulillah  :)

Tonight was much easier for eldest but Zara still resist but surprisingly didn't ask for milk. So, that's a good start. Mommy just need to persevere or else all these effort will go down the drain.
Keep in mind, routine is the way to go. Routine, routine, routine!

Now mommy needs to train herself to sleep earlier but, not until daddy sleeps too!

Reaching for the stars

Day 1 completed brilliantly I must say, she's working hard towards her goals ultimately Barbie Rapunzel.
Amazing how 'little' push & motivation leads to positive outcome.
Thanks to Lu, the Beijing-based child counsellor for her advice ;)
Mind you,it's pro-bono and when I ask for help,we've just sat together for 10 minutes!

Will update more on the chart I'm working on, meanwhile I'm loving this!

Next,potty training Zara! Wuhooo!

Kids say the darndest thing ;P

Was cleaning up the kitchen drawer  & found a piece of paper where I scribbled some notes, bet this is at least 2 years old ;)

*As we watch the baby's sonogram
It's a girl!
Now, what's her name?
Girl!
Just girl?
Yes, girl!

*Then, when she realized, baby is a human ;P
What do you want to call her?

Pikachu!

Can I touch the baby?

Mommy, did 'adik' move?

Come, put your hands on my belly!

Wow! She move!

*Going through her old clothes
This is for  my sister :D

*She put on her old (fake) wool jacket
I can't get this (her hands) out!
It's too small sayang,
Ok, let's give it to adik!

Number ONE!

Lately I've been bombarded with the same question, every single day.
"Mommy, why you want more than one kid? I want to be the only one!"
I was like 'What?"
And she kept reminding me she's number one and Zara's number two.

Can you see where she's going at? She's numero uno, priority must be given to her. whatever I do, I have to put her first before anything else!
Why do I have to bear with such torment? I mean is it really our fault to plan the 4 year gap?
Come on, you're too young to obviously know that what we did was kinda a mistake?

Oh, don't remind me countless times she knocked her off while running.
"Oops, I didn't see her mommy,"
Of course, she didn't see poor little creature just right above her waist.
To scold or not to scold, to be angry or not to? I mean she's just a sucker for attention, be it constant eye contact or just " Why did you do that?"

I'm sure little sis will grow up to be tough cookie, I mean with that kind of training who wouldn't? And sometimes it hurts to see how she'd get up, and with a wide grin, like nothing happened.

Oh, this is a gentle reminder, do not, I repeat DO NOT say that her sister is cute.
She's the cuter one, baby sis, NOT cute. ;P

It ain't easy peasy, but you'll get through it ;)

This entry is dedicated to Ain ;) Congrats on your gorgeous baby Mariam!

When I was 12 I saw my aunt breastfeeding her baby and I was 'Yuck! That is so outdated!' If I were to have a baby, bottle is the way to go.

Little that I know, I'm very much a (self-proclaimed) breastfeeding nazi now. It all changed after we went to Ante-natal class by Jennifer from Jenlia Maternal Services. She opened my eyes on how important breastfeeding for babies (and mommies too!) I went from zero to pro-breastfeeding.

It's all in your mind, she kept telling us. If you WANT & DETERMINE to do it, YOU can! It's a myth that your boobies are too small, you're producing insufficient milk yada, yada, yada. You've got to get it your head, 'I want to do this, for as long as baby needs it' (2 years, max!) Be prepared, sometimes it's your loved ones that becomes obstacle in your effort of breastfeeding exclusively.

Tell them, you want to do this, no matter how hard it looks ;)

Breastfeeding is NOT easy. Especially the first week. I didn't have any problem the first night with Aresha. She latched on like a pro the first time but wasn't the same for Zara. I had the worst first night with her. She cried all night,  I'm literally drained out from all the sucking & not being able to sleep a wink! Please bear in mind that the first 3 days only colostrum came out. Your baby might not be satisfied with the yellowish,thick liquid but they have to suck it all out  before the milk came in.

To be honest I almost quit the first time when Aresha bit my nipple. Excruciating pain, bleeding & close to mastitis. I broke down in tears and refused to nurse from that side but that's not helping either. Engorgement is waaay more painful! We bought Medela nipple shield which didn't help much but when you get through that phase, it will be a second nature ;) That only lasted few days, it's not the baby's fault, you just gotta latch on properly. Make sure the baby open her mouth as wide as she can before shoving your boobies, voila! 

To think that if you've breastfed for 2 years, it will be a walk in the park for the second one, is also not quite entirely the case for me. Zara bit the same nipple Aresha did 4 years ago till bled, ouch! But this time I'm prepared. If that happens to you, apply few drops of breastmilk & let it dry.  Insya- Allah in a couple of days it will be as good as new ;) Also when your boobies engorged (in my case because I can't bear the pain to let her feed after the bleeding) try ice cold lettuce leaves as an instant reliever. Just place it on your boobs & you'll feel much better ;)

The first week is also crucial to just feed as much as the baby needs (feed on demand) Be it in the middle of the night, or just half & hour after the last feed. This is to enhance your milk supply because your body send a signal to produce milk when baby drinks frequently. I know one of the pantang (a big no, no) is NOT drinking too much water, if it means that you have to sneak in 2 litres everyday, DO it! That's what skuirtgun did with Aresha. Luckily mom & atuk totally understand after that & they always make sure I have enough supply. Read more on how to increase your milk here. Snack frequently, hot milo & 2pcs of cream crackers an hour before & after feeding would help tremendously.

That's just the first week, more tips coming soon!

At 4 months, we took her backpacking, no bottles needed,

meal on-the -go!

In the bus from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Bangkok.

Oh btw, I found these links very useful ;)
Babycenter & La Leche League

YOU made it all worth it ;)

No matter how long & tiring my day was, these two babies of mine never make me regret on the choice that I made almost 6 years ago.
How can a simple chuckle, laughter, cheekiness & simple answer overcome the need to have a huge paycheck?

Mama asked me, "Don't you miss working?"
To be honest ma, I don't.
Not even a single bit.

Watching them grow right in front of my eyes is the biggest salary one could ever ask for ;)
Aresha knows when I'm pissed (with her). Her damage control would be.
"I'm sorry mommy, Aresha sayang mommy sangat," followed by a hug.
Now, at that age i didn't know how to pujuk my mother!
She didn't know either.
It was a spontaneous act of love :)