Last day of holiday

Since it's the last day of our holiday, in the morning, we just lazed about in the hotel.

Zara got bolder with the waves, trying to walk closer to the water, and not afraid even when a higher wave wet her thighs. I was holding her hands all the time, ready to lift her up if the wave looked too menacing.

It's a public holiday today, and therefore there were more guests, making the pool area very noisy. The hotel has a very nice garden, with very old and big trees and away from the crowd. A few big hammocks were available, and I always like lying on one. I took one with Zara and immediately she laid her head on my chest, and started sucking a thumb, a contented look on her face (and mine).

We checked out at 12pm, and started our long journey back home. More singing, and entertaining Zara on that long drive.

When we arrived, she was actually quite happy to be home. She was suddenly bursting with energy, and was crawling here and there, making lots of noises, and when we put her in her walker because we had to unpack, she was just walking very fast, and knocking on every thing.

When I tried to nurse her before tucking her to bed, she was becoming quite naughty. She bit on my nipple, and shouted AIK! I think she wanted to play more, and didn't want to settle down yet. I tried a few more times, and she did the same thing followed by more AIKs ! I was very upset, as though she was rejecting me.

I have to wrap my arms tightly around her, cuddle her, and tell her it's getting late, and she should stop being naughty. She was making her scolding sound all the time AIK! AIK!

Eventually, she calmed down, and laid her head on my shoulder. I nursed her again, and this time she didn't bite. While stroking her head, I told her never to bite again. Not sure if she understood or heard me, but she drifted off to sleep after a while.

It was a good holiday, and with a kid, it will never be the same carefree, rough it out type again. Even after a long journey, her needs have to be met first before we could rest or unpack.

Genuine Horsie Ride

After breakfast we went for a stroll at the beach. There were a few people who approached us and asked if we wanted to hire their jet ski or beach bike. There was also a lady who asked if we wanted to have a massage or reflexology done. All these didn't interest us.

A scrawny man dragging a horse towards us attracted my attention instead. Zara loves the Baby Einstein Old McDonald video. I thought this is a good time to introduce her to a horse. I asked how much it'll cost for us to ride on it. RM30 was the price. The man said our whole family could ride on the horse together. That would cripple the horse maybe, I thought.

I was keen in riding the horse with Zara, and asked Daddy if it was ok for him. He wasn't keen at all, saying what if Zara is allergic to the horse, will it be dangerous etc etc. Well, we won't know if Zara was allergic to horses if we didn't try it out, and I checked with the scrawny man if it was safe. He assured us it will be, and that the horse will go real slow. I then agreed to his price for a ride with Zara.

He helped me up the horse, then daddy passed Zara to me. I made very sure Zara was sitting comfortably (or she might move around complaining later), and I had my arms around Zara's waist. Daddy had to go back to the room to get the cash as we didn't have any on us.

The horse started trotting as the man dragged it. We were going slowly, but it was still quite bumpy up on the horse. I told Zara this is a horse, and sang bits of the Old Mc Donald song to her. She squealed a little, tried to pull the horse' mane, and also touched its coat of rough short hair near the saddle. She was comfortable, and not afraid to be so high up.

After about 10mins trotting at the beach, the man took us back to our hotel. We had to wait for another 15mins for daddy . The horse was getting impatient, and was thumping the sand with its hoof, and then bit off the attap roof of a nearby shed. The man scolded the horse, and then slapped its forehead.

Upon seeing this aggression, Zara too started scolded the horse. "AIK!" "AIK!" she shouted, and then pulled its mane. I have to tell her not to do it, instead I told her to 'sayang' (pat lovingly) the horse.

Eventually, daddy arrived with the money (apparently, he also went back to the room to take his bath causing the delay). After dismounting from the horse, we got Zara to thank the horse, and pat or 'sayang' it again. She did that gently, and I was very pleased.

At the beach & meeting the monkeys

We spent the morning at the beach after breakfast.

Zara had been to the beach at Kuantan before, but she was probably too young to know how to appreciate it (by touching the sand, kicking waves, walking on the shore). This time, I put her on a towel, and tried to build some sand castle (more like sand blocks) near her for her to topple.

She was very curious about the sand, first time touching it. After examining it a bit by feeling the texture and looking at it, she put some into the mouth to taste. Ugh! I was too slow to stop her, and it was quite hard to try to dig out whatever that she has already placed in her mouth. Luckily, the amount was as much as her thumb and index finger (pincer grip) could hold, so it wasn't that much actually.

She didn't like crawling on the sand, I think the sand was a bit too abrasive for her knees, so after venturing out of the towel for a while, she crawled back in.

We then spent some time walking along the shoreline, some how Zara was a bit weary every time the waves licked her feet, and she tried to walk away from it. I tried to get rid of her fear by asking her to kick the wave every time it's approaching or make it sound like fun stepping on waves, and after a while, she started feeling more comfortable.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Komtar, because it was raining cats & dogs the whole time.

In the evening, we were lucky that the sky had cleared, so we could bring Zara to the Botanical Garden just as we planned.

We walked the loop, meeting some monkeys on the way. She was enjoying herself, excited over the monkeys, and the bouncing in the baby sling when daddy did a slow jog.

The botanical garden is just such a great place to go, and I must say, it is so well kept. Compared to our Lake Gardens in KL, this is heavenly.

Penang, here we come!

After stuffing the whole car with Zara's things (1 bag of toys and books for the journey, another bag for the stay; 1 bag of baby food; half a suit case full of diapers, clothes, bibs, wash cloth etc.; the gigantic pram; her survival bag; her infant carrier), and the little space left with our bags of clothes, we were finally leaving KL for Penang.

Zara sat in the infant carrier and was with me at the back seat. The drive was a long one, with me playing some of her toys with her, singing to her, reading to her and she napped a bit here and there. We took her to Kuantan when she was 1 month +, and back then she slept more, so the journey was not so bad.

In the beginning, she was quite happy to be in her seat, but after more than 2 hours, she started getting a bit restless. When we reached Ipoh, she was raising her arms, and shouting "UP!", "UP!". Her very first word, spoken out of frustration!! She repeated this until she was picked up from her seat.

We broke for late lunch in Ipoh and then spent some time walking about there. When we were about to leave Ipoh, Zara protested and refused to be strapped back to her seat. I have to almost force her down, while explaining to her the car is going to move soon, so she must be in her seat. She was very upset, and after strapping her up, she sucked her thumb, and closed her face with the other hand, and went to sleep.

Bukit Mertajam was our next destination. We didn't have problem getting to St Anne's Church as we got very good directions given to us by a patrol station attendant.

Zara was glad it was another stop. She was so happy when we got down the car. In St Anne's Church, I gave my thanks. Zara was standing next to me, looking around, attracted by the flickering light of the candles, calmed by the serenity of the church surrounding.

Daddy too gave his thanks, and then we left the old church building, and walked about in the big compound. There was the chiming of the church bell (indicating a sunset mass was about to begin), followed by singing of the choir from the church. It was such a nice setting but it was time for us to leave for Penang.

It was another 1hr drive, to get us to Penang and to our hotel. I booked the Lone Pine Hotel in Batu Feringi from the internet. It's a charming small hotel.

I booked the cheapest room and was surprised that we got such a beautiful room. We actually have a little private garden all to ourselves (see pic). The room was spacious with dark wood furniture. I also got the hotel to send in a little cot for Zara, but it will just be used as a play pan, as the bed is large enough to fit all 3 of us. My only complain is that there was a lot of sand on the floor, I have to sweep the place myself, before I was willing to let Zara walk or crawl on it.

The rest of the evening, we spent having a stroll at the beach, have a very nice nonya dinner, and then because Zara slept so much in the car and was still very energetic when we got back after dinner (and also because of the lure for cheap DVDs), we went DVD shopping just outside of the hotel. RM10 for 4 DVDs, where else can you get such a great deal?

Self Feeding

Zara is finding some interest in self feeding these days. She tries to reach for the spoon every time I feed her (which is only during the w/end). I give her the spoon topped with her mushy food and let her feed herself occasionally (when I was in the mood and didn't mind cleaning up the mess). She is quite good at aiming and putting the spoon into her mouth, although it always ends up at the corner of the mounth. She just bites on the spoon, and releases it with still a lot of food on the curve of the spoon.

I have to remind myself that it's ok for her to mess things up sometimes, and let her have more practice with feeding herself, so that she can actually get to feed herself sooner.

Giving thanks to St Anne

Because I had a miscarriage in my first pregnancy, when I was pregnant with Zara the 2nd time, I was very worried I will loose her as well.

In the early days of the 2nd pregnancy, we were up north for a family holiday, and therefore my dad, who is a very dedicated Catholic, insisted that we make a trip to St. Anne Church in Bukit Mertajam, so I could ask for blessings there.

I said the sincerest prayers there last May, wishing that the baby I was carrying will be strong and healthy. 6months later, I was blessed with Zara. We have then, planned for a trip back to St Anne with Zara to give thanks.

The trip finally materialised, and we plan to take few days off next week during the Indepencance day holidays, so we could go up north with Zara, for a holiday, as well as to give thanks to St Anne.

Swimming

We got Aunty Ping Ping's package few days back, and today, Zara got a chance to put on her All American swim suit. The weather is good, so I thought I'll bring her for a dip in the pool together with my nephews.

She just looks so cute in the 2 piece swim suit, and the matching hood.

She had so much fun kicking and waving her arms in the water. A few times, she shook her head to try to shake off the float, but it was securely fastened with 2 pieces of velcro. The float is one of the best Chinese creation! I have to remember to thank Ma Xin Ah Yi who got this for her from Beijing again.

She didn't do her poo in the morning, and the whole time we were in the pool, I was worried she was going to contaminate the pool. Phew, luckily she didn't.

The Monkey God And His Apprentice

This week the kids are staying home as it's the school holiday.

Norman ko-ko was monkeying around with the broom stick pretending to be Monkey God, he was jumping around and using the broom stick to hit anything that he spotted, shouting "Hike! Aike!" while the imaginary villains got hit.

Zara was napping in another room, and when she heard all commotions, she wanted to be part of it. She stuck her head out of the room and saw the prancing Monkey God and got excited. She crawled towards Norman ko-ko and tried to reach for the stick.

She was happy just to be able to hold on to the stick and be part of the action. The Monkey God has just found his apprentice.

Happier Mood

The last 2 days have been good, Zara is in a more cheerful mood and is willing to be in the company of kakak and Aunty Elizebeth.

She still refused to let Elizebeth bath her, but besides this, she's alright. Playing happily, 'talking', and eating well too.

This makes every body less stressful too, and I'm able to be away from her without feeling guilty (of her crying or fretting).

9 month old

Zara has turned 9mth old yesterday. A summary of her development at this stage:

She weighs 7.33Kg
She's 72cm tall
She has 4 teeth (2 upper and 2 lower)

Mobility :
Sitting - she sits well, and able to pull herself to a sitting position from crawling or while lying down.
Crawling - she's able to crawl, preferring the tummy on the floor method than tummy lifted off the floor.
Cruising - She's able to bring herself up to a standing position while grabbing on to something, cruise around furniture confidently, sit herself down from standing position (still need some fine tuning, as now she's just plonking herself down)

Language :
Understanding - simple phrases/words like sit down, NO NO, STOP, stand up, clap your hands, say(wave) bye bye, stamp your feet, kick, come (to mummy or daddy), biscuit, mum-mum, drink water, give me five.
She likes people to read to her, and follow our finger when we point out the words to her while reading.
She also enjoys listening to songs sung to her, if it's a recording of songs, she prefers children doing the singing.

Speaking - She babbles in more than 1 syllable and sound, but no mama or dada or mummum yet. Most frequent sound she makes is "Ek!" (for calling some one), or Ah-ta (don't know what this means), "Aaaaa" (probably singing).

Communication (w/out words) - she tells me she's hungry by leaning on me and sucking her thumb. She rubs her eyes when she's sleepy. She likes to copy people's facial expression, like pouting her lips for kissing, sticking out her tongue, opening and closing her mouth like she's eating.

Hands coordination :
She can clap her hands, wave bye bye, open and close her hands (doing twinkle twinkle little star, nowadays, her bye bye seems to be done in this manner too) pick up small pieces of bread or biscuit to put in her mouth (still perfecting her pincher grip).

Feeding :
She's on 2 solid meals (probably eating about 2 to 3 table spoons of food), 5 feeds of breast milk, and snack on some biscuits a day.

Preferences :
She's started having preferences on who she wants to be with, where she wants to be, what to eat (if we give her something she doesn't like, she'll just purse her lips and if we forced feed her, she'll make the Urk vomit sound).

Emotions :
She has very developed tear glands, when she cries, big droplet of tears roll down the cheek, a very pitiful sight.
She knows how to complain by making noises or whining. Sometimes stiffening her legs in protest.
When she's happy, she makes happy noises, "Aaagh!"
She smiles a lot when she's in a good mood.
She is a thumb sucker, and normally can pacify herself or get herself to sleep sucking her thumb.

Overall, she's a happy and healthy baby.

Eww! Poo in her tub

Every time when I need to shower in the morning, and nobody is around to take care of Zara, I'll put her in her tub at one corner of the bathroom, so I can keep an eye on her while I shower. These few days, to save some time, I placed her naked in the tub, and when I'm done with my shower, I'll carry her and do a quick rinse for her (instead of filling up her tub and bathing her when we have more time).

To make things interesting for her, I tell her she will wait in her 'boat'. I don't believe she understands what boat is yet, but having a few toys to play with in the tub, and the occasional splattering of water on her, while I sing Row Row Row Your Boat in the shower, does keep her occupied and happy.

This time, she froze after playing with her stacking cups for a while, and her face turned red.

"Zara are you poo-poo-ing?" I asked while rinsing the shampoo off my hair. Too late, I could see her done with her business, and continued banging her stacking cups like nothing happened.

She did it, she pooed in her tub. This is the first time she did her business without her diaper on. I must say it's easier to clean than a soil diaper.

吹鴉片

While folding the day's laundry, I kept Zara occupied by giving her smaller pieces of clothing to play with.

She was busy pulling pieces of her own clothing out from the laundry basket, checking it, flapping it (to see what sound it can make). When she's done with one piece, she reached into the basket for another. This went on for a while, until she got hold of my breast pad in the basket. The minute she held it in her hand, she started sucking her thumb, a natural reflex, as this is her favourite comfort object.

She has this look in her face like she's 'high' on something, like the Cantonese saying, "吹鴉片“ (taking opium) which depicts the addiction of a baby to the bottle, breast and in this case thumb/breast pad.

Sticky

Maybe because I'm working from home, and she could hear my voice, and know I'm present; maybe she's more choosy about who takes care of her, and where she is; or maybe it was just because she was ill the last week and still recovering; lately she had been extremely sticky, and preferred to glue on to me all the time than to play or to cruise when we're in Karen's house. She cried every time one of the maid came to carry her away so that I could work.

I tried to hide in the room to work today, so that she couldn't see me or hear my voice at all, and it seemed to work. She only cried when I passed her back to the maid after nursing her.

Maybe next week, I can go back to the office to work.

Leap Frog Baby Tad

Bought her a Leap Frog singing/talking Hug & Learn® Baby Tad™ Plush yesterday, but it didn't seem to excite her as much as I would like to. After paying a hefty RM110 for it, I would at least like to see her show some enthusiasm or interest in the toy.

Here she is preferring to suck on her thumb, play with her tube of diaper cream, check out the wet wipes, examine the rubber mat (things she sees and plays with every day), and just not giving the huggable toy any attention.

At this age (coming to 9 months), I'm just not sure what toys to get for her any more. The ones meant for 12mths are too advance for her, while the ones meant for 6mths don't capture her interest as much.

Maybe I should just let her play with normal house hold things, or just give her an old key board to play with, this could save me some money.

Happy to see some old faces

Zara was so happy when Jenny Ah Kim and Samantha che-che came over for lunch yesterday. She was just clinging on to Samantha and was all smiles! She was touching Samantha, leaning her head on Samantha, and was trying to get Samantha to play with her the whole time.

This morning, I took the day off, and brought Zara over to Jenny's place. The minute she saw Aunty Litha (the Filipino maid), she was smiling from ear to ear. When she entered the house, she was so happy, she started making happy babbling sounds, and was trying to chat to Litha (the 2 of them always seem to understand each other with their own language).

I could leave her with Litha, and have a peaceful breakfast, and I did not need to carry or pacify her. What a holiday (for me)!

Balls and Key Board

She seems to be facinated with balls, be it big or small. Karen's excercise ball is something we can use to pacify her when she's crying, and keeps her entertained and forget about whatever she was fretting about.

Here she is trying to figure out what the big ball can do compare to the small one she was playing with (which she used it as a teether even though we kept telling her not to put it in her mouth).

The other thing that excites her is the PC, when she sees someone at the PC, she would try to reach for the key board with all her might (use the human body as a ladder to climb near the key board).

I opened up a photo in her blog and showed it to her, and she got very excited, drolling onto the key board at at the same time hitting the key board furiously.

There's something about balls and little buttons that babies like.

Songs

I started singing her the song, "If You're Happy And You Know it", 1 week ago.

I used the action "clap your hands", "wave bye bye", "give me five", "kick your legs", "stamp your feet". In the beginning, she knew how to do the first 4, and when I stamped my feet, she got attracted to the sound, and looked down to see how I did it. She was quick to learn. After a few rounds of singing, over the weekend, she showed me how she 'stamp her feet'.

She was holding on the the bed frame doing her usual round of cruising, and when we reached the part "stamp your feet", she lifted one of her feet up, and stamped her foot. I sang the whole song, and she stamped her feet every time we reached the phrase with the action.

We were so pleased with her, and cheered and lifted her up to praise her. She was pleased with herself too, smiling her cheeky grin.

Now, every time when I sing her the song, she will follow the action phrase and do the action. Sometimes she's a bit slow, and I have to wait for her a second or two, and repeat the phrase, or tell her "Zara, wave bye bye la", or "Zara, give mummy five", and she'll carry out the action after the reminder.

These few days, she also started mastering opening and closing her hands while we sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". She's trying to imitate the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" action as well, but I guess that will take a while.

Of all the Baby Einstein DVDs that I bought for her, she likes the Old Mc Donald one the most, and only the bit where the song was sung.

She enjoys children songs a lot, and especially like it if there's some action bits which she can contribute. Sometimes, she sings too, but I can't make out what she's singing. She'll be 'aaaaah.... mm baaaa.", then she'll open and close her hands, and I guess she's probably singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Haze and Fretful Baby

The whole of Klang Valley was hit with the bad haze (caused by burning of plantation in Sumatra), a layer of smoke enveloping the whole city, visibility was down to 500meters. Every breath taken outdoor caused a choke, and you can feel your lungs working extra hard. This situation caused lots of people with respiratory related illnesses prolong their suffering. Zara was one of the victim. Although she has recovered from her fever, she still has a quite a bad cough and a bit of runny nose.

When we're in Karen's place, she is so fretful, and wants to be near me all the time. I guess with me working from home didn't help much, as the more she knows I'm around, the more she will 'look' for me.

Her usual excitement during bath time, had also turned into some kind of torture. The minute she's taken to the bath room by Elizebeth, her shouting and screaming bout starts. Nothing can consol her. We have to resort to topping and tailing her most of the time.

When we're back home (Shah Alam was one of the worst hit area), we spent most of our time in our own room, with the aircon (with in-built air filtration and ioniser) on, and if we needed to be in the living room, we have the ironiser turned on full blown, and all the windows shut tight.

It seems the haze is going to be with us for a while until the wind changed directions or the monsoon arrives. We will have to endure more of this till then.

Zara Being Ill

It was Zara's turn to be ill. I had passed on the virus to her, not sure by being near her, or by nursing her.

She started just like me, a cough. We brought her to the Pediatrician on Tuesday. She was still so full of energy, trying to reach and touch all the babies, toddlers, older children in the waiting room. When it was her turn to see the Dr, she marched in (with daddy holding on to her arms helping to support her).

In the middle of Tuesday night, she started running a temperature. I was awaken by her moaning in her sleep, she was as though in some kind of pain. I was worried sick, taking her temperature every 15mins, trying to sponge her or keep a cold towel on her forehead throughout the night.

On Wednesday, I took the day off to look after her at Karen's place as I need Karen's maids to help out. Her temperature was a constant 38.3~38.5. She didn't want to have anything to eat, and didn't want to have any water. All she wanted was to nurse.

The whole day, she was glued to my breasts. She would be sucking and when I try to sneak off to go to the toilet or go for a munch, she would wake up crying.

Giving her medicine was another big challenge. She would wail and scream when we try to feed her the medicine. She would hold the medicine in her mouth and not swallow it, while screaming on top of her voice until her voice turned horse. When we try to close her mouth to force her to swallow, she screamed even louder with big drops of tears streaming down and face turning all red. After that, she would throw up, milk, medicine and everything else.

My breasts sore, my muscle ache (from all the carrying), my body exhausted (from lack of sleep) and my heart broken (to see her at this state).

I was so glad in the night, her temperature was back to normal. Her fever has gone.

When babies fall ill, mummies suffer more than when they themselves are ill.

Intrigued by the guitar

While Tuyam is away for her vacation, I will work from Karen's place and have Karen's 2 maids (one Indonesian, and one Filipino) help me look after Zara.

Zara's first day with Kakak and Aunty wasn't very exciting, until Nicholas (my 11 year old nephew) came home and started strumming the guitar.

She was intrigued by the guitar. Nicholas ko-ko tried teaching her how to strum the guitar, but she just didn't understand or know how to 'strum' the strings. Instead, she preferred to hit on the wooden casing of the guitar.

Mummies Can't Be Sick

A bad cough crept into my system on Friday, followed with over all body ache. Yesterday, when we sent of Tuyam to the airport, it got worse. I started having a bad headache.

What timing! Here I was sending off my domestic helper cum baby sitter for her 1 month vacation, and the fever, cough virus eagerly came for a visit.

Without a maid, we couldn't really care for Zara. I got weaker. I continued to nurse her (which I'm not sure if it was such a good idea under such condition), and tried to just watch over her while lying on the bed. Daddy, although is a good play mate, isn't such a great child carer. We sent an SOS to mum in law. She agreed to help out and would stay a night at our place.

For the rest of the weekends, I laid in bed all the time with a very bad fever, and was vomiting out anything that I ate.

Mum in law was the one caring for Zara for the 2 days, but Zara was fretting a lot. She preferred mummy. Anytime when she was changed in the room, Zara would reach for me. After a feed, she would want to stay for a while near me, leaning her head on my chest, lying next to me playing with my fingers or my pendant.

I dare not give her kisses, worry that I may pass the virus to her, but couldn't help giving her some cuddles and hugs.

You can't be sick being a mum, the baby needs you, and nobody can replace you. This is even more true if you are still nursing the baby.

I was glad, I got better at night. Still weak, but my headache and vomiting had stopped. I didn't know then that the week was going to be a long one.....

Night time ritual

Her night time ritual consists of changing, playing with her toileteries, trying to climb down of the bed, cruising. Mummy or daddy always have to be near by to watch over her, just in case she falls.

Too excited to sleep

Zara has learnt how to crawl, stand up (supported), cruise around furniture, stand and sit herself up within these last 2 weeks.

I think her own achievement has excited herself.

She has been sleeping quite promptly at 9:30pm the last few weeks. After I changed her to her pajamas, she would lie down to nurse, then drift off to sleep; or worse case, she would lie in bed with me, and after a few songs and some patting, she would fall asleep. Her usual routine is 10hrs of sleep in the night, and she takes 2 naps which total up to 2 to 3hrs.

But this week, after we'd come back home, she's still wide awake, even though I know she's very tired (since her nap time remain the same, and she is physically more active now). After nursing, she would want to get back down on the ground, do more cruising, practice more standing herself up.

She wouldn't stop, even if I turned off the lights, and tell her it's time for bed. She would toss and turn and sit up, and toss and turn and sit up. A few times, to calm her excited self down, I have to lay her on my chest with her tummy against mine, and her head on my chest; or I carry her in my arms and rock her to sleep, that way she'll drift to sleep in 5mins or so.

We have also raised the bars of her cot as she's now able to stand herself up. This is what she does now in the morning at 6am when she wants to come over to our bed to nurse, she'll stand herself up, hanging on to the bars facing my direction, and shouts for me "Aaah.. Eerr" until I come to her.

This is her still up and alert at 11pm wanting to practice more cruising.

Journey to work

Zara leaves the house together with me in the morning, and I drop her off in Jenny's place (before) or Karen's place (now) together with Tuyam. The journey takes about 25mins (smooth traffic) to 45mins (bad traffic). Here's she, on a typical day.
Getting into the car, she's all excited and happy.

Songs and games keep her going.. but not for long

Starts to put thumb in the mouth, indicating she's tired

Sucking her thumb (she always covers her face either with her own hand or with a piece of muslin cloth/hanky) to sleep.

Oral Hygiene

The Pigeon Trainer Toothbrush set is a really good buy, with 3 brushes for different stages. We got Zara a set, and she's currently using the Step 1 brush, it comes with a safety shield which prevents choking.

When we first introduced the tooth brush to her, she bit on it like a teething toy. She didn't mind us moving the brush around for her, and sometimes she'll hold it herself.

I'd been carrying her while I brush my teeth lately, and now when we give her her tooth brush, she'll put it in her mouth, and move the 'brush' around, probably trying to imitate my brushing.

She's 'brushing' her gums most of the time, and I have to help her with her 4 pearly whites (she's corporative all the time, allowing me to move the brush around her teeth).

I also rub Weleda Children's Tooth Gel on her teeth once in the morning and once just before she goes to bed.

Not sure if it's the daily brushing and the gel, or babies are just like that, but Zara has no morning breath at all. She always smells good in the morning!

Coping with New environment

Tuyam is going back to Indonesia for a month starting next week.

Zara instead of going to Jenny Ah Kim's house, will go to Karen Yee Yee's house, since Karen has 2 maids who can help to look after her.

We started bringing her over today. She was having a tough time trying to adjust to the new environment and Elizabeth (my sister's Filipino maid). Tuyam told me Zara didn't want Elizabeth to handle her at all, sticking closely to Tuyam all the time. Tuyam couldn't leave Zara(with Elizabeth) to take her shower or to cook, because Zara would cry on top of her voice, and had tears rolling down. A pitiful sight. She refused to let Elizabeth carry her, and turned to face the other side when Elizabeth reached out for her.

In the evening, when she saw me walking into the house, she squealed happily, and grinned, and started to crawl towards me. What else could please me more than this sight after a hard day's work? I picked her up and gave her a big hug, as she deserves one!

It is going to be tough for her these few days, but she'll have to cope. I'll work from Karen's place the next few weeks until she settles in or Tuyam comes back (whichever is earlier).