The 7th Month

Height - 70cm

Weight - 9.6kg (seriously? with all the solids she is taking I thought she'd be piling on the weight?! Though I am happy with the steady gain as I have been worried that I would have a VERY VERY chubby bambina! lol)

Eating - Breastfed 3 times between 7am - 7pm. I stopped giving Rayray her dream feed at 10.30pm as soon as she reached 6 months. I only wanted to experiment at first and it turned out that she slept through the night fine. I also stopped breastfeeding her at lunchtime at 27 weeks as I wanted her to start drinking more water since protein was introduced and she has taken it really well. We struggled with the beaker we bought initially and after searching high and low, I found this - Doidy Cup which works as a treat!!!!

Rayray loves holding it and she just loves the novolty of drinking from a cup and able to see what she is drinking! Not that she knows what water or juice is but I would highly recommend this if anyone's LO struggles with a beaker!

She also loves her food! Believe it or not, one of her favourites is broccoli! lol Could it be that I ate so much of it while I was pregnant or she is just like her mummy? At first, we thought it was a coincidence considering it has a rather strong flavour but whenever we add broccoli in her food, she could't eat fast enough!!! We have been very lucky when it comes to weaning as she generally would eat anything you put in front of her apart from her breakfast. I think she just doesn't get that hungry after boobie milk and would only have a couple of spoonfuls of cereals with fruit puree. However, I have recently discovered that Rayray doesn't actually like banana! She used to like banana mixed with avocado but lately not only she gives me this 'mummy-what-on-earth-are-you-feeding-me' look whenever I put banana in front of her, she is so stubborn that she wouldn't even op her mouth to try!

I have thoroughly enjoyed cooking for Rayray as it's just such a fun experience! I love looking for all sorts of organic produce and just follow Annabel Karmel's and Gina Ford's recipes and make food in batches! So far, baby has had a vast varieties of food including, egg yolk, chicken, salmon, lamb, beef, carrot, potato, courgette, french beans, pumpkin, sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, onion, apple, banana, melon, peach, advocado, baby corn, sweet pepper, tomato, spinach, cheese, walnut (yes, we thought about avoiding nuts but then in most books it does state that unless there is a family history of nut allergy, it is ok to give babies nuts. And I think walnuts help babies' brain development)

I also have started using organic butter or olive oil to cook the meat dishes.

She can feed herself some carrot sticks, a piece of toast or rice cakes. She will look at the cup when she is thirsty and wants water and look at the spoon when she wants more food!

Look at my mad hair after playing in the park and I am now having my spinach and cheese for dinner!

Sleeping - Getting her to sleep at 7pm had progressively became problematic. At first, it would take around an hour to settle her and at one point (two days to be precise) she actually self soothed and fell asleep after 20 minutes. Though things went down hill after that! Not only it would take two hours for her to sleep, I had to feed her so she would sleep! I was frustrated and desperate for help as I did not know what I did wrong..I tried various things including GF's assisting sleeping training and she just wouldn't sleep in the evening! She self soothes during her morning nap and lunch nap but just not in the evening!

I then decided to buy GF's The Complete Sleep Guide and went for the last resort i.e. controlled crying. My god, it was so hard, harder than AST! the first night was the hardest and I was tearing my hair out hearing Rayray crying! After an hour's crying and screaming, she threw up all her dinner and at that point, I thought to myself what on earth was i doing to my baby? I was in tears while cleaning her up, changing her bed linen and new PJs etc. I then breastfed baby and put her down and she still wouldn't sleep. I was exhausted by then but she fell asleep after 10 minutes or so and it was 9pm on dot. I was so determined to give up but I knew not only I didn't want to be sitting by her cot for two hours every night (yes, at one point I decided to try this so I didn't have to hear her crying and hoping she would feel settled that I was right next to her but obviously it didn't work), It was for her own benefit to self sooth as she simply wasn't getting enough sleep at all! Babies at this age need around 15/16 hours of sleep and she was only getting 13/14 hours and it does make a huge difference. Also, I know when babies start teething, it would only get worse if they don't self sooth... (yes, I am one crazy mama...)

Second night was equally hard and I was very worried that she might throw up again. She was very drowsy when I put her down but she started crying when she saw me leaving the room. This time it took her exactly an hour to fall asleep.

Third night is supposed to be the night that most babies would settle themselves within 20 minutes...and unfortunately my stubborn bunny didn't want to conform and only fell asleep after an hour. However, she didn't cry for the entire hour, she did in fact cry down, it just took her longer than 20 minutes.

The fourth night, well I am not sure if it was because she was over tired as she only had half an hour at lunchtime and half an hour in the afternoon, it took her ONE minute to fall asleep.

The fifth night, she started the so-called 'crying down' and fell asleep in 4 minutes.

The result is Rayray has finally learnt to self sooth and I no longer fear bedtime!! Though the downside is that she lost her voice....and I know for you who are reading this must think I am one cruel heartless mother who let her LO cry and throwing up. It really was such a soul destroying experience and I now wonder how I had the stamina to get through it. I also wonder how my mother or grandmother got through it with me as they sure didn't have Gina Ford's routine and I turned out to be ok?

My happy bunny

Development -

• Screams, shrieks, says mummmaa (normally when she cries really hard!)

• Sit well without support

• Discovered her toes and now likes biting her big toes...um..not impressed but really cute to watch

• she is so curious about everything, including noises and people and new environment. Talking of which, I am prepared for her 'separation anxiety' to kick off so I hope by taking her out almost everyday and let friends holding and playing with her would help?

Picnicking in Hyde Park

My favourite teething companion

Going on a swing in Greenwich Park and she was starring at the baby next to her!

• She now looks for toys she drops on the floor and would OBJECT if I take her toy away from her sight or hands!

• She holds objects with her thumb and fore finger

Getting ready for yoga in her strawberry onesie

Celebrating Diamond Jubilee in style too! LOL

Rayray's progress:

5-6 months

4-5 months

3-4 months

2-3 months

1-2 months

0-1 month

The 6th month

My darling Rayray is half a year old today and my, she has grown so so much in the past month! Not only we decided to wean her early, she had her very first long haul flight from Shanghai back to London!

Height - 68cm

Weight - 9.2kg

Eating - I know I said I was going to wait till Rayray turned 6 months to wean her but she started to get hungry earlier than the usual feeding time despite offered her more milk. So I thought I'd give her some organic baby rice mixed with my boobie milk and she took it really well. She stared at the spoon for a while the first time but once she got the taste of it, she couldn't get enough of it! So a week later, I started giving her some organic apple puree, pear puree and by the third week, she has tried sweet potato, carrot, potato, courgette and banana! She now looooooves her food!

Baby rice mixed with boobie milk

I really enjoy making her food as I had decided long time ago that she would be on an exclusively organic diet only! Her body is my temple!!!

I still breastfeed her before giving her solids. She is breastfed 5 times between 7am - 7pm plus a dream feed at 10.30pm.

Look at my belly after dindin!

Sleeping - After her 'sleep training session' last month, she now soothes herself to sleep in the morning and lunchtime. I can just put her in her cot and she would 'talk' to herself for a bit then falls asleep really quickly! The evening nap between 7pm - 10.30pm still requires some attention. I put her down after story time and she would fuss and shuffle for a good half an hour. She usually falls asleep after a lot of gentle 'shhhhhhhhh' and hair-stroking.

She also started sleeping in her own room two weeks after we got back to London and she took it well. I think the blackout blinds definitely helped!

Development -

Yo! Whazzz up!

• Rayray has learnt to blow raspberries and she loves doing that!
• She also understands 'cause and effect' and the results of simple actions so she would drop her toy wanting me to pick it up. I don't get cross nor do I tell her not to do it, I know it's babies' way of communicating and I enjoy playing with her.
• She now reaches out when there are objects in front and she also likes touching my face and hair
• She can now sit like a tripod without any support and is so adorable to see her discovering the world from a different angle.

My little princess

Mummy put me in this bumbo seat and it's too snug for me!

Rayray's progress:

4-5 months

3-4 months

2-3 months

1-2 months

0-1 month

BabyBjörn v.s. Stokke

I couldn't believe it was time to look for a high chair for Rayray as she still seems so 'little', ok maybe not her size but her age! 

Anyway, we looked at various reviews and decided to go for the BabyBjörn one in white. I love the design, and the fact that it's easy to clean (top tip - NO padding or whatsoever as babies are messy eaters and paddings are just a nightmare to clean!) and yet compact enough to store when not in use. Rayray liked the highchair and was absolutely fascinated by it when she first got in there! I think the height of the chair makes her view very different and she seems quite conformatble in it! The downside is and this is the major drawback - It's not spacious enough between the seat and the table. Ok, if truth to be told, Rayray is a rather big baby so it seems rather snug for her..... 

We then opted for Stokke. We wanted to go for the Tripp Trapp in the first place but preferred the look of BabyBjörn.

Tripp Trapp is more sturdy and not to mention the longevity of the chair. Both highchairs have a footrest which I think makes babies more comfortable.

Therefore the verdict is IF you have a chubby baby like me, I would strongly recommend Stokke's Tripp Trapp.

My very first Mother's Day

This year I celebrated my very first Mother's Day! Even though T couldn't be here, we made sure we celebrated in style (ish)! lol

We went to The Ebury on Pimlico Road. Here is what we had:

No celebration would be completed without a glass of bubbly

Joce's starter - smoked mackerel salad with beetroot & Avocado

My starter - asparagus & garden vegetable salad with truffle oil

Wan's oysters

Mr Wan's Sunday Roast - roast beef with yorkshire pudding

Joce's main - suckling pig with apple sauce

My main - seared tuna with aubergine caviar, fennel & olive tapenade

Mao's main - Roast chicken with wild garlic, gnocchi & morels

finished off with cheese board

I liked the environment as it was spacious, friendly staff and cosy. However, the food was somewhat mediocre for me. I would go back for a drink on a Sunday afternoon or in the evening but I wouldn't go there for the food again.

sound asleep (for the first half hour....)

me and my little sausage

London baby, we are here!

I was so worried about the flight from Shanghai to London and also how to adjust Rayray's jet lag especially I just trained her to self sooth at 7pm bedtime. I read a lot about how to help baby overcome the jet lag and I decided to go cold turkey! YES, I am one mad mama and believe it or not, babies do adapt well and I needn't worry at all!

Rayray behaved during the flight but kept being woken up by a 1 year old boy next to us... (he screamed a lot and whenever Rayray started to doze off, the boy would start to scream....) As soon as we boarded the plane, we changed our watch to UK time and try to follow the routine as if we were in London. Though she didn't get much sleep because of the little boy and it was 8.30pm when we got home. We changed her and then put her to bed. She woke up at 4am for the first two days and wouldn't go back to sleep till 6.30am. So I let her sleep till 7.30am. She was so sleepy and tired at 5pm the first few days as it was midnight in Taiwan and it was really heartbreaking to see her trying so hard to stay awake. Though she slept through the night from the fourth day so I was very happy with the result.

It took T two days to put her new cot up, wardrobes and changing station assembled so she slept with us the first week! It probably helped her adjusting the time too (so we kept telling ourselves! haha) as she was always surround by us and with T's snore during the night, I think she found it rather soothing!

We are happy to be back and Rayray is adapting to London well!

errrr. look at my cleavage! 

In her upright buggy

Lunch at Daphne's

We had lunch at Daphne's on a beautiful Saturday. The service was good, prompt and most importantly, it is a very baby-friendly restaurant!

We decided to share our starters and Wan was absolutely right, the burrata here was absolutely divine! It melts in your mouth! oh and the datterini & pesto (a variety of tomatoes and it is sweet and fragrant!) goes so well with the burrata!

I also enjoyed the prawns, I thought the meat was cooked to perfection with excellent flavour!

Starter 1 - grilled sardines with lemon and parsley

Starter 2 - burrata with datterini and focaccia

Starter 3 - red sea prawns with chilli and garlic

Joce's starter - linguine with surf clams, chilli & garlic

My main - pappardelle with wild boar

I went with the waitress's suggestion ordering a starter portion of my main and she was right, it was  more than enough as it is a rather rich dish.

Grilled whole sea bream

Pasta of the day - tagliatelle, morel mushroom and truffle

Spaghetti with Datterini and basil

Dessert - Gariguette strawberry zuccotto i.e. crepe filled with ice cream with strawberry

We were all really full but couldn't resist dessert so decided to share one and it was delicious! I love the tangy strawberry sauce!

Something New

I discovered those rather cute nappies while we were in China. They are Huggies' nappies even though I am not a fan of them but couldn't resist the pink girlie design and thought I'd give them a try, well, not me, Rayray will, hehe! They are made in Korea and are thinner than the ones you get in Taiwan. They come in two patterns in a pack but I didn't like the fact that they don't have wetness indicator and the fastening tabs are back-to-front.....

It really is amazing how having a baby changed my shopping habit completely! Not only I love trying new things for my little bambina, I now only go to babies section whenever I shop and would only browse at shoes and bags section should time allows!!!!! I know...I can't even recognise myself anymore! lol 

Happy Bank Holiday Weekend everyone!