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!

The Fifth Month and a little confession

We travelled to Shenzhen a couple of weeks before Rayray turned 5 months and she was one good baby throughout the flight. Though she didn't nap that morning and had about an hour's lunchtime nap. Our flight was at 2.55pm so she fussed a little but fell asleep quickly in daddy's arms. I was rather nervous travelling with her the first time so I tried feeding her as soon as the plane started to move but she actually finished feeding before the plane took off the ground! So I guess next time I need to be more relaxed! hahaha Having said that, we are off to London in three days and I am very worried about getting baby's jet lag adjusted and how she would feel about being in London!!! I am, on the other hand, can't wait to be back home as it's been 7 months since I left and this must be the longest time in 20 years that I'd left London!

This month, I see a lot of interesting developments in Rayray. She loves the attentions even though she would be quite happy playing on her own for a bit but she enjoys the most when there are people around, talking to her.

Height - 67.5cm

Weight - 9kg

Eating - Breastfed 5 times between 7am - 7pm plus a dream feed at 10.30pm and it now takes around 10 minutes or so for Rayray to feed on one side.

On a separate note, I suffered from another mastitis three weeks ago and I now have had it three times in four months! It was very frustrating and I don't know what I did wrong but looking at the bright side, I now know all the symptoms so I would massage more and get my very own Dr. Rayray to cure it! lol

Sleeping - This is where the confession comes in. We have been using the CLB routine more as a guideline rather than following it closely. And we have been struggling with putting her down at 7pm since she was three months old as she was starting to get more alert. So I have tried everything one can think of and mum steps in to help too. Our 'trick' was to cuddle her walking from room to room or around the flat till Rayray falls asleep.

Rayray was probably too tired to fuss the first few nights when we arrived in China but from the fifth night, she was back to 'her usual self' i.e. taking a good half an hour or an hour to fall asleep. T then discovered that there was actually a whole section in the CLB book on common sleeping problems!!! Everything we had done was WRONG WRONG WRONG! So we decided to try 'Assisting to sleep method' and here is how we progressed:

1st night - I settled her in our bed with light dimmed and her head in the crook of my right arm so I could hold her hands with my left hand. She wriggled a bit in the beginning then started to cry and boy did she CRIED. I had never seen her crying like that, hard, loud and VERY VERY angrily. It broke my heart. I almost gave up ... well, I did..kind of..I picked her up after 5 minutes because I really couldn't stand it. Rayray fell asleep as soon as I picked her up....I think she was too tired from crying..... I felt awful all night ... I felt as if I was torturing my own baby and I dreaded for the second night.

2nd night - She fussed a little but as soon as I closed my eyes, she moaned for a few seconds and fell asleep too so it wasn't as horrific as I expected.

3rd night - It could be fluke or she was tired but she fell asleep when she saw me closing my eyes! I couldn't believe it so the real test is the fourth night when I have to settle her in her cot.

4th night - Rayray seemed very tired but still wanted to play. She giggled and moved around for 20 minutes and fell asleep! Just when I thought Rayray was a model baby she started to cry, again, very very angrily. I bent down to her cot and comforted her as if she was in the crook of my arms and she fell asleep within a second.

5th night - Spent an hour settling her

6th night - Again, Rayray didn't fall asleep after an hour and she held my finger the entire time..

I think Rayray is probably too 'alert' to be re-trained so would take longer to learn self-soothing. But I shall persevere.

It was a heart-ripping week but I knew I had to do it. Rayray is now 5 months old and she really needs to learn how to self sooth and I know it is beneficial to the both of us.

Oh I also 'cheated' by holding one of her hand rather than the recommended both hands. She really doesn't like having both of her hands being restricted from moving....

Development -

• Rayray now stares whenever we eat so we have been thinking about introducing solids as she seems to display all the signs according to 'What to Expect the first year'. She is always eyeing our chewing movement, the food and when we put food into our mouth! However, I have decided to wait till she is six months old as the current guideline recommends. 
• She is one curious bambina! She loves watching us brushing teeth, doing hair and even when I put moisturiser on every morning! 
• She tries to roll over and loves being on her front

Helllllo there!

• Discovered her hands and unlike before, she just put her fingers in her mouth. She now spends a good 30 seconds or so looking at her hands and play with them!

Look at my puppy eyes...

Her swimming costume debute...lounging by the pool! lol

Rayray's progress:

3-4 months

2-3 months

1-2 months

0-1 month