How The Holidays Were Spent

Just like any other weekends. DH just started his leave off work last Thursday, and we decided to check into the Times Hotel at the Times Square. For just $108 per night, it wasn't too bad. Just so-so. We were excited to take Haikal swimming the next morning, but were also worried that he might feel too cold so after a few minutes of dipping we took him out and quickly showered and dried him.




He's been behaving very well most of the time. Probably because he's been asleep most of the time.




Yesterday was another great day out. Haikal had a clinic appointment and also his last dosage of Hep shot. We met Nani Azni and her darlings as her big girl Dia was having an appointment as well (HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY KAKA DIA!!). She was also getting some injection, which was then followed by a trip to the store getting some stickers as her rewards (and I love this kind of reward system, hopefully I will remember to use it *and hope it will work with Haikal too*).




And my baby has gained a little bit of weight (less than a kilogram but that's alright). He's been quite active for the past few weeks, you know, playing with whatever his hands can reach and going wherever his body can roll to, and that sometimes makes he forget to nurse. And sleep.




Anyway, after the clinic we had a lovely breakfast by the beach and a quick trip to Makam Di Luba at Jalan Tutong before driving down to DH's kampung. Haikal was a little bit grouchy but he was asleep most of the time, as usual, so yeah, it was a fun day indeed!















الحمدلله

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Haikal Turns SIX today!

I wanted to swear and curse all the way out of bed this morning as I could feel the bodyache settling in, as a result of one whole night of trying to sleep well and at the same time lying on the side for the usual night-nursing. But I didn't, for I have all the 1001 reasons to be grateful and thankful, and not to curse. Of course, the fact that I'm well alive to feel the muscle pain is one first thing to be thankful for.

And the fact that I have finally accomplished exclusive breastfeeding for six months! I never thought I could make it this far, as I only started stocking up at 2 months post partum, and that I used to produce around 3-4oz only per session. Honestly speaking, hilang semangat sikit kan menyimpan, macam so sikit and alang2 kan dibuat stock. But then with support from good friends, I kept up with the expressing and stocking up that one day I finally managed to take up the whole fridge-freezer space. Alhamdulillah, though I had to ditch the pumping-at-work idea due to time-constraint, I managed to 'cover' all the daily 'losses' by expressing right after work. And here we are now! Still going strong, insyaAllah.

Now that he is six months, I'm supposed to give him his first foods today. But we are thinking of doing that tomorrow instead, since DH will be around to witness and take some videos. I decide to give him just the Hipp Organic Baby Rice for a start, as suggested by a friend. I thought of making my own baby food, but I'll have to wait till I get the food-maker and I'm still indecisive on which one to get :s Well at least my sister got me a book for me to start with nanti.






On another note, my six-month-old will be seeing the doctor this Saturday. I'm excited as we'll get to find out his weight (this part always excites me!). I'm not really sure if he has gained a lot as he's been having runny nose (feeding well though). DH & I caught some colds last week and luckily Haikal was spared. Except for the runny nose, he was still all well. He's getting more active each day and diaper change has been my daily challenges as he would squirm & backbend all the time! His favourite toys now are the rubber bath toys, and now that he rolls around most of the time, the bed is officially his at night, at least by 1/2, and the other half is shared by his abi & ummi.


Oh baby, how fast time flies I guess it's time to start planning for your 1st birthday party, whaddyatink??

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Charlie-Banana & Friends

So I'm still building my stash of CDs and so far I've got Charlie Banana (snaps OS), Blueberry (HL OS) and The Flip. I haven't tried the Flip one, and since Haikal has only been on CDs for several times (and on part-time basis) it's still too early to say which one I prefer more.

However, the Blueberry ones seem to work well especially for night-time. My first step was few nights ago when the nappy rash got really bad that it bled. Put the Blueberry on Haikal at 7pm and only changed it around 9am the next morning. I know I know. It is actually very seldom for us to leave the diaper unchanged for that long, as we normally change before he goes to bed and immediately when we get up the next morning. Of course when it's berabisanly soaked during his sleep half-way through the night, another change as he would get cranky and sleepless. But with Blueberry he slept well through the night, and the insert was completely soaked when we changed him. Amazingly, no leak at all! And and and, the rash was all gone!!!! And I never thought I would love the Hook-and-Loop type. It's much easier to fasten than the snaps on the CB.





I haven't tried CB for night-time, so I can't really comment on that. But I love the fact that it's not as bulky as BB. Oh and it's way cheaper than BB. As for the Flip, I need to get more Stay-Dry inserts before I can start using it.

In terms of care, I leave the whole laundry matter to Nana. It's been advised that to ensure the long-lasting of CDs, we need to avoid using some brands of detergents (even if they are for babies' clothes). Most mommies recommend Pureen HAD (if I'm not mistaken) but they are hard to find in stores. Someone suggested Nappi Kleen, and that's what Nana's using. So far the CDs survived the washing machine, and I hope they will for at least a year more.

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Afternoon Stroll

So I made an arrangement with the cousin to take our babies out for a stroll this afternoon. I was on MC due to serious cases of diarrhea & migraine, and thought it would be doing my body a favour if I go out & take some fresh air.

What was supposed to be just a ramble around the house compound became a wander to my aunts' places across the road. I wouldn't have done it alone since it's the main road that we had to cross. But of course with a partner in crime we pushed the strollers with our babies across the road, and got scolded at by the aunts LOL! Well, we had waited for the road to be clear before we crossed it, so no big deal :p










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Moments of Bumbo-ness

I love putting him into his Bumbo but he doesn't seem to like it. 5-10 minutes and he would start wriggling and trying to get out of the seat. And to ensure maximum usage and it's not a waste of $, I normally let him sit in there as long as possible before he's trying to get his butt out. Of course, I normally wait for him to cry out loud before I pick him up :p














Now that we are in March, I look forward to Haikal's 6th as it marks a significant achievement of mine. Three more weeks to go and peeking into the fridge's freezer, insyaAllah I will achieve one of my goals.

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