Toddler toilet seat

The verdict on Faith's potty training is that it is a veritable success.

So successful that in the day, she no longer pees in her diapers even when we put it on for her for those "just-in-case" moments. Like when the public toilet isn't of desirable hygiene, or when we can't rush her to a toilet quick enough.

This week, I left her in our master bedroom for a moment to grab a towel for her shower. When I got back in just a matter of seconds, I found her balanced on our adult toilet bowl, peeing.

She was rather steady on it. She had managed to balance herself quite well on it, with her 2 hands holding on to the sides for support.

What scared me was how did she managed to scramble up onto the toilet without assistance. And the toilet seat was rather large. Large enough to potentially be a hazard as she could fall into it and hurt herself if she wasn't careful.

I told Louis that we needed to get a toddler trainer seat for her pronto. And we did it in a great big hurry.

It wasn't the most ideal but there weren't a lot of choices for trainer toilet seats. The trainer seat was merely placed onto the existing toilet seat, although its got 2 little handles by the side for little hands to grab onto. It wasn't totally stable and could shift as Faith tries to position herself onto it.

Thankfully, the little one wised up rather quickly and manages to employ a fairly effective method of getting herself up onto the toilet seat with the least precarious movements -- by stepping up onto the little stool that we placed in front of the toilet bowl with her backside facing the toilet set before inching herself up slowly.

Faith now has two options - use the potty that we placed outside the common bathroom or the trainer seat in the master bedroom if she wants to do her business like the adults.

Having fun learning

While waiting for Louis to knock off from work, I happened to see this cute posters at the ground floor of UE Square Shopping Centre.

I've been meaning to get Faith some posters. Partly to conscientiously remind myself to teach her things - be it alphabets, numbers, body parts, animals etc - and also to spruce up and brighten the room.

She seems to like looking at them. Now, she's able to pinpoint more parts of her face e.g. teeth and tongue :)

Airport send off and new car seat

Even though she has jetlag and slept only around 4.30 am the night before, we still woke Faith up at 10.30 am. It was an important day. Her Dua Peh (my eldest BIL) was leaving for an overseas assignment for 2 months. The whole family was headed to the airport to send him off and wish him a bon voyage.

Thankfully, we made it to the airport in time to have lunch at the Kopitiam foodcourt, before sending him off at the departure gate. After Adrian left, we headed to the toilet to change Faith's diapers. While in the toilet, Anders cried becos he missed his dad. I asked Faith to kiss and hug him which she did twice :) Poor Anders. Hope he would adjust well to Adrian's time away from home.

Looking back nearly 2 years ago, when Anthea was about the same age (4+ yrs), she too cried at the departure of Adrian when he went away for a few weeks of assignment overseas. Which leads me to wonder if that's the age when they suddenly realise the significance of what it means when someone departs for an extended period, yet, they are still too young to control their emotions at the thought of their love ones leaving.

Nonetheless, travelling, especially for long periods is always disruptive for everyone in the family. Unfortunately, in today's time, we all need to do what we need to do in order to earn our keep.

As it was still early after the send off, Louis and I decided to head to town with my MIL to check out the child seat for Faith. She's outgrowing her infant rear-facing child seat. We have not moved her to a forward-facing one becos she's only reached 9 kg. So, even though her legs are scrunched up becos the seat is now too short for her legs, we have kept her in the smaller seat.

At Mothercare, we decided to buy the Britax Combination seat (which faces both rear and forward from birth to 18 months) after consulting with the sales staff and much deliberation on our part. Compared to Mothercare's in-house car seat and Concorde, it was roomier and had more cushioning support.

After paying for our purchase, the sales assistant kindly offered to help us set up the car seat in our car.

Faith seem to like her new car seat very much. Its elevated and she can now look out of the window to see the passing cars and view instead of facing the back of the car seat. The other thing is that its also cooler cos the rear-facing car seat blocks the air circulating from the front of the car. Lastly, she's now able to see everyone in the front of the car.

Given that she seems so comfortable in her new car seat and that she's not making a lot of noise (fingers cross on that one), I decided to move myself up from sitting at the back of the car to sitting next to Louis at the front.

Hurray for front-facing car seats!!!

Housekeeping

Our part-time cleaner took a holiday for 3 weeks and so, either my mom or ourselves have been cleaning the house during the period that she is away. Since we were doing the cleaning, we decided to organise the house a little bit, making it hopefully, less of a hazard to Faith when she's crawling around and trying to reach for her toys.

While at Ikea the other day to get a storage box to put some of Faith's books and other odds and ends, I came across a tall, 4-tiered clothes drying rack. Prior to that, we had 2 of those horizontal clothes drying rack. Combined, they pretty much occupied the entire length of our balcony, together with a 2-tier rack that was used in the past to place my pots of herbs.

We returned to Ikea on Sunday night as I had in my sleep-deprived stupor, bought the wrong storage box. Hence, the return trip to buy the right storage box and also the clothes drying rack.

It was a little of a challege for us to fit the rack into the car as it was long and not collapsible. After some shuffling and reshuffling, we managed to squash the rack spanning from the front passenger seat to the back. There was a little logistical rearrangement on the trip back home as the car can now only take a max of 3 more passengers -- there was originally 5 of us in the car.

Hence, my MIL, Faith and I took the car with the ACES family while my FIL drove the car, along with Louis and younger BIL at the back -- heard it was a tight squeeze even though my BIL is skinny :)

We came back home after dinner and my FIL and BIL helped to assemble the rack for us. We also hauled out the unused plant rack (which my PIL took home and now use to put their shoes :)). There's now a little more space in the balcony.

At the same time, we changed the placement of her toys from next to our daybed to its current place next to the TV console. I've rearranged all her toys and books into the 2 storage containers she now has. The picture above is of her the next day, curious about this new "house" for her books and toys. On the positive side of things, the box is big and spacious enough to put in everything with loads of spare space left. Meaning, that we can now buy more toys to fill it up. Hahaha... just kidding!

The previous location was a little dicey becos there was a protruding ledge from the side of the daybed where we used to put her toys. Each time she crawls in and out, we were afraid that she might either bump her head on the protruded ledge or topple unbalance onto the balcony floor.

They say a cluttered house bodes a cluttered and messy life. With the new arrangements, I feel that our living room looks a little better and more airy. My mood's lighter and I'm happier each time I see our living room :)

I'm a big girl now

Now that I'm starting Faith on one meal of solid per day, it makes a whole lot of sense to put her in a hi-chair, especially when she can't sit up on her own as yet. Granted, I could hold her in my lap and feed her, but I would rather that we both be as comfortable as possible without the risk of either of us upending the bowl of food over ourselves. Besides, its a matter of time in which I feel she needs to learn to sit in a hi-chair for her meals and now is as good a time to start as any.

The reason why I'm only giving her one feeding of solid is that she's not fully 6 months yet and at the risk of sounding theoretical to some of my friends, both WHO and the American Academy of Paediatrics* (AAP) advocate the introduction of solids only at 6 months.

Till they are 6 months and their digestive systems are more matured, breast or formula milk are the best nutrition for babies. Besides, I'm a little apprehensive that going on solids would decrease Faith's desire for breast milk. As it is, there are 1 or 2 meals in a day in which my little baby isn't interested in drinking (I'm wondering if its becos she's 5+ months and still on a 3-hour feeding routine). Hence, I'm using the one-meal-a-day routine simple to let her get use to eating with a spoon, experiencing the wide and varied tastes of as much food as she is able to eat for now.

Now, having dedicated 3 paragraphs of this post jabbering about other stuff, let me get back on track and talk about the hi-chair that we got for Faith this weekend. We have been scouting around for one for a few weeks now and we wanted one with a reclining function becos Faith can't quite sit upright on her own as yet. And I rather like the ones that could convert to become a little table and chair when she becomes a toddler.

Unfortunately, it seems to me that the designs and range of hi-chairs being sold in the retail market is sadly dismal, compared to the range of strollers and baby what-nots. Interesting, considering that babies would need to use a hi-chair for quite a while. Unless a lot of people make do without one??

We went to Robinsons, Takashimaya's Baby Fair that is currently ongoing and Kiddy Palace. In the end, we decided on a green and yellow coloured hi-chair by Mama Love from Kiddy Palace. Have no idea about the brand, but it looks rather nice, fitted our requirements and wasn't too pricey.

Does Faith like her hi-chair? Hmmm... I think she's ok in it. She flops to one side while in it though - her back still isn't that strong. So, we stuff a little pillow by the side to support her. However, she's got a bad habit of propping her feet up on the tray of the chair while sitting in it. Not only is it undignified, its certainly not proper table manners. At her tender age, I guess she's oblivious to social norms for now.

*Note: The AAP in its book noted that the views amongst its members were divided about the age of weaning to be between 4-6 months.

Another new toy

It used to be that I would long for the weekends while I'm working. Now that I'm a SAHM, I still look forward to the weekends. That's when Louis is home and he would get to bath Faith in the morning, spend some quality time together with our little girl and mostly for us to spend some couple time while Faith gets interaction time with my in-laws.


On Sat morning, after we left Faith with my MIL, we went down to HF's place to borrow her LeapFrog Learn & Groove Activity Station for a few months. Its a pretty cool 5-station stationary activity center, rather like a walker sans the rollers, that babies could play with. And the babies can turn 360 degrees to play with all the 5 activities.


It was really great that HF loaned us the toy as firstly, we weren't too sure if Faith would take to it. Secondly, it eliminates clutter in the house/storeroom cos once Faith gets bored with the toy, we can return it. Thirdly, we definitely saved a lot of money by buying one less item. In fact, I'm starting to like the idea of rented toys very much, especially for big chunky items that once babies grow out of it, becomes a white elephant collecting dust in the house.


We tried putting Faith in it that very night. While her neck muscle is fairly sturdy and she is mostly able to lift her head without flopping, her back muscle hasn't really developed as yet. Hence, when we put her in, she kinda flopped forward. Thankfully, HF and her hubby told us to put a towel in front of her, so that if she flops forward and/or starts gnawing at the material, there's something soft on hand.


For now, Faith seems to be enticed with the microphone device. I would say the toy is fairly interesting, at least for a baby. There's lots of sounds, lights and music to entertain and enthrall a kid. Let's hope she would continue to be entertained by it as she grows, giving us some 15-20 minutes of "spare" time to do some household chores while she plays in it *fingers crossed* :)

Blood in stool and eczema

On Thursday night, I've discovered Faith's stool had blood. Concerned, I called her paedi and was advised to bring her in the next day for a stool test as there could be 2 reasons for the blood, namely, bacterial infection or allergies.

It was a visit that killed 2 birds in one stone becos its been nearly 2 weeks since I've applied the medication by the paedi for her eczema. Unfortunately, there hasn't been any progress. In fact, her eczema was spreading to other parts of her face. The reason? I supposed the eczema must be itchy and causing Faith much discomfort. As a result, she keeps swiping her hands at her right ear and also rubbing that same hand all over her face.

I'm still waiting for the paedi to revert to me about the results of the stool test. But in the meantime, as a precaution that the blood could be an allergic reaction to milk products, I'm to abstain from ALL dairy products. Possibly, the avoidance of dairy products may also help pinpoint if her eczema could be a result of allergy too. Guess what that means? No more cornflakes, drinking of my favourite Milo tetrapaks, chocolates, ice-creams and as I go along, lots more food with dairy content. Geez... and I thought during pregnancy that it was a torture that I couldn't eat unpasteurised cheese.

As for the eczema on her right ear, it had become infected and inflamed. In the course of our conversation, it finally dawned on both of us that while he had prescribed Fusicort, a cream with steroid, the clinic assistant had given me Fusidin, a similar cream by the same pharmaceutical company but without steroid. No wonder I had zealously applied the cream for nearly 2 weeks and there wasn't any improvement to her eczema! The paedi was very apologetic about the error and ensured that this time around, I was given the right cream.

One of the staff at the dispensing counter was asking if I remembered which of the assistant was the one that dispensed the medication on the last visit, asking if it was herself. Of course I couldn't remember who it was. At that time, I was only too relieve to know that Faith's eczema was not becos she wasn't responding to the medication.

After 3 days of application, Faith's eczema on the right ear has recovered. The additional moisturiser and eczema cream (separate creams as they had lesser steroid in them) that I asked for to treat the other eczema on her face and body have also helped clear the problem. Now, my pimply-faced baby is pimply no more. Her face has now revert back to the soft, smooth skin that a baby should have. YAY!

Knowing that her discomfort could have been prevented, I'm now feeling rather annoyed with the assistant that gave me the wrong cream. Too bad I didn't notice who it was. Lesson learnt? Yeah... I shall endeavour to remember the faces of the persons dispensing medications in future.

The verdict on the stool test? Well... I'm still waiting to hear from her paedi on the result of the test. *fingers crossed*

On a side note, Faith could sleep for an hour for the 1st part of this afternoon in her new sarong. Its an achievement cos its the longest afternoon nap that she has taken for months. My mom could eat her lunch leisurely and read the papers while she napped too. Yippee to automated sarongs!

Rock-a-my-baby... in the sarong

My friend, E is a terrible person - she's a bad influence on this newly minted SAHM :) After just one visit to her home, I've ended up buying 2 items over the weekend; an automated sarong and a new mobile phone.

Alright, alright... before I start losing friends left right and centre, I have to declare that its not her fault. Au contraire, I really have her to thank for. She and her hubby have been telling us about the automated rocking sarong for the longest time when they knew that Faith has problems sleeping in the afternoons. Louis and I were adamant that we didn't want to have too many gadgets or props to help Faith sleep as it would mean one item more to have lug along if we travel with her. Or so we thought.

And so, for the past few months, Faith has to be held and rocked to sleep while cradled in someone's arms or placed in her stroller and rolled along to sleep for two mere 1/2 hour slots every afternoon. When I was at E's place, Faith was rocked to sleep by the up-down motions of the sarong and managed to fall asleep in it for a good 45 mins -- I suspected that it could be longer as we switched off the automated rocking so that she would slowly rouse herself from her sleep for her next feeding. Louis' lightning response when I messaged him about this "new wonderment" that lulled his daughter to sleep peacefully was that we go get it ourselves. Just goes to show you how often you're made to eat your own words after a kid comes along in your life ;)

As for my 2nd purchase, I have to say that I'm very very pleased it with. Its the Nokia E65 phone. In my opinion, the killer-app is the WLAN. See... when I'm breastfeeding Faith, I'm mostly twiddling my thumbs in boredom in her room. Its a bit hard to lug my laptop from the study room and surf the net while cradling her in one arm. With the WLAN capabilities, I can now check my emails and surf the numerous blog sites easily. For a tiny device, the loading capabilities and GUI is pretty fast and good.

All in, the visit to E's place yielded me with 2 wonderful purchases that I'm still congratulating myself on. While she has generously invited me back to visit again, I'm rather fearful to go... no telling what other purchases I would end up buying the next time I do a "trial-test" at her place ;) Our once minimalistic house is really piling up with all sorts of equipments and furnishings.

Another stroller makes two

I used to wonder and felt that it was extravagant for a kid to have more than 1 stroller. When we bought our Mclaren stroller for Faith, we conceded that it was heavier and you need both hands to be able to open and close it. However, the plus point was that it was sturdy, easy to maneuver and came along with accessories for winter. All of these were considerations for us as we do not know which country Louis' assignments will bring us and in which season.

It had worked well for us so far. Except that I can't go out with Faith alone with a stroller. So now I understood why some parents have more than 1 stroller. With the consideration that this time, I need a stroller that I can open and close with one hand and that it has to be as light as possible, Louis and I and got ourselves our 2nd stroller. We settled on Combi as it was light and cheap (at S$188).

Faith seems to like her stroller for a few reasons. Firstly, the seat is more ventilated and comfortable for our tropical weather. Thus, Faith's back doesn't get too warm when she seats in there for long periods. Secondly, the stroller comes with a guardrail in the front. Hence, our little baby enjoys kicking her legs and occasionally, will prop her little feet on the guardrail.

So on Sunday, we rolled Faith in her new stroller as we went for dinner at the Metropole Herbal Restaurant at Clark Quay. It had some of the familiar dishes that we like from the old Imperial Herbal Restaurant at Metropole Hotel. However, we knew that the old Metropole Hotel restaurant had shifted to Vivo City, so, I'm uncertain if this Clark Quay outlet was spun off from old staff nor its relationship with the outlet at Vivo City. Nonetheless, I much prefer this restaurant at Clark Quay as the ambient was more soothing.

After dinner, we had a short stroll around and as usual, more photo-taking of our little babe. The ACES family were all fascinated with Faith and her weekly developments, especially the 2 little As. SIL was recounting to me about how Anthea and Anders would pretend to be parents to Faith, calling each other darlings and asking if they have changed her diapers on a daily basis :) Unfortunately, they also tend to squabble with each other, trying to get the best spot to play and talk to her at the dinner table too. I guess that's part of growing up. I only hope that when Faith grows older and can play with her cousins, she would not scream and yell when she doesn't get her way, which she's prone to at this stage :)