First Outing After 2 Weeks of Quarantine

After 2 weeks of quarantine, I'm SO GLAD that I can finally bring the 2 kids out. But I still prefer that they have no interaction with other kids yet, just to be safe. Keira will be back to school next week. 

Brought them out to eat their favorite spaghetti... HAPPY!

what is an outing without chocolate ice cream?!?

Their smiles were precious!

And after that, we came back home so that Caedy could take her nap and Keira and I did our baking! I've never really baked, in fact, I don't like baking but seems like Keira has been into it lately. This is our second time baking this week.

We used estimation for all the ingredients and it turned out OK. Not the best cupcakes (and we forgot to buy cupcake liners) but pretty decent for amateurs like us. 

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of cake flour (i used "Radiant")

1 cup of sugar (i substituted it with molasses sugar)

1 egg

1 cup of milk

0.5 cup of unsalted butter (at room temp) / vege oil / coconut oil

1 cup of cocoa powder (unsweetened, i used "Van Houten") 

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

0.5 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of coffee powder

Chocolate chips ("i used "Hershey's")

I just mixed all the ingredients using a spatula. Preheat oven 175 deg Celcius and start baking for 20 minutes. Again, you don't expect super moist perfect cupcakes but they are soft (unfortunately, not fluffy) and taste is just nice (not too sweet). Most importantly, Keira likes it and she's proud of herself after the baking session. 

For me, with a cuppa OldTown White Coffee, it's good enough for my tea time snack. 

I quite enjoy a day like this, but definitely can't afford to do it daily. 

The Breastfeeding Journey Continues...

Caedy is 2mo today. I thank God how I have pulled through and am still breastfeeding her exclusively.

Even tho breastfeeding her has been an amazing journey (I love the intimacy we have when I'm nursing her), but I, too, have moments of weakness. There are times I feel like giving up, especially when I'm physically tired. But thinking of the health benefits of breastfeeding (and btw, the book "Brain Rules for Kids" says that one of the brain boosters for kids is to breastfeed for a year), I chose not to give up.

There are many websites and groups that support breastfeeding and you can find useful info to keep you keeping on:
1. FB group - The Breastfeeding Advocates Network
2. kellymom.com
3. breastfeeding.com
4. mother-2-mother.com

I believe there are many more, but I often refer to no.1 and no.2.

She has been growing healthily, at 2mo, she's now 5.1kg and at night she'll sleep for 3-4.5 hours, sometimes less, before waking up to drink again.

Love my chitty chatty darling daughter :)

TO CARRY OR NOT TO CARRY

There's this term called CIO, stands for crying it out, that is popular among parents. Basically it's like a training for the baby to sleep on her own; cry it out then sleep. Moms and dads won't carry the baby to sleep.

Caedy has been quite cranky and demand to be carried at around 7-11pm, oh btw I have to walk around while carrying her. That's also the time I need to settle Keira (dinner, shower, change, homework, play, story time, etc). So I'm trying this CIO method for the first time last night.

I let Caedy cry for about 15-20mins. She didn't stop at all, I talked to her and pat her, but no carrying. She continued crying, so I checked her diaper. At the end she managed to sleep before 10pm. She then woke up at around 1am, fed her and then she slept on her own. But at 3am, she woke up screaming. Tummy had gas!! I suspected it was due to excessive crying. So I carried her for a while, walked around while giving pressure on her tummy, rubbed some oil, and there was an explosive gas + poo after that... Phew... then nursed her and she slept back...

It wasn't as smooth as I wanted. It was tough actually. But for long time advantage for everyone... I think I just have to do it. I can't wait til she's older so that she can at least show me different expression. I need to see her smile back at me, to assure me that she's a happy baby. But for now, I think I just gotta bear with it...

So here's for all mommies n daddies that have gone thru or going thru or will go thru this phase! It's all gonna pass soon, so just cherish this moment :)

Confinement Period #1 vs #2

In the previous confinement period, I didn't do well. So, this time round, I've made better preparation. Hopefully, even if I have postpartum blue again, I can cope better.

First of all, I have engaged a confinement lady, who will help to care for Caedy, do the laundry, cook for me & family and do basic house chores. (#1 confinement, I didn't have one, I constantly worried that my mom would be too tired & I was so stressed out when the house wasn't as clean as I wanted.)

I accept the fact that if I want my mom to come and help to look after Keira, there are things that I have to agree with her, i.e. do not walk up and down the stairs the first few days, do not wash hair daily (gonna try Comfy Care dry shampoo for the first time), and so on. I'll try to compromise on things that won't harm me and the baby and just take things easily. (#1 confinement: I pulled a long face many times because I just couldn't agree with my mom & I constantly "judged" the way she did things.)

I have bought Amway's "Post Natal Tropical Herbs".  I think it's very convenient, in terms of preparation and consumption. I still remember, my mom bought a full set of pre-packed herbs and she had to boil it for hours and I had to drink bowlssss of soup & herbal drinks daily, I was sweaty & bloated all the time. So this time round, just normal soup with meals + the Amway products. Oh ya, the post natal set also comes with the herbal bath, massage oil, herbal tea, etc... I read some good reviews about the products.

Now that I've settled my own part and my mom's part, I really pray that Keira will adapt to the new addition well and the confinement lady will be cooperative with how I want things to be done. I only have less than a month to put Keira back to her routine (back to school & daycare, sleep early, sleep on her own bed bla bla bla...), so wish me luck!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!