Instead of..

Instead of walking with her new walker, she prefers to go in front of the walker to play with the stickers...



Instead of playing with the texture of her new book, she prefers to eat the pom-poms...


Babies have a mind of their own!

Wedding Anniversary

Today, hubby and I celebrated our Wedding Anniversary. Well, it's actually 3 days earlier than the actual anniversary date of 31st Dec but we wanted to skip the New Year's eve crowd. Left baby Elyssa with my parents so that we could have a nice quiet dinner at PJ Hilton for just the two of us.

3 years have passed since I got upgraded from "Miss" to "Mrs". Meeting hubby was one of the best thing that happened to me, and I can't imagine a better life partner. I still remember the butterflies in my stomach and how hard I tried to conceal my excitement when he called me during those early courting days. :) The poems and handmade cards have stopped coming, but oh, what the heck. (hmm... or mebbe I should start hinting again)

So, here's to many, many, many happy anniversaries ahead !!

Little Miss Curious

Here are some photos of my Little Miss Curious -

"I wonder what's on TOP......"

"I wonder what's in the MIDDLE"

"I wonder what's at the BOTTOM......"

I think she'll be a real handful once she starts walking!!!

EOE Online - Pt 2

I've finally received my photos from EOE Online. They tried delivering the photos some time last week but there was no one home at that time. I guess that's one downside of online shopping.

I'm happy with the overall print quality and paper. Ha hahh... already planning to order additional photos. I restricted myself to only 50 pieces the first round as I was worried that the photos may not turn out nice.

The EOE Online website has more than just photo printing. I've uploaded one of Elyssa's photo for the "Joy of Christmas" photo competion. 1st prize is a RM200 photo voucher, so do vote for her :) Here's the link to vote (but need to register) -
http://www.eoe.com.my/en/funs/competitionItem.jsp?_=1229264832180

Spectacles

What do we do when we're bored at home?? Fool around with baby Elyssa loh...

Heh hehhh...... poor girl. :)

8 Months Old

Little Elyssa is now 8 months old.


About Her:
1. Weight : 9.4 kg

2. Food Intake - Porridge twice a day
Enfalac A+ Milk, 6 oz, three times a day

3. New food introduced - long beans & french beans in her porridge.

4. She often smacks her lips together when she sees people eating. (This is actually quite amusing!)

5. She just learnt a new trick - getting down from the sofa, stomach first.

6. Clings on to me like a koala bear when she sees me around. Sometimes, I can't even go to the loo.

7. I started feeding her off my plate when she's with me during meals cos that's the only way to keep her quiet. Mainly rice grains and sometimes other types of soft food such as fish and mashed potato. Not really a good habit tho, since always expects to be fed nowadays.

8. Loves to play, play, play.

EOE Online

I was glad when I read about EOE Online which is an online photo printing shop in Malaysia. Why? Because Elyssa is already 8 months old and I haven't even printed out a single photo of her! It's just something I had never got round to doing.

With this online photo printing, I can just upload the photos that I want to print out, click a few buttons and voila - I get the printed photos delivered to my doorstep. No hassle of having to transfer images to a thumb drive, drive out, wait at the store for my turn and then drive out again to collect. The rates are very reasonable too - 4R@ RM0.30 and 5R @ RM0.50. And there's free delivery for orders above RM35.

I've uploaded my photos this morning (I tot might as well partipate in their blogger review programme) and I'm looking forward to see printed photos of Elyssa.

First Night Away

My hotel room

Last night, I stayed over at Shangri-La hotel in Putrajaya for my company's "Away Day". Big milestone cos I've never been away from Elyssa for an overnight stay before. I was worried how Elyssa would cope and of course how hubby (& MIL who's helping out this week) would cope. I even decided to drive there instead of hopping on the shuttle bus provided, just in case I had to rush home during the night.

There were activities after dinner and by the time I checked my phone, it was close to 10pm. My heart raced when I saw a few missed calls from hubby.

I immediately called back and the conversation went something like this:

Me : You called? How is Elyssa?

Hubby : She's sleeping now

Me : Was she ok earlier?

Hubby : She cried & fussed a little, but overall ok. She's fast asleep now.

Me : Oh.

How come you called me so many times?

Hubby : I was returning your earlier call

Me : Oh.

Well, a part of me was relieved that she did alright on my first night away. And another part of me........... felt like CRYING.

My little baby can do without me at night already! This little baby who practically spent the first three months of her life sleeping under my armpit.. This little baby who always wants my attention at night... This little baby --- who's growing up so fast.

*Sigh*

Session @ Tumble Tots

I took Elyssa for her very first session at Tumble Tots last weekend. I was very excited when I found out a few weeks back that there were classes for babies from 6 months onwards, called Gymbabes. When I told my parents about Gymbabes their reaction was something along the lines of..... "what?? a class for Elyssa? she's too young to know anything! No point! etc etc.... ha hahh.... I wasn't surprised at the reaction. But since the class fee was within the limit of what I can claim from my company, I thought that there was no harm trying. And I thought that it'll be good for her to interact with other kids.

So anyway, we finally made it to the class last weekend. It was a very small class - besides Elyssa there were only a pair of boy-girl twins and another boy. All 3 were > 12 months old. The instructor said the class was normally bigger but was small that day probably due to the school holidays. The class started out with a "together time" at the playmat in the middle of the room. It was a short singing session with some baby massage time. After that, it was time for the babies to have a go at the climbing/walking on narrow bar/tunnel crawling, rolling etc stations around the room. Since Elyssa can't even walk yet, the things that she could do was quite limited. About half and hour later, it was back for another short " together time" at the playmat. And that was the end of the 45 minute class.

And the verdict? Well, I've gotta agree with my parents. She was happy in that class, but that was because I was playing with her. There actually wasn't much time for interaction between other babies and parents. Most of the time she was just playing with the toys on the floor, and I already have a huge stash of toys at home anyway.

So I decided to just pay RM25 for the trial class without signing up for the normal classes. Even though the cost for me is minimal (not free cos my claims are a taxable benefit) I'm not keen on the hassle of having to be there at a fixed time and day every weekend. I'll probably give it another go once she starts walking.

Crying Photos

It's been quite a while since I posted a photo of Elyssa crying. I think it's time for another round of crying photos.

So when she reads this blog next time, she'll know that she's not always a good smiley baby ;)

"Wahhhhhh"

"Waahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

First Steps

Elyssa started cruising about 2 weeks ago. I was super excited when she managed to cruise from one end of the sofa to the other end. (with me dangling a toy in front of her)

I didn't write about it earlier cos I wanted to take a video clip of her cruising. But my Olympus camera was always not available when I needed it - at hubby's office/at home but upstairs/no battery/wrong mode etc etc. So, I'll just make do with photos.

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Here's a couple of photos showing how happy she is with her new found "skill" !!

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"Starting position"

"But wait, must stop and smile at the camera first"

"Yipeee..... reach mummy's leg already"

Car Seat

Bought Elyssa a new car seat over the weekend. Original budget was around RM 300+ to 400+. But ended up buying a Cosco car seat from US worth RM 799 (normal price - RM1,200) So much for budgeting!

Main reason for choosing this model is it's an all-in-1 car seat that can be used from birth up to 48 kg. So Elyssa can use this seat until she's big enough to use a normal seat belt.

Picture of her new "throne":

So, no more excuse (for me!) for not placing her in the car seat. Her current baby car seat is not very comfortable and she often struggles and scream when I strap her in. And I usually give-in by carrying her in my arms which I know is a dangerous thing to do.

Anyway, when we left Ikano last Saturday night (the shop personnel installed the seat for us), she was ok with her new car seat but struggled when we left the carpark. She generally doesn't like darkness so I unstrapped her and carried her in my arms. I just didn't want her first experience with her new car seat to be a bad one.

Started afresh with the must-sit-in-car seat rule on Sunday morning. I did my very best to keep her distracted - made silly faces, sang loudly, gave her toys to play with etc etc. Phew, luckily it worked cos she sat in the car seat all the way to our destination.

And on the way home, I was very relieved when I saw this -

She was sleeping soooo soundly. She remained fast asleep even after we unloaded all the shopping bags. (she's normally a light sleeper) Yipee yay!

Since she can be comfortable in the seat, the must-sit-in-car seat rule is officially on!

Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree is up already! One difference this year is that the tree had to be placed in a corner and behind the coffee table so that Elyssa can't get to it.

And another difference is that we have our very own Christmas singer this year :)

"Jingle BELLS, Jingle BELLS, Jingle All the Way....."

"Applause please. Thank you, Thank You"

8 Random Things About Me

I've been tagged by 2ma. Thanks for this!

Here are 8 Random things about me -

1. I'm quite tall at 170 cm. Growing up, I hated being tall and I used to hunch my shoulders to appear shorter.
2. I've got a hopeless sense of direction. During my audit days I wasted lots of time (and petrol!) being lost.
3. I love sour and spicy food.
4. Before Elyssa, I didn't know how to change a diaper.
5. I've been to Bali three times.
6. I almost made it to the top of Mt Kinabalu 2 years ago but had to turn back due to bad weather. So, conquering the peak is something I want to achieve one day.
7. I only learnt how to swallow pills when I got pregnant with Elyssa.
8. I love coffee - the way it smells, the way it tastes and the way it makes me feel !

Tag Rules:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their 8 things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their name
4. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged and to read your blog

The next 8 that I will tag:
1. Leona
2. Rodney
3. Irene
4. Shooi
5. Fussy Mum
6. Barbara
7. Chin Nee

HUFFF and PUFFF

I bought some books for Elyssa recently as I read somewhere that it's never t0o early to start a bed-time reading routine. Apparently it's a good way to encourage kids to like books and its a good bonding exercise.

I started with the book "3 Little Pigs" about a week ago. When I first read it (in an animated tone, of course!) I think she didn't quite understand what was going on cos she continued whatever she was doing then. So I used my fingers to point to the words as I read, just to indicate to her that I was using the book. That finally got her attention. But then she started to grab the pages to put into her mouth. That's my greedy gal!

I did it again on the 2nd night and I was so tickled that she laughed out loud when I said in my big bad wolf voice - "I'll HUFFF and I'll PUFFF and I'll BLOW your house down". I repeated that line a few times and each time was rewarded with her laughter. Hubby said the same thing while rocking her left and right, and she laughed out even louder. That was such a joyful time. Whatever stress I had that day just melted away.

Since then, I've been reading to her every night. The other phrases that she likes are:
"LITTLE Pigs, LITTLE Pigs. Let me in" - Big Bad Wolf voice
"No. Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin " - Little Pig voice

but her favourite is still the "I'll HUFFFFF and I'll PUFFFFF and I'll BLOW your house down".

This nightly reading time is now something hubby and I look forward to every day :)

Nestle Rusk

We just bought our first packet of baby rusk - Nestle (cos that's the only brand available at our nearby Mydin) and banana flavour (cos that's the only flavour which comes with a free plastic container...)

I was really curious to see her reaction to the rusk. She has always been good when it comes to new types of food, but this was the first exposure to a hard piece of biscuit. I broke off a small piece first. She gummed that piece and looked a little surprised when it dissolved in her mouth. She seemed to like it though and kept opening her mouth for more.

Keh kehh... to gauge how interested she was, I asked hubby to keep his hand stationary. So instead of moving the rusk to her mouth, she had to move her mouth towards the rusk. Just a small little "test" which she passed with flying colours! Confirmed once again that I have a greedy little princess :)

She finished the first small piece quite quickly. So we decided to let her eat the remaining rusk by herself. Her first attempt at self-feeding!

A bit uncoordinated at first -

Then, she got more comfortable with the rusk and started to hold with both hands -

And really enjoyed eating the rusk /feeding herself -

Though it got a little messy at the end -

Well, I'm glad that it was a successful exposure to rusk :)

New Things

We went shopping whole of Saturday came back exhausted and with a stroller full of shopping bags. I bought a simple top, hubby bought some socks and the rest of the loot was for none other than the little princess!

What we bought for her-



1. VTech Elephant Stacking Wheel - RM 79.90
2. Bruin Busy Wheeler - RM 26.95
3. Nattou Baby Elephant with Clip - RM 29.95
4. FurReal Baby Lion toy - RM 20.00
5. Pigeon Training Cup - RM 27.00
6. 3 Usborne Story books - RM 23.80 for 3
( Goldilocks & the 3 Bears, 3 Little Pigs, the Little Red Hen)


Elyssa posing with her new things -

"Mine, all mine....! "

After taking the photos, I logged on to my computer and was glued to Facebook for a while. She didn't fuss so I just assumed that she was happy playing with her new toys.

Well, I looked down after a while and realised that she wasn't playing with her new toys, but was fascinated with something else -

"This bottle is interesting"

5 minutes later -

"This is a fun toy"

10 minutes later -

"This toy is the best"

Hmmmm..... mebbe we should just stay away from Toys 'r Us for a while...

7 months old

Another month has passed and Elyssa is 7 months old today!

"Big smile for my 7 month old birthday"

"Must show of my Michelin hands"

About her:

1. Weight - 9.2kg

2. She can crawl very fast now, especially is she sees something that she wants. Quite a few times, I saw her crawl swiftly to her 2+ year old cousin Justin koko then grab whatever toy that was in his hand. This girl can be really aggressive!

3. New food items that have been introduced to her - green peas, pumpkin, purple cabbage, "kei chi" and yoghurt. Fruits that I've let her licked (to tease her tastebuds) - apple, orange, dragon fruit, papaya, banana, pink guava and pomelo. Not surprisingly, she just loved everything.

4. Likes to pull herself up to standing position

5. Doesn't like to sleep. If she has her way, she'll just play all day.

6. Still can't sleep through the night, despite much "training" from mummy and daddy.

7. Prefers plastic items over soft toys.

Standing Up (Back View)

Here's more photos of Elyssa standing up - back view this time! I snapped these photos last night.

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Nowadays, I've got to be extra careful when she goes near the sofa as most of the time, she'll try to pull herself up. Quite dangerous since there's no proper grip (unlike her baby cot) for her. Rescued her head from hitting the floor a couple of times already. Gotta really watch her like a hawk!

Standing Up

" Look mummy, I can stand"

"The view up here is better!"

This is quite a belated post, as I took this photo of Elyssa standing up in her baby cot about 2 weeks ago. Ke keh... but better late than never!

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At that time the photo was taken, she couldn't get into the standing position by herself but could stay there if I pull her up. These days she can pull herself up already. No more leaving her alone in the playpen during a nappy change these days. I don't think that she can actually climb out yet but after the incident where she fell from the bed, I've gotten more paranoid.

Playing with my DSLR

Taa daaa....... here's the first DSLR photo in my blog.
I really, really like this photo of her :)

Fever

Elyssa just had her first encounter with fever. She woke us up by crying at 3am. Nothing unusual but hubby and I were shocked that her whole body was very warm. We took her temperature using the ear thermometer and it showed 38.2 degrees. Second and third reading was about 37.7 degrees. We knew that it was higher than normal but didn’t know whether that was considered very high for a baby. I started to frantically (and part groggily) search through the parenting books. One book mentioned that 38 degrees was confirmed fever but not dangerous. But then I got worried when another book mentioned about deviation between ear and a more accurate rectal temperature.

She was very warm and thoughts of fever affecting the brain came to us. To be safe hubby said better to bring her to a doctor. So at around 3.30 am we bundled Elyssa into the car to the nearby 24 hour GP. Was relieved when the doc said not to worry. He said that we should only be worried if the temperature reaches 39 degrees. Also, he pointed out she was starting to sweat which was a good sign. But he did advise us to bring her back for a rectal suppository if she was still feverish around 7am. He gave her a dosage of syrup which was supposed to make her sleep better.

Upon reaching home, I tried to nurse Elyssa to sleep. She suckled then fussed, suckled than fussed. (but I was very relieved that her fever seemed to have subsided) At 5am I gave up and asked hubby to make her formula. She immediately gulped down 6 ounces then fell asleep shortly after. She only woke up at around 10.30am.

Luckily no more fever after that and she went back to her normal self. Phew!

My DSLR

I finally bought my DSLR! I've been thinking about it for some time : whether to get a better digital camera to replace my old Olympus or to get an oh-so-bulky DSLR. Finally decided on the later so that I can get better shots of my little princess.

The next big dilemma was of course what brand and model. That was an even more difficult decision. In the end, it was down to Canon 1000D or Nikon D60. Final decision was Canon as it fit into my main criteria - low entry price (just in case I get bored with this new hobby) with the option of upgrading lenses and whatnot accessories later. (apparently for Nikon, better lenses are only compatible for D80 model onwards. D80 costs RM3k plus which is beyond my budget.

So I dragged hubby and Elyssa along with me to Low Yat Plaza last weekend. Final damage to my pocket was RM 2,080 for the Canon 1000D, 4 GB 60x memory card, camera bag, tripod, lens protector and LCD protector sheet.

I tried to read the manual on Sunday night, and it could have easily been french!! I tried again last night and nearly fell asleep. Keh kehh... I think I need to get a photography book with colour pages.

Pre-Dinner Walk

It's very rare for Elyssa to sleep without kicking a fuss. Or as my mum puts it - she wants to "announce" to the world before she sleeps.

So during the recent holiday at Clearwater Sanctuary, when hubby and I walked from the chalet to the dining area, we were surprised to see this :
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Fast asleep without any crying beforehand, and in such an uncomfortable position!

I quickly snapped a photo then tried to put her in a more comfortable sleeping position. When I did that, she woke up and protested by crying loudly. So I let her be (she opened her eyes and started to look around) and asked hubby to continue pushing the stroller.

After a few minutes, I looked at the stroller again and saw this -
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ZZZZZzzzzzzzz again

So I adjusted her position, and again she woke up and protested. And AGAIN she fell asleep soon after in a similar position. I adjusted her (3rd time!) and this time I was successful. Phew! She had a good nap and only woke up when were almost done with our dinner.

Sleep Training (Part 2)

Quite a few people have asked me how Elyssa's sleep training is coming along. Well, the progress has been disappointing.

I wanted to write a day-by-day account like my previous post, but I delayed this post so much that I've forgotten the details. So I'll just write on the overall progress.

We had 2 objectives which were:
(a) to train her to sleep on her own at night (without requiring to suckle to sleep)
(b) to train her not to wake up for night feeds.

For Obj (a), she still goes through the crying process before she finally sleeps, despite all the consistent routine of patting/singing/ switch-off lights/ soft baby music. Sometimes it's just a couple of minutes but on bad days it can be up to 15-20 minutes. No specific pattern there.

Much worse outcome for Obj (b). Most of the time she's been waking up crying anytime from 2am to 5am. It takes quite some time to soothe her back to sleep and sometimes the moment she's placed back on the bed she starts crying again. Sometimes it's after we get back to bed and juuust got to slumber land. Aaarghhh!!! And she gets very cranky when she wakes up for the second time. It takes awfully long to get her to sleep again. A few nights ago, a very exhausted hubby and I decided to just let her cry-it-out. My goodness.... she just screamed and yelled at the top of her lungs and kicked around for an hour. A very angry baby indeed! Same thing for the second night. A real drama queen. Adoi, she's got a stubborn character.

*Sigh*, why can't she be more like her mummy? According to my mum, I slept through the night when I was about 3 months old. And that I used to sleep a lot. Apparently, I once slept throughout when I was given a bath!

Will be continuing with this sleep training. Hopefully there will be good progress soon.

Baby Mobile

It's finally time for me to pack up Elyssa's baby mobile. Too dangerous as she now likes to reach out and pull down one of the soft toys. This baby mobile used to be such an important item and I used to call it my life-saver.

As always, I'm a little sad when I pack up things that she has outgrown. My little princess is growing up so fast!

"Hello doggie"
"Yummy"

Weekend Get-Away

For the Deepavali weekend, hubby, Elyssa and I stayed a night at Clearwater Sanctuary Resort in Batu Gajah. It was our first time there, and I just luuurve the place. Very relaxing and peaceful place indeed. I was a bit worried when I saw the slightly run-down reception, but the chalets were nicely maintained. Spacious, clean, airy and the best part was the amazing view.

View from the balcony

The Balcony

The resort stay also comes with various free activities:
1. 2 hours of kayakking
2. 2 hours of fishing
3. 50 balls at the aquating driving range
4. 2 hours archery
5. 2 hours bicyle rental

In the "pre-baby" days, hubby and I would have happily participated in those activities, but this time we didn't even do a single one but instead spent quite some time in the well equiped childrens room!!

Some photos of Elyssa taken there-

"Shall I pick a yellow ball or green ball??"

"Hmm.... mebbe a blue one instead"
"Mummy, why am I in a basket??"

"My daddy built this house just for me"

While Elyssa was playing with the balls, I saw hubby building a house with the giant colourful building blocks. He kept saying that it was for Elyssa but I could see that he was really enjoying himself. Ha hahh..I think the big kid was the one "playing" with the building blocks. Elyssa only sat in the house for 2 minutes for us to take some photos.

We originally wanted to drive out to Batu Gajah but ended up having both afternoon tea and dinner at the resort. We had slow leisurely walks around the resort with Elyssa on her stroller. Also went for a nice body massage at the spa after dinner. Aaah.... bliss.

The following day, we went to Ipoh after checking out from the resort. Same old routine everytime we go there - food at Kong Heng, coffee at Nam Heong, drive-by my old house (my parents stayed there for >30 years before moving to KL about 2 yrs back), visit hubby's grandma etc etc.

We headed back to KL around 6pm. It was just a short holiday, but a nice one. :)