Actually, I didn’t plan to do much shopping during this trip. First, my tummy is still bulging, so I don’t want to upset myself for not getting those pretty dresses. Secondly, with the baby tagging along, I foresee my mood and mobility greatly reduced. Thirdly, my interest has shifted to baby clothings and toys nowadays.

However, Indar (domestic helper cum babysitter) has great plans for shopping! She has been a great caregiver to entrust the baby to, so I felt really bad if I disappointed her. So everyday, after the sumptuous breakfast, we would bring the baby back to the hotel room, made her nap to her content, fed her until she was full and we will hit the shopping malls. I had my lightweight one hand fold stroller (finally bought one), nursing tops and Indar, shouldn’t be any problem, so off we go! However, as I have mentioned earlier, bringing a baby to unfamiliar places is a difficult task.

Are there nursing rooms around? How about breastfeeding in the public? Is it allowed? Are there lifts or ramps for us to maneuverer the stroller? Of course there are nursing rooms, ramps and lifts, but the problem is, I have no idea where they are.

At Sungei Wang, one of my favourite mall, we gave up using the stroller because can’t find the lift. Riding up the escalators with the stroller is ok with me, but not going down with it! I ended up carrying the baby, Indar pushing the stroller. The many pretty clothings made me very angry, and I decided not to go there again until I flatten my tummy.

At Lot 10, the baby decided she wanted her food. So I asked the toilet keeper if there is any nursing room around. She directed me to the toilet on the fifth floor. Fifty cents per entry, pretty expensive! I paid anyway, thinking that a decent nursing area was waiting for me. It turned out to be a normal toilet, with a long bench in front of the toilet cubicles. So that is the place I am suppose to nurse her. Never mind, no big deal right? The problem is, we were not alone in the toilet and the other two ladies inside were having some serious diarrhea! Some stench-therapy we had! Anyway, I made a huge mistake here. There is Isetan at Lot 10, so there might be a nursery room available at its children’s department. I should check it out there.

Going to Chow Kit market and Petaling Street with the baby is the worst mistakes I made. We went on the wrong day. It was the hottest day I have experienced in KL. I was almost baked! The baby was soaked in sweat and probably dehydrated. She drank like mad when we offered her water. The markets were so crowded, it was impossible to use the stroller. Here again, we had to carry the baby and the stroller all the way. I lost all interest and only wanted to get thru the street at my fastest speed. Would definitely want to visit Petaling Street again, but without the baby.

The only two places I feel at total ease with are Berjaya Times Square and KLCC. There are nursing rooms at Debenhams and Isetan. They are huge, so that I don’t need to go mall hopping (meaning more carrying of the baby and the stroller). They are spacious, so that I could easily push the stroller around. There are also many benches around at Times Square, so that I could rest my feet when I am tired. The best thing about KLCC is, there are many shops selling kids stuff, from apparels to toys to accessories. Could easily burnt my pocket there if not for the fact that we had a train to catch.

Now I am more familiar with the terrain, I would be better prepared when I bring the kid there again.

Finally returned from KL and properly recuperated to blog again. Bringing a baby for a trip wasn’t an easy task! Even if it is such a short trip (just 4 days), in a Singapore alike city (KL) and staying in a good hotel. I am glad we brought along the babysitter, or else I will probably be raged in frustration and ended up caging myself in the hotel room for four days.

We decided to take the night sleeper train to KL. It was a good start and a right choice. There are individual berth with curtain for privacy. I could nurse the baby in peace and slept with her all the way to KL.

The return trip was the normal sitting express train. The baby didn’t really enjoy the trip back, neither did I. I had to carry her in my arms and she fussed now and then. Obviously, she wasn’t comfortable. The only thing I could do to pacify her was to nurse her to sleep whenever the crying ordeal started. How I wished I had the “sit n stroll” car seat which she loves so much. I hope she didn’t annoyed the other travellers.

Anyway, she saved the best for the end. She dirtied herself and needed a diaper change. I wouldn’t even consider changing her in the air-conditioned coach, the smell would have killed all on board. In the end, we found a little chair at the coaches connection and performed our changing skill there. With her lying on my laps, my hands grabbing her legs, Indar was able to clean her bums and get her into a fresh diaper. It was a dirty, noisy, bumpy experience. Thank goodness we didn’t fall off the train when the door behind kept swinging open.

This monkey is fast becoming yauyau’s best friend. We are not always successful getting into “conversation” with the baby, but whenever I give her the monkey, she will start her baby talk with the monkey, amusing! And the monkey is also becoming my best assistant. When I need to put her down for her nap or sleep at night, the monkey helps! Maybe she gets really tired bashing and talking to the monkey that never respond.

Strategy number two: bring her to the nearby shopping mall and loiter around for a while. She gets really tired after that! Just need to put her down or rock her for a brief moment in her bouncy chair and she is in her dreamland. I think looking at the people and fancy things in the mall makes her very tired. I can get my grocery done while she entertains herself by looking, and falls asleep after getting home, killing three birds with one stone! Well, the bad thing is, she might get so tired that she becomes cranky and screams bloody murder in public, and I can’t use it for her night time sleep.

Strategy number three: put her into the car seat and goes for a car ride. I have not use this method yet, but I notice that she always falls asleep in the car seat. Considering the cost of petrol and the amount of pollution it is generating (using diaper is already sinful enough), it isn’t very worthwhile.

I am glad I didn’t went ahead to shave yauyau’s head botak, else I wouldn’t have so much fun today. She was born with a headful of hair, has soft lovely curls, nicely parted on the left. I always joked that this vain baby had her hair properly permed and set before coming to this world. Anyway, she started balding about a month ago. Her hair has been falling, especially those nearer to her neck. Could see some skin patches and was beginning to look rather ugly. Since there is this tradition of shaving the baby’s hair (and eyebrows too) during the fourth month here, I decided to have it done to her too. After all, it is going to encourage thicker new hair growth, isn’t it?

Luckily, I am a lazy mom, and never bring her to the hairdresser. Perhaps I couldn’t bare to see her hairless. She already looks like a boy, doesn’t want to aggravate the situation. The balding situation is better now, because her hair are growing longer, they somehow cover the patchy areas. I bought her some tiny cute little clips, and had fun doing her hair. My life size Barbie! Now, no one will ask me about her gender anymore.

My dear yauyau (I have decided to stop calling her baby) is five months old today! I find myself falling more and more in love with her everyday. I think she has passed that terrible crying stage which drive all of us crazy. Well, she still cries, but is much easier to handle (maybe we have became more skillful), and there are always the bouncy chair or the walker or some chewable toys to pacify her. And she is smiling when we make faces at her. Her happy laughter has that magical uplifting effect. I enjoy her so much!

One significant change during the past month is her feeding habit. She has extended her feeding cycle to about once every 3.5hr to 4hr. It worried me initially. I was afraid that will affect my supply, so I tried to make her nurse every 3hr, but she just wasn’t interested. If she isn’t hungry, there is no way I could make her eat. She would just turn her head away and amuse herself looking at other things. So be it if that is the natural process. Good for me too, I have more time to do other things without having to worry she needs to be fed again.

Hurray! The baby has taken on the walker. Nope, I am happy not because I am proud of her being able to do so, but because I have one more item to keep her occupied, thus more time for myself.

Actually, I have no intention of getting a walker, but my friendly neighbour gave us her daughter’s. Had read a lot about babies injured due to walker (falling off the stairs, fingers or toes pinched between furnitures and walker, etc), and there are also studies showing that children who use walkers may actually learn to walk later than those who don’t (though many parents don’t agree). I also remembered someone saying that babies who zoom around in their walkers are only developing their calf muscles, whereas the more important larger muscles (essential for walking) are not being worked on. Tummy time and crawling will strengthen those muscles.

Anyway, I don’t intent to let her cruise around in it (I was told not to exceed 30min a day). Maybe I should also get a baby chair for her and throw some toys on it to keep her entertained.

I always dislike crowded places, so I thought shopping on a Sunday afternoon was a very good idea, the mall would be friendlier. But I was very wrong! It was loaded with shoppers! Wanted to lunch at Crystal Jade, but the queue was so long. We finally settled for the Crystal Jade serving Korean cuisine, and James happily ordered a high chair for the baby. I was preparing for some embarrassment, because the baby couldn’t sit up properly yet and have not tried any baby chair before. To my surprise, she was able to balance herself on it, with some support from my sarong sling. Good job, baby! But my stress wasn’t over yet, I expect her to start fussing in about 20 min. I quickly formulated the next strategy - feed her some food. There were rice. I mashed up some rice, with our ginseng chicken soup and feed it to her to keep her entertained. She had ginseng! Must be very nourishing. I hoped it won’t kill her. Anyway, that was yesterday and she is still alive at the moment. It was a very good lunch, with the baby crying as the grand finale.

Next, off to Takashimaya. I wanted to buy some toys, probably something which she can bang on and plays silly music. The children’s department was packed with parents and kids. I was glad I didn’t bring along the stroller. I think maneuvering it there was more challenging then changing lane at the jammed JB custom. Gave up the idea of shopping for toys, so I headed for the nursing room. Better feed the baby before she turns cranky again. Surprise again! Even the nursing room was packed with parents!

Luckily, I could share the room with another nursing mom. She was nursing her 10mths old daughter. What an inspiration to me, I hope I could survive that long. “Ouch! Naught girl, you bite me! No more milk for you!” Oops, baby with teeth bite, is that going to happen to me too?

The next mom entered, and my baby decided to do some networking with her. She refused to eat and kept turning her head to look at that mom, and went “ahhh ahhh ahh”, trying very hard to distract her. Yeah, my naughty girl succeeded, and disturbed her nursing boy. We quickly get out and ended the day at Ngee Ann City.

Just saw a programme about homeschooling in Singapore. I find the programme biased against homeschooling, with educationists, school principal and even students talking about the merits of mainstream education. The home-schooling concept is still very new here, with only 25 and 30 applications submitted for exemption from the mainstream schools in the year 2003, 2004 respectively.

Before the baby arrived, James already mentioned that he is considering home-schooling the kid in future. Actually we were quite clueless about home-schooling. I objected violently. Why? I am a trained teacher and always believes in the benefits of children going to school, to learn, to play, to socialise. Isn’t it ironical that a school teacher home-schools her kid? Anyway, I try to be open minded and plan to do some research on this issue. We have plenty of time to decide.

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Now the foot finally found its way to the mouth! I wonder how it taste like. Thank goodness her feet are still clean, can’t imagine a crawling or walking baby eating her own feet, gross. My mother-in-law believes that when the baby starts eating her toes, it means the next baby is on his/her way.

I am finally back again! The baby worn me out the past two weeks when the father was away. She decided to wake up during the night a few times, either seeking for food or threatening me to have her on the big bed. I wonder if it was because she missed her papa.

Then James finally returned a week and half later and I became more tired! Now I have two babies to look after. The small baby demanding attention and the jet lagged big baby asking for lunch to be served at midnight and wake up at 4am complaining he is hungry….