(Baby Keira) Happy 1st Birthday love!

It's been a while since I last blogged! Been a little lazy so no excuses. I decided to quickly blog again to capture all of my beautiful memories before I forget them!

Last month, we celebrated little K's first birthday at home. It was a cosy affair with only very close family and friends. I DIYed the decor with stuff from Qoo10. Our theme was 'You are my sunshine' so it was as mainly a lot of yellow and grey! We catered food from Lee Wee Brothers and also cooked curry chicken + CP's awesome drumlets for more yummy yummy. We bought a customized yellow ombré cake from Pine Garden and it was beautiful! I DIYed the sunshine toppers and they were perfect. 

Keira was a happy bub that day! She was dressed in a sweet yellow mustard dress whilst G, L and I were in our customized super family shirts (sadly they were a bit too big!). 

Here are the pictures from that day!

Keira's 9 months old!

Seriously, already 9 months old?! I guess it's hard for me to believe because K is a lil small for a 9 month old baby. :( I haven't done very well in making her fat and big! I need to make her eat more meat! I must admit that I've later at giving her meat compared to Leia. Perhaps because K's breastfed, so I presume that her digestive system is less developed.

Anyhow, K seems to be meeting her milestones so I'm not very worried yet! 

What she has been up to:

• K loves to -move-. She is always on the move! Unlike L, she doesn't like to sit down and play with her toys. She's kinda like Dora the explorer. She loves to crawl around and touch things... especially with her 2nd finger hehe. We have to keep an eye on her 24/7! 

• And part of moving involves climbing to a stand. Her favourite past time is climbing on mummy so that she can pull herself up to standing position. She's starting to learn how to cruise along the sofa with support!

• K needs to have whatever that Big sister L is playing with. Like seriously! Even when L gives her a toy that she's done with, K will try to grab whatever new toy that her sis takes -.- I guess sister rivalry starts at a young age? Thank goodness L is still gentle with her sister. There were a few moments that she got rough with her mei mei but they weren't serious. 

• At 9 months, K now takes about 2 longer naps in the day *cross fingers that I don't jinx this*. She sleeps better when I side latch her to sleep on our bed and stay with her. To let her sleep longer, I leave her on our bed and stay in the room so that she doesn't roll off. I get to do my own stuff whilst watching her so that's all good!

• G and I believe that K can recognize her own name now! I've been a lil apprehensive because we call her 'mei mei' sometimes so I'm not sure if she gets confused lol. But so far, she turns her head to face whoever who's calling her name. I find it so awesome how babies learn like this. 

• K's still a very smiley baby despite having severe separation anxiety issues lol. I bring her out a lot and she's always smiling at my friends and strangers! 

• Our little one can clap her hands together! She does it when she sees us doing it and mimics.

I It's Our little K just turned 8 months! Poor bub has been very cranky and sticky lately... and I'm guessing it's a growth spurt or teething. Or her new cold -.- Both L and K are down with running noses with green phlegm! Oh man. Praying for their speedy recovery...

I'm still happy that K has been progressing with new milestones:

• She can kinda crawl now! I say kinda because she moves more like a caterpillar or worm. She hasn't mastered the typical crawl yet but still it's great! Now she can scoot to grab whatever she wants! 

• K also likes to scoot over to me on the mat or mattress. She tries to pull herself up to standing position but still needs a lot of my help. I guess she's more into standing nowadays! The thing is, she's still wobbly in her sitting position but I'm not too worried about that. She can take her time to sit properly... she'll get there eventually =)

• Unlike L, her little sister uses her index finger to touch things -a lot-. It's like her favourite pastime. I honestly don't remember L doing that! She loves scratching small specks of dust, or hair or stickers or uneven surfaces... different materials. Well, the list goes on lol. And with that, she's been into this scratching and pinching thing. G was just complaining of getting pinched by k this morning hehe.

Here are her latest photos!

(SAHM journey) The hardest but most beautiful part of my life

Before my memory starts to fail, I need to pen down and describe how life was like as a full time SAHM, with no help. I became one from 10 Aug 2016 - 16 Dec 2016 to be accurate. It was the hardest and toughest thing I had to do. But yet, it was a beautiful journey of much self discovery... A period when my world was just us... G, me, L and K. A phase given to me by God as a test.

To be honest, when it first began, I wasn't confident. I've always had a helper since I moved to my own place... Except for one month in April 2016 when Jo didn't come back and things went haywire. I wasn't sure if I could do it. That's why we tried sending Leia to a full day childcare which didn't work out because she hated it and I just didn't feel comfortable with how shorthanded the place was and how the teachers handled the children. 

Sometimes, I feel God really works in amazing ways. Maybe the childcare didn't work out because I was meant to take on the life changing opportunity to care for my kids and my home on my own. 

It.was.hard. Especially in the beginning when I was still learning to care for little Keira again whilst juggling Leia. I remember struggling to give BOTH of them attention when they demanded it the same time. When Leia would cry and ask me to stop carrying Keira... And I had no one to pass either kid to. And I was struggling with breastfeeding issues which thankfully I overcame with Keira! Initially, Keira wouldn't latch because my milk came in late. I persisted whilst doing mixed feeding and eventually K preferred latching to bottle feeding. Thank goodness because I did not have the bandwith to wash + sterilize bottles back then!

It.was.hard. I had to do laundry and cook lunches and do the housework, whilst surviving on minimal sleep. I was -never- so tired and exhausted in my life. I was in survival mode lol. Couldn't and didn't think much because I was just constantly doing and doing. I didn't have much time to do anything else. 

But I survived. We survived! Yay! lol. And we grew and became stronger. I learnt to handle the household chores. I learnt how to cook (shortcut meals haha). I learnt to prioritize. I learnt how to care for my kids all on my own. I learnt that I could do it. 

Looking back, I believe I was stretched beyond my limits. And I couldn't have done it without God. And without the help of close family and friends. Somehow, after the experience, I'm ever more thankful for any kind gestures or help that I get from anyone. I'm less inclined to take things for granted (although it still happens of course). 

(Baby Keira) Happy 7 months!

Well well! You're a month older my little K! My little bub is so busy testing out new solids and learning how to rock on all fours. She needs to her hand on everything! Recently, her obsession is to touch my porcelain cup whenever I'm taking a sip of water. My little cutie pie *wistful sigh*. I guess when you're a mummy, everything little thing your bub does is just special. Even when it's not your firstborn lol.

Here are her recent milestones:

- K has just learnt to get on all fours and rock back and forth like she's humping something lol. It tickles me every time she does it. I guess it's her way of learning how to crawl.

- She loves to raspberry now! Super cheeky fella. Always looking mischievous when she does it.

- Her current solid favourites are pureed apple, sweet potato and carrot + potato. My poor little one still doesn't like to drink from a bottle so I'm having difficulties feeding her water. She gets a little constipated when I give her carrot + potato probably because of the starchiness of the potato. Still trying to figure out how to overcome this!

- K has been displaying more separation anxiety than before. I've read somewhere that separation anxiety peaks at 9 months so maybe that's why -_- K alwaaaays cries when I hand her over to someone else! And she gives me the most pitiful stare. I feel like she needs to be glued to me 24/7.

Here are her recent photos!