Weaning : Part 2

This is a backdated post - see date above.

Week 2 of the first trials went very well.

On Mon, I got her sat down, put on TWO bibs around her neck (one slightly bigger at the bottom and the smaller one on top so that the mess she creates will be filtered and not dirty her top so much!), one hankerchief on her bottom half of the body (incase her wandering hands decides to smear food all on her thighs). She was quite happy and was really looking forward to "mumm mumm" time.

I gave her half a spoonful and she took to it like duck to water - munching and swallowing as though she's been doing this for awhile. Wow! I'm so proud of her, how and when did she learn this in the span of 3 days? Just last week she was not very excited about it. I would soon find out...

Then that night, she kinda coughed at around 4am. I woke up to check on her, and found her asleep... and practicing munching! That was just so funny! So now I know how she practices. This girl just amazes me - I did not noticed her interest at us eating (we sometimes put her sitting near us during dinner).. somehow, she must've learnt quietly.

FIVE SIGNS THAT SHE LOVES HER FOOD :
1. Leaning forward towards the spoon as I scoop her rice cereal.
2. She almost cried everytime I pulled the spoon away from her mouth to scoop for more.
3. Wanting to grab onto the spoon to stuff into her mouth, but in her haste to do so, she stuffed her own fingers instead! ..
4. .. and started to munch on them (the fingers!).
5. Crying for more despite having eaten almost one-third of rice cereal from the VIA Cup (50ml - every drop of it).


Then, when she had her 4th month vaccination and developed a fever, I decided to stop solid for the day until her fever subsided. It subsided the next day and from then, I have been feeding her solid once a day. Somehow, her sleeping schedule also became better and almost returned to "normal" (when she could sleep 6 to 8 hours at stretch - how I miss those days).


WHAT'S NEXT
Image taken from tesco.com

We bought this Braun handblender and I would be making some mashed potato puree next week for her!


Read updates on the weaning series (updated regularly later), as she progresses in this crucial stage.

Daytime activities

"Look ma! I can lift Cotton Tail with BOTH legs!"

How I, a stay-at-home-mom, spend time with my daughter and what I do with her on a daily basis to develop her skills as she goes through her 4th month.

READING :

Poring over the pages of "Peepo Baby"

I started reading to her since 1 month old. Of course at that time I read to her lying down on the bed, with her beside me. She likes to look at the words when I point them out as I read them aloud. At 3.5 month old, I read to her sitting up, with her on my lap.


TUMMY-TIME AND ROLLING OVER :

To strengthen her neck muscles

She loves rolling over from back to front, especially during nappy-changing time and this is absolutely frustrating to me. And she does this with ease and with such speed I almost have to roll her over again and again and again just to secure the diaper correctly. Hmmph! Cheeky.


PLAYTIME :

Major milestone in this department. Before she turned 18 weeks, she showed absolutely no major interests in toys. She would bat at the toys on her gym, yes... but shove her a toy at her hands and she'll have no desire to hold on to it to explore further. Her interests at toys were merely batting/shuffling them, and if it makes a noise, she will do it another time and that even.. will not hold her attention for long.

I was a tad worried - will she be a late bloomer in this department?

We decided (by "we", I meant "I" :P) to get a new toy for her - the toy of choice is one of Tobey's favourite. A flutterbug (Butterfly) rattle with foldable wings that makes the rattling sound. I demonstrated to her how to have fun with it! After 2 days, she too found it interesting. Her eyes will lit up when I show her the toy. "Hooray!" My heart did a little summersault in delight seeing that she has finally like playing with toys.




And just the other day, while putting her lying on her back on the bed with her flutterbug a little faraway to reach.. she decided she will rollover to reach it. And she did! (She now rolls over in 2secs, really must keep an eye on her as she loves doing this very often.)

VICTORIOUS
"Nevermind the disshevelled hair, I gotcha, flutterbug!"

Her new favourite bunny - Cotton Tail

Mucking around with Cotton Tail

Again, showing interest in her toy.

DISCOVERY TIME : Now at Week 20, she has discovered her toes... and she is FASCINATED by them and would stare at them at length. She would also flex her toes and tries to touch them (doing an abdominal crunch).

"Touching my toes!"

SQUEELING :

Squeeling in a high pitch voice is one of her favourite activity too. She sometimes does this during her "me time" that I suspect she is just practicing her squeeling/laughing. How else do you explain a baby sititng by herself and going "Aaaaahhhhhhh..... Kakakakkaa..... Aaaaahhhhhhh.. KAKAKA".. you get my drift... Perhaps a soprano in the making!

But oh! Does she also love squeeling when daddy comes home and play with her. That girl just knows how to tug at Meng's heartstrings. Hubs will be so happy when he sees her laughing and squeeling at all his jokes!! (Little does he know she does that when she is by herself too)


NAPPING :

An important part of growing for a newborn baby is getting enough sleep. During sleep or naptime, their brains will be busy developing especially from the things that they have seen and learnt during the day. At 4 months old, Shean Wenn now sleeps 2 or 3 times during the day for half hour to one and a half hour stretches, depending on how tired she is. She sleeps more on the bed during the day than previously (before she turned 4 months old), when she can fall asleep on her rocker/swing. She now demands to be put to sleep on the bed during the day!

The rare occasion she fell alseep on her rocker during the day

Weaning : Part 1

Weaning means introducing solids to a baby. The NHS and even babycenter recommend that babies be weaned at about 6 months, or if needed to be done before 6 months, to do it not before 4 months.

As Shean Wenn turned 4 months and a week old last week (18 weeks), I did a pre-trial weaning to gauge her reaction to "solids" (or semi-solid, in this case). I used a gluten-free rice cereal mixed with some formula milk and blend into a runny consistency to feed her.

Feeding her the rice cereal
1st TRIAL : Thursday

I gave her a spoonful and she took to it quite happily, not knowing what to expect. Look at where the food ended up!

She's quite happy with it, but look at the mess!!

2nd TRIAL : Saturday

I thought I should try giving her the rice cereal again. This time, she grimaced but still took in half spoonfuls, three times. She spat out most of it, and together with her saliva, made a mess. She still has not learned the art of swallowing her semi-solid, but I know in due time she will... practice makes perfect!

Halfway through the feed, she got distracted by her toes!!

At week 18, I noticed her drooling has increased alot. She still loves sucking on her fingers or thumb (or both) and her drool will smear everywhere!

Read updates on the weaning series (updated regularly later), as she progresses in this crucial stage.

Geeky joke

The many gems of Facebook - besides being able to keep in touch with friends (long lost, some you don't even remember :P), and getting addicted to its various games/tests... I found this "bumper sticker" highly amusing. It reminds me of long hours slogging with tutorials and text books!


Found it via N's facebook