Misha: 16 months

Eating
In my attempt to reduce the 'orange' foods in her diet I have started to give her less vegetable (since they all seem to contain beta-carotene) and more rice..so now I've started to cook 3 milk spoons of rice (used to be 2).

Walking
She mastered standing up on her own (19/11/2014) so doesn't need to crawl much anymore. She can also walk over wires quite well (the laptop wire is left on the floor). Initially she would trip over it but after a few tries she seems to have figured out how to step over it.

Teeth
Started brsuhing her teeth eith s proper toothbrush in the bathroom. Previously was using one of those finger brushes but hse started biting on it and it hurt my finger!
She is quite willing to let me brushe her teeth (for now anyway) 

Talking
Banana - 'nana'
Dog - 'doh'. But she calls every animal a dog
Chips - We were having dinner and Jing's meal came with chips. She saw it and immediately said 'chee' and pointed.
I notice she is quite spontaneous when it comes to talking. She will suddenly say a word on her own. Not really copying something we try to say to her. She seems to store it in her head and suddenly spring it on us. 
So sometimes there are things she says which we have trouble identifying.

Holiday
Misha's first time on a plane. Since she was under 2 we didn't get her a seat and instead reserved a bassinet for her. But she didn't really like sitting in it so had to hold her most of the time.

We spent 2 weeks in Australia during this time. She was quite easy to travel with. I was worried she would have trouble adjusting to sleeping in a cot in different rooms but she didn't have any problem. Every night I would put her down after singing her usual lullaby and she would go to sleep till the next morning. Some nights she cried (but nothing long or unusual). Meera used to wake up a lot during the night so I was expecting the same with Misha...it was a pleasant surprise that we got to have a good night's sleep every single night. We even put both the kids together in the same room to sleep cos Meera would wake up in the morning and come to our room looking for us.

She didn't really sleep much in the car so naps were mostly missed. And we usually got back to the room late so she was surviving on less than her normal sleep but she was mostly fine (unlike Meera that went a bit cranky if she didn't get enough sleep). I think having Meera around also helped keep Misha in a good mood.

Breakfast was usually 1.5 Weet-bix with UHT milk. Lunch and dinner was those baby food pouches. I also let her eat whatever food we were eating (but not much). She did have more chips than I would have liked but other than that she ate quite well.
She keeps insisting on eating everything we eat...especially if she sees Meera eating it. Also wants to drink whatever we have. Food wise I usually oblige but never let her have our drinks (since it'susually coffee!)

Nursing was cut down to only twice a day but I noticed she would nurse a lot longer (total time was still a bit less though). I tried feeding her in the car (and even nursing rooms) but she was always so distracted.

Walking
She is a lot more better at walking but notice she does not like walking outside. Tried putting her down on the road, grass sand and she would cry non stop, hold on to our legs and not move an inch! But inside the house she was fine on tiles, carpet, hardwood....

Signing
She is quite good at using signs now. She will even sign water when she sees the ocean, or rain.When she signs milk she will say 'mah mah'.

Signing 'more'

Misha: 15 months

Walking
This month Misha has really started to walk a lot! It's still in the early stages so she usually has both arms up as she toddles along. Most of the time she is holding something as she walks (not sure why?)

Signing
Whenever she poops I will say 'chow chow' (smelly) and do a specific sign. I also do the sign when I change her diaper and sometimes she will copy me. Recently I noticed her doing it on her own and when I checked...she had pooped in her diaper! It's happen quite a few times already...

Eating
Have started to give her 3oz. of milk in a straw cup again....she hardly spills nowadays. I give it to her during breakfast and she will not drink it all at once...I have to feed her in between but she will point when she wants to drink. Most times she finishes it all.
Still giving porridge (between 7-8 oz.)
She is obsessed with drinking water. Every time she spots her sippy cup she will sign water. I have to keep her bottle out of sight. She can easily finish the whole bottle  at one go...I think its the novelty of the straw more than anything else.

Your Baby Can Read
Lately feeding times are getting a bit challenging. She starts to squirm and whine after  a while so I have started to let her watch You Tube while I feed her...sigh. Not ideal but really no choice. I usually show her Your Baby Can Read and its helping her learn a few things...she can point to her toes and nose (a bit her to aim so sometimes she points to her cheek instead). She will also clap and do arms up when they say it. And whenever a song comes on she will sway. 

Toys
She is loving:
- the ball popper...she has figured out how to drop the ball in and push the blue button but after that she will use her fingers to remove the ball and repeat again...she has yet to figure out how to pop the ball up with the red pump. She will sit and do this like 10 times in a row sometimes
- still loves her kitchen
- she figured out how to feed the doll (we have a Baby Alive doll that will make make sucking sounds if you bend the bottle in her hand to her mouth). Sometimes Misha will sit and feed the doll and 'sayang' her. Awwww.....

Pointing
She is always pointing at things and saying 'what's that?'. She also does it when I show her picture books. I label as much as I can...Hopefully something is sinking in.

Stairs
We had to change to another safety gate cos the IKEA one was to wobbly...she was always holding the bars and shaking it and it's bound to collapse soon.

Teeth
I can feel her bottom right molar but it has yet to break through.

Talking
Can say diaper...sounds more like 'dadeh' but she says it quite consistently.
Favourite word is still 'what that' and still as unintelligible. Yet somehow many people seem to get what's she's trying to say. :)


Sleeping
Naps are still inconsistent...I try to let her have a short morning nap...I wake her after 1.5 hours or latest by 12.30pm and put her down for her second nap at 3.30pm. sometimes she will nap sometimes she doesn't.
I figured after our trip to Perth she will naturally move to 1 nap so I'm not gonna bother now.

Clinic Health Visit
I took her in for her 15th month checkup on the 18.11.14. Her weight was 8.5 kg. (Although they now weighed her fully clothes on the standing scale).
I also had some concerns to address. I've noticed for a few weeks that her palms and soles are yellowish in colour. Her eye are still white so I doubt it's jaundice. When I highlighted it to the nurse she refered me to a doctor and they took blood (very traumatic cos they needed quitr  abit) to rule out any liver problems to be on the safe side. Will need to follow up n this
I suspects its carotenemia (based on what I've researched) so in the meanwhile I'm trying ot reduce the amount of beta-carotene in her diet. Unfortunately practically every vegetable I give her (carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato, spinach ) has high levels.

Dog
We went to visit Steph at her parent's place and Misha was absolutely fascinated with Jamie (her dog). She even pet it a few times and I think she tried to say dog.
Since then she will is very interested when there's a dog (in a book or on TV)

Misha: 14 months (Walking!)

Misha finally took her first steps! (30/9/2014) ....a grand total of 3 steps from the couch to the TV console. Since then she will walk a few steps every once in a while but then go down on her knees and proceed to crawl. But if anyone asks I wouldn't exactly say she can walk...yet.

Favourite toys
- She really loves the Fisher Price Kitchen we got for her birthday. She loves to spin the clock (a song will come on) and she will sway along to the music. I've also caught her kissing the light a few times
- Speaking of kissing, whenever I get her from her crib, she will always pick Zizi up and kiss it (provided she hadn't thrown it out before going to bed).
- She also loves holding on to a duplo piece (especially the people or animal figures) while she crawls around
- Cups are another favourite...and she makes a grand gesture of drinking from them

Stairs
She can crawl up the stairs really quick. She managed to manouver herself through the safety gate a few times and has given me quite a few scares. One minute I think she's downstairs and suddenly I hear sounds upstairs (she always heads to Meera's room to play with the Little People Toys.

Teeth
6 tooth came out this month (2nd top right tooth). I notice whenever she has a new tooth come out, it hurts to nurse. Maybe she needs some time to get used to the new tooth (?). Luckily it only lasts a few days (but during that time I will have visible bite marks... no blood though).

Strangers
Recently she seems to be more tolerant of strangers (including family members). We had dinner with our family and she was more willing to be carried by them than usual. She even seemed to not mind my dad so much (previously she practically cried the minute she caught sight of him!).
My mom helped to babysit her for hlf a day when Jing and I went for our half-marathon run. She came the night before so Misha could get accustomed to her. The next morning we left before she woke up so my mom had to give her milk....I was quite worried she wouldn't accept it but she was fine....she drank from the cup with no issues at all. :) Strangely she needed to nap much earlier than usual so my mom put her down...she cried a bit but managed to fall asleep.


Eating
She can sometimes eat as much as 8oz. of porridge. But lately she seems to be reducing her food intake again. She is also more aware of what's on offer. If she notices we are eating something she will refuse to eat her food (so when we are out I have to try and feed her quickly before our food arrives). She is also very vocal about getting a portion of our food. She will keep saying 'eat' and sign 'more' until she gets some.

Talking
So far only 'eat' is very clear to me.
I think she can also say 'done'  but she usually only repeats it when I say 'done' after feeding her.
Sometimes she can say 'jie jie'. She can also say 'Zizi'.


'Big Smile'
Jing taught her how to give a big grin...although half the time it looks like a grimace more than a smile. LOL

Sleeping
She is starting to only take 1 nap a day quite consistently. I used to put her down after 3 hours in the morning but this seems to have extended. And if she sleeps too long in the morning she won't sleep in the afternoon. I think she is starting to drop a nap but still in transition.

Sick
She had a cold for a few days...nothing serious but  she did nurse less for those few days

Hospital Visit
Took her for her follow up visit at Putrajaya Hospital and her neutrophils count is finally out of the low range (ANC: 2.16...anything above 2 is acceptable). However her neutrophil percent is 26.4 (normal is above 40%). So we still need to go for follow ups.

Misha: 13 months

I've decided to do monthly posts from now on....

Signing
26/8/2014 I notice she is attempting to do more signs now. She does it but seems a bit random to me. She can sign...milk, finish (all done), more.
She has also started to wave hi and bye more consistently. Tonight when I brought her upstairs she waved bye to Meera as we were going up.

Eating
She is very keen to eat the stuff that we are eating. Whenever we sit down to eat she will start to say 'eat' and hang around the table. If we are eating out and she is on her high chair she gets quite loud and insistent. I am starting to let her try a bit of our food. Sometimes it's a bit difficult since our food is not exactly esay for her to chew but she does try....
Started giving her fresh milk (slowly increasing to 3 oz.) in a straw cup with breakfast. I gave up on the doidy cup...she was doing quite well with it but I realise she can't manage it on her own so switched to the straw cup instead. There's some spills (sometimes she sucks and forgets to swallow so it dribbles out...lol) but its slowly improving.

But once she got the cold I stopped (worried the milk was causing her flu...).

Solids weet-bix, cheese
Jing got a box of the kid version from Australia (less salt and sugar) so I've started giving her that for breakfast. She can eat 1 of it with banana and yogurt or milk.
While she was sick she was eating less (and I think she lost a bit of weight too). But recently I have started giving her 7 oz. of porridge and she can finish it.
I also got some cheese sticks for her and she seems to like that.
I've also tried giving her rice instead of porridge (really soft). Instead of cooking with the slow cooker I steamed everything in the rice cooker.

Milestones
She can stand on her own (for a few seconds). Still resisting all attempts to hold her hand to walk. She prefers to push the chair and walk.

I got the Dear Zoo book recently and she spent quite a long time trying to open the flaps.

She can point to 'jie jie' and daddy. Still working on mommy....
She also likes to point at things and I think she wants me to name them for her. She kinda says sometimes that sounds like 'what's that?'. It comes of like 'unh unh' but the tone of it is like when I say 'what's that?' so I just tell her what it is. Sometimes she will point at it again and again so I'm not really sure what's going on. Her favourite thing to point at is the air cond and the fan.
I find her mimicking our inflection for a lot of words. It sounds like babble but the tone is similar.

Sick
The past month she got a cold...twice! Luckily no fever but it was quite disruptive. She still slept at night fine but naps were a bit off.

Naps
Quite often she is only taking one nap a day. Typically she will take a really long morning nap and then in the afternoon it takes a really long time for her to nap (and since we have to go fetch Meera it usually doesn't happen). I think I have to start shortening her morning naps (but I hate having to wake her up from them).

Teething
Her fifth tooth appeared (top left 2nd front tooth). So now she's got 3 at the top and 2 at the bottom.

Vaccination
This month she had 3 jabs! MMR at the Klinik Kesihatan. Then pneumoccocal and chicken pox. She had fever for 1 day (quite high...which I think was from the chicken pox vaccine). I'm wondering if maybe all the jabs lowered her immunity and that's why she was sick a lot...

Misha: 1 year old!

She can:
- walk holding on to something. Especially our dining chairs. Doesn't like to hold our hands to walk
- wave bye and hi
- play peek-a-boo with her clothes or hands
- sign milk and finish (usually when I say the words. Has done it on her own but rarely)
- point. taught her that so it looks like '1' for her birthday
- pick up things with quite a good pincer grasp
- drink from her straw cup with hardly any spills
- drink from a cup (needs to be fed) but will spill (she's always biting the rim)
- use her brush to brush her hair
- put objects inside a container (but prefers taking things out)
- understands when we say clap, arms up
- understands when I say no
- respond to her name

Talking
Her first word is EAT! as far as I can distinguish. Whenever its time for meals I will tell her eat and stand by her high chair. She will say 'eat' and come near so I can lift her up to her chair.

Sleeping
Takes 2 naps (1-2 hrs). Usually 3 hours total and about 10 hours at night. Bedtime is between 7.30 - 8 pm.

Eating
Breakfast is usually rotated between yogurt with tahini and banana or avocado with cereal. Lunch and dinner is porridge (recently increased to 6.5-7 oz). In a week I usually give her fish 4 times, steam egg 2 times, minced pork or chicken 1 time. This is usually mixed with pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, broccoli and spinach.
Occasionally I cook with chicken/beef/pork stock but usually it's just flavoured with onions or spring onion. I also hardly give her scallop or ikan bilis. I think I need to start varying her meals a bit.

Discipline
So far not too many issues on this front. We have set certain limits and boundaries and she seems to be able to follow them. We do not allow her to enter the wet kitchen or the bathroom. Also no touching the bins. Usually when something is off limits I say no and she will listen. But I realise it has to be from the start. Or else she has trouble listening. She touched the laptop wires a few times before I noticed and told her no so now it's a bit difficult to get her to listen. I think she feels if she touched it before it's fair game. But we have a mosquito trap which I never allowed her to touch and she makes no attempt to go near it.

Misha: 51 & 52 weeks

 I cannot believe how fast time has flown. And how much she has changed!
 
Teething
Top front right tooth came out! Seems like all her teeth are coming out fast now.

Nursing
Nothing new. Still nursing 4 times a day. Usually around 7 minutes each time.

Eating
She's getting a lot better at drinking from the cup. I try to give her a bit of fresh milk everyday and right now it's about 2 oz. in the morning with her breakfast. During the weekend I went out and Jing gave her 3oz. with the cup. She drank it without any issues. She seems to really like the taste of the milk :)

Signing
She is getting quite good at signing 'more' when she wants to eat finger foods. Normally when we go out I will feed her first and while we eat I let her have some puffed rice or similar thing to keep her occupied. She is quite content to eat this while we have our meals (she really likes it). So nowadays whenever she is done eating she straight away signs 'more' for the finger foods. So she doesn't exactly use it in the right context. But at least she is trying to communicate.
She also signed 'milk' the other day when I lifted my top to feed her. I've been signing it every time I feed her  and sometimes she signs it along but this was the first time she initiated it.
She will occasionally wave bye but still not consistent. 
She can do 'arms up'.


Personality
Still a mummy's girl. Whenever we are sitting down for dinner she will hang around my chair and suck or lick my pants or feet! I don't know why she does this.... But she does. Every meal time... Of course I don't encourage this but she is quite persistent.
She is quite good about not going over to the wet kitchen. Sometimes she tries but I just carry her back to the dry kitchen and remind her not to go past the line. And she will stay there. (She won't be happy but she won't cross). She also doesn't go into the bathroom. Or touch the bin. Or the vacuum.
That is the extent of her obedience. She loves to pull any wire. And lately she figured out how to open the cupboards and drawers. She also tried sticking hr finger into the sockets so we've had to cover up the lower ones.

She also does peek-a-boo with her hands. And when I say 'sayang' she will rest her head on my shoulder (sometimes).
She still doesn't get 'kisses'. If I say it and point to my hand she will kiss it. But if I point to my cheek, it's like she doesn't get it.She will also kiss Daddy and Meera if I point to their cheek.

She started to get a bit fussy in the car. Whenever it's just the two of us she wanted me to sing! If I stop she starts to whine and sometimes it escalates into crying. But if Meera is around then she's fine. Thankfully after 3-4 days she was back to normal.

Sleeping
She woke up really early for 3 days (6 - 6.30 am). Not sure why but she just played by herself till close to 7.30 am. After that it went back to normal (7-7.30 am).
For the past 3 days she's having trouble going down for naps! Every time I put her down she would start to cry (less than 10 minutes) and it took her as long as half an hour to go to bed sometimes. Not sure what's going on? Was thinking maybe she needs to go to 1 nap but seems a bit young for that.

Misha: 50 weeks

Teething
Her top front left tooth has made an appearance.







 

Nursing
I think because of her teeth she is having to adjust how she nurses. For a few days I had sore nipples and I could see her latch wasn't very good (the lipstick shape again). Luckily it was only for a few days.

Eating

 

I started letting her have cow's milk. I use a doidy cup and its only like 30 ml just to get her used to the taste. I decided not to bother with formula since she was quite resistant to it.

Solids are going well. Sometimes she takes almost 7 oz. of food. But this is usually when we're outside and she is distracted by all the things going round her. At home she will usually start to fuss towards the end and I usually get her to finish up by singing songs (her favourite still seems to be ''Wheels On A Bus"). She also eats faster when Meera is around (another distraction).

Sleeping
Still taking 2 naps. I notice that during the weekends her first nap can be between 2-2.5 hours. Maybe because I put her down later (3.5 hours wake time or more).
She still doesn't seem to nap long in the stroller. We went to Kidzania during the weekend so we left the house early morning. She took a nap in the stroller but as usual it was around 30 minutes and it was way past her usual nap time. Luckily she was fine with that nap and lasted till we got home in the afternoon.

Milestones
She is trying to stand on her own now. Sometimes she can do it for a brief second. She will also walk while I hold her hands but only like a step or two before she lets go and sits back down. Her favourite thing to do is push our dining chairs all over the place...who needs a walker ;)

Personality
This week she started giving some strange smiles to her. We call it her fake smile. She will look at you  smiling and then give you a bigger smile. So cute!
Lately it's becoming a real challenge to change her. She is not content to lie there while I change her diaper and clothes. Sometimes she cries so hard you would think she was in physical pain!  For some reason, putting stuff on my head seems to distract her (clothes or diaper). I try to give her something to hold but she'll usually just fling it away...

Misha: 48 & 49 weeks (11 months)

Solids durian, cherry
We had a durian 'session' with Jing's family and Ah Mah let her try some. She kept opening her mouth for more so I guess she liked it. Ate quite a bit and then she shook her head (I guess she has her limits).
I also let her try cherries which I cut up. But I think the skin made it hard for her to eat.


Nursing
Going well. She bit me a couple of times but I straight away told her no and unlatched her and so far she has stopped. Luckily it didn't hurt. Also once she is done I have to stop trying or she bites!
Stopped offering formula. First few days she was okay but after that every time she saw the cup she would start to wriggle and whine. :(
I will wait for her to turn 1 and then reassess...

Milestones
Cruising a lot. She will even use the dining chairs to move about. Doesn't seem to be heading to a particular place though. More like moving for the sake of moving only.
Can play peek-a-boo

Misha: 47 weeks

Schedule
7:30am: nurse (most days she wakes around 7am)
9:00am: breakfast (cereal with either half avocado or banana and tahini. Sometimes yogurt)
10:00 am: nap (1.5-2 hrs)
12.00pm: nurse
1:00 pm: lunch (porridge 6oz.)
3:00pm: nap (1-1.5hrs)
4:30pm: nurse
5:30pm: dinner (porridge 6 oz.)
7:30pm: bath
8:00pm: nurse and bed (asleep by 8.30pm)

Bedtime routine
Generally I follow the same pattern every nap time. I will carry her to the door, close the door, turn of the lights, turn on the ac and then stand by her crib. I sing 'Twinkle Little Star' (her head will automatically go down on my shoulder or else I gently place her on my chest and stroke her head). Then I say 'Goodnight Misha. I love you" as I lay her down in her crib and pull up the rails. She will usually sit up but I just wave and head for the door.
Night time is the same except after nursing I read Boynton's  'Going to bed book'.
She usually falls asleep within 10-15 minutes.
I have placed Zizi in her crib but she usually ignores it. Once in a while she'll play with it a bit before sleeping but she always tosses it aside before going to bed. I am starting to wonder if she is ever going to get attached to it...

Teeth
Her bottom 2 front teeth have finally made an appearance! Might be the reason why she was so cranky last Friday?

Cruising
She is really starting to move now...with help though.

Solids
Nothing new to repor.

Misha: 46 weeks

Milestones

This week she figured out how to climb up the stairs! I was in the kitchen washing up and suddenly I heard her start to cry. I came to find her lying on the third stair! Not sure how far up she climbed but I don't think it was too many.

She's also cruising a lot but can't move from one furniture to another. I also get her to stand with the chair and as I drag it along she will walk with it.

Sleeping

Friday was a really off day. She took 40 minute naps, cried before sleeping, cried immediately upon waking up. Overall she was very fussy and clingy. Not sure what was wrong but by the next day she seemed ok.
Other than that sleeping was the same as always. 

Video camera

We finally drilled the video camera to the wall. Before this it was on top of the wire baskets but I plan to keep this way..she is always trying to pull up on it or open the drawers.

Solids yogurt
This week I started giving her a tub of yogurt.  And she loves it! I'm using the organic Stonybrook (costs a bomb!) and she can finish the whole tub (4oz.) with half a banana and tahini.

Misha: 45 weeks

Milestones
She started cruising this week

Hospital visit
Took her for her follow up visit for her neutrophil count. It dropped to 1.02 so we will have to come back in 3 months for another follow up. Sigh...
As usual the doctor reminded me that if she has a fever above 37.5 we have to bring her in to emergency and get her started on antibiotics. Fingers crossed we never have to face this issue.
Her weight was 7.31kg so the machines are quite accurate.

Sleeping
This week was better. Hardly cried when I put her down.

Nursing
This week we didn't even try to feed her with a bottle. I have decided that I will nurse her till a year and then slowly introduce fresh milk to her and skip bottles altogether. I will still try to give her formula with a cup but I'm not gonna force the issue. I figure whatever we're doing so far is working (she is healthy) so I don't want to rock the boat.

Bath time
Since Daddy no longer feeds her at night...I figured he would give her a bath before bed. So now we sometimes do 2 baths in a day. In our weather it's actually a good idea (she also seems to sweat a lot).  I wanted him to have a special time of day with her and since she's not taking bottles anymore I thought giving her a bath would be something good to do.

Solids Pouch food (guava, blueberry, cherry), steamed minced pork, kiwi
I steamed the pork with chopped onions and she was quite okay with chewing it. She has been eating quite well lately. Usually 6 oz of porridge. Sometimes I don't even have to mix it up with fruit and she eats it.

Playtime
I took her to Mothercare at BSC for her first Playtime session. The class is for 9 months and above. Most of the stuff they did was a bit above her capabilities but I think it's good to get her exposed to it early. She loved it when they blew bubbles!

Meera: 5.25 years

Just a quick update on Meera. It's been awhile but things are pretty much the same as before...

Just wanted to put up a couple of things:

Schedule
7am: wake up, brush teeth get dressed for school

- we gave her an alarm clock and she was quite good at waking up by herself. She would still come look for me and snooze a bit with me before getting ready. But recently the clock stopped working so now I go in to wake her. Most mornings she gets ready quite quickly. Very rarely she will struggle with waking up.
 - weekends she tends to wake up early automatically. :( usually by 7:30am

7:30am: eat breakfast. Weet-bix (2 pcs with fresh milk and fruit and honey) or toast (with butter)
-I only mix formula if she has toast. 2 scoops with 120 ml.
-lately she started eating puffed rice cereal. With honey. And milk
-she also likes it when I sprinkle sugar (I use muscovado sugar) on her toast.
-although she doesn't really like sweet things she does like honey.
-She is starting to dislike eating Weet-bix (takes more than half hour to finish whereas toast is eaten within 15 minutes)

8:00am: leave for school
School is from 8:30am-12:30pm. After that she stays on for daycare. She has lunch then takes a bath then does homework. Has a cup of milk (2.5 scoops) then has a nap from 2:30-4:30pm.  After that she has a snack and then comes home (I usually fetch her home around 5 -5:30pm)
Wednesdays she has gymnastic so I fetch her around 2pm. We come home, she has a snack and we go for her class from 3:30 - 5:00pm. 
Fridays she has swimming so Jing will fetch her at 4pm (she takes a shorter nap). Swimming is from 4.30-5:30 pm.
Tuesdays (twice a month) she has Robotics in school from 1:30 -3:30pm.

6:30pm: Dinner

8:00pm: Bath
After bath we will either do some learning or she will play. She also loves playing Uno (which happens almost every night). And lately Jing taught her how to play Monopoly (Its a little complicated for her but she loves playing anyway)

9:30pm: milk (2 scoops). Sometimes she skips this. Get ready for bed (pee, brush teeth, story)
10:00pm: Bed (somedays its earlier if she didn't nap). Usually I read a book and sometimes I get her to read a bit as well.

She still does the 'hug, kiss, buddy-buddy' thing. And before I close the door I must say 'Goodnight, sweet dreams, I love you'
She also needs to have a night light. And 'Gigi' is still sleeping with her.

On weekends...she will sometimes skip her nap (if we are in the car she will usually fall asleep but if we're at home it's quite hard for her to sleep)

Reading
She is getting better at reading. She can read Dr. Seuss'  books (Mr. Brown Can Moo, Hop on Pop, One Fish 2 Fish)....most of the easier ones.

Big Sister
She loves her little sister. So far she is quite careful and gentle. Occasionally she does get over excited and  ends up hurting Misha but nothing too serious and she is very sorry afterwards. She is quite  mindful of keeping things safe for Misha. And is always looking out for her.

School
School is going well. She is doing quite well in most subjects. Malay is a bit of a struggle so I need to focus a bit more on this.

Dresses
Right now she loves wearing dresses...she'd wear one everyday if I let her. She also likes everything to match...even her underwear if she can!

Swimming
She started swimming classes and by the 9th class she was able to swim quite a distance on her own.

Gymnastics
She still enjoys it and is quite good at it.

Misha: 44 weeks (10 months)

Clinic Visit
She weighed in at 7.29kg (700g more than last month!) So I'm thinking there was definitely something wrong with the scales. I think she did gain quite a bit this past month (with all the avocado shes eating...how could she not?!) but no way she put on so much weight! I am definitely relieved but still need to make sure its a top priority for now.

Nursing
She does 4 feeds now and nurses from both sides. She's averaging about 6-8 minutes for each session so definitely more than before.


Solids ikan merah (market didn't have threadfin), cauliflower,  pork (as stock....the meat is quite tough to chew),
Also going well. Maybe I'm less stressed after the clinic visit but she seems to be eating  a lot better now. I still have to work to get her to finish her food but it's not as bad as before and she is usually done within 30 minutes.
Nowadays I usually give her 4 oz of porridge. 1oz. veg. 1oz fruit puree. Sometimes towards the end I have to 'camouflage'  the food with the fruit but as long as she eats it all I am happy. Most days she can eat 6oz. for lunch and dinner. Breakfast is usually about 3 oz. but its very dense calories (half an avocado with cereal or banana/ tahini with cereal) so I think that's okay.
I also try to add 1 tsp of oil to her meals (suppose to do this everyday but sometimes I forget.)
I started using a plate to feed her recently (which has 3 separate divisions) so its easier for me to feed her the porridge and fruit.
I notice she doesn't like egg yolks (which I remove from a hard boiled egg) so I've started to steam just the yolk with 2 tbs. of water. so the texture is sorta like tofu and she seems to prefer that.

Bottle
She started refusing the bottle again! Sigh.... Last week she was only taking 90 ml per feed so I kinda sensed trouble but this week we tried a few times (4) and she refused. I'm not sure what to do at this point...She is quite expressive bout refusing the bottle. She'll shake her head and push it away and whine all the way. It was quite cute (although distressing for me).

Formula
I am slowing starting to introduce formula to her in a cup during meals. Only an ounce each time and she manages to drink like half. I just want to get her used to the taste more than filling her up with it. Right now I'm using Enfalac (simply because I had a sample from the doctor).

Discipline
Ever since she started moving...I've had to child proof the house. I've also started to say 'no' whenever she goes somewhere (the wet kitchen or bathroom) or touches something (rubbish bins, sockets, wires) she shouldn't. Initially she didn't get it but I have been persistent and I can see it paying off. The wet kitchen is off limits to her and initially she kept trying to go there whenever I was there cooking or washing dishes. I think I said no like 100 times or more before she finally got it. At first she would just continue on and I would physically carry her and put her back into the dry kitchen.  On some occasions I was doing it continuously for 5-10 times. 
I notice this week that she will crawl up to the line (the wet and dry kitchen have different tiles) and stop and look at me. If she wants me to carry her she will start to whine but she won't cross over. Most times she just sits there and amuses herself. Of course I don't push it...if she starts to whine I will attend to her. But so far she has been quite willing to wait for me at the line. We did something similar with Meera and it worked well with her as well.
The main thing is to be consistent and eventually it will sink in (fingers crossed). I must admit I was almost going to give up and put a safety gate...

Milestones
She is getting very fast at crawling. And she can stand and sit quite steadily. I tried to get her to cruise but she doesn't. She only likes to pull up on furniture. I tried to hold her hands and let her 'walk' but she doesn't like us to hold her hands. We've noticed it from before...when we carry her and try to hold her hands she will shrug it off.
Her waving is getting better. Sometimes when I say 'wave bye' she will do it but still not consistent.

Sleeping
Lately she will cry when I put her down for naps (night time seems to be okay though). When I sing to her she will rest her head on my shoulder but once I am done singing and I try to put her down she starts squirming as soon as her back hits the bed she starts to cry. I just say goodnight, wave and close the door. She will usually cry for a minute or 2 and then go to sleep.

Misha: 43 weeks

Sick
By Tuesday she was completely recovered from her cold.

Solids chicken, cheese, cauliflower, tomato, spices (turmeric, coriander), tofu
In an attempt to get her to eat more I have been trying various recipes to see if it would help. So I am not really following the 3 day wait rule anymore. So far she seems to be tolerating most foods. But since she is only eating a little bit of each item its hard to say for sure. Although she used to be able to eat 6oz of porridge before, I am starting to think this is not reasonable for her to eat at one sitting everyday. I have reduced my expectations to 5 oz. (about 150g)
I have yet to find out if there is anything she loves enough  to eat a lot of. Seems like any new item will get her to eat a bit but after a few mouths she is done.
The fried shallots still seem to be working but I'm worried she will get bored of it so I try to give it sparingly. I also notice that she will stare at the spoon to see if its there before opening her mouth. Most time she will only eat 2-3 oz of porridge before she starts fussing and I need to bring out the shallots or try to distract her (had to even resort to letting her watch you tube a few times!)
I am getting very stressed out about this and can't wait for her appointment next week.
Towards the end of this week she seemed to be eating better. Some meals I didn't even need to give her the shallots and she would eat 5 oz. Not sure if it's cos we were out and about and Meera was around to distract her ;)

Nursing
Seems like she is nursing longer this week...and most time she will nurse from both sides. She is also willing to nurse even if the flow slows down. Previously I had to keep switching sides but now when she latches off I can feel that its really empty so she is definitely getting more of the fattier hind-milk.

Bottle
Most times she only takes around  90ml. Not sure if its because dinner is so late or too much and she is full. Or she doesn't like the bottle....

Schedule
7:30am: nurse (she still wakes quite early but some days it was close to 7:30am)
9:00am: breakfast (sometimes earlier if she woke up early)
10:00 am: nap (1- 1.5 hrs)
11:30am: nurse
12:30pm: lunch
2:30pm: nap (1-1.5hrs)
4:00pm: nurse
5:00pm: dinner
7:30pm: nurse or bottle
8:00pm: bed

Sometimes her morning nap can stretch to 2 hours but then her afternoon nap will be quite short.

Sleeping
This week she has been going to sleep quite fast with minimal fuss. Wake time seems to have extended to 3 hours. Sometimes I will put her down for a nap earlier (after 2 hours) but then she will only take a short nap (usually 40 minutes).  Which is better than her skipping it altogether if we go out.


She does not nap well outside of the house....the stroller, carrier or car seat. At most it's a 30 minute cat nap. But she is fine even with that short nap.
  



Milestones
Started figuring out how to sit down after pulling up. She will manage a few times but then forget and start crying a little while later. Talk about short term memory! It got better by the end of the week and she was able to sit down quite well after standing up.

Zizi
A bit late but finally put Zizi with her to sleep. She was quite distracted with it for the first day but after that it has been just left to the side. She will usually play with it when she wakes up but it doesn't seem to be a distraction when she needs to sleep.
I had actually bought this some months ago and let her sleep with it but it seemed to early...she was always sucking it and getting distracted. I can't remember when I gave Gigi to Meera but I think it was around this time.

Misha: 42 weeks

Sick
She started having a runny nose at the start of this week. On Saturday she took her afternoon nap and when I went to get her, she had a runny nose. It was quite bad that night...she woke up a few times crying. She also had trouble nursing cos her nose was quite blocked.
I tried to use the aspirator but it upset her so much she would cry and that made things worse :(
I just put 'yu yee' oil on her chest and feet. It has eucalyptus oil in it so I figure it helps with the congestion. Overall she hasn't been too bad but eating is definitely affected. After 3 days she improved. Still had some congestion but nursing was better and she was sleeping better as well.
The last time she fell sick she was 2 months old so I was relieved it wasn't too bad.

Bottle
Changing the teat did not work this week. Or maybe it's harder to suck with her cold. She is only taking 100ml at most.

Eating
I am starting to wonder if maybe introducing her to all the finger foods developed her taste buds towards more flavoured things and maybe that's why she is refusing the porridge?
Meera wasn't given as much finger foods as her (there weren't many options then). And after testing some of them I realise they are quite tasty...
Its too late now but I am going to reduce how often I give these to her. It has helped with her fine motor skills though.

Solids chicken stock, spring onion, yogurt, blueberries (from  pouch), ricotta (from jar)
In my attempts to get her to eat better I tried cooking her porridge with chicken stock. She seemed to like it but still can't eat 6 oz. For some reason my mind is fixated on her eating 6 oz of porridge (like Meera). This may be too much for her especially since she weighs more than 1 kg LESS than Meera at this age. But I notice if I give her other foods (like a variety) she doesn't fuss and refuse. So sometimes I am resorting to giving her 150g of porridge and tempting her with yogurt and fruit purees.
As for the yogurt not sure if she likes it or it's just something different that piques her interest.
The fried shallots is still helping her eat more.
On Wednesdays, Meera has gym class from 3:30 - 4:30pm so I will usually give her dinner during that time. This week I brought along a pouch food and she was quite good at sucking the food from it. She finished the whole thing (120g) but maybe cos it was a fruit type.
I have stopped making porridge with millet. I am a bit unsure...a lot of different opinions about it. Whether to soak or not and how long to cook it for. Also realised she started eating less last week when I started millet. Could be a coincidence since I also started feeding her more. Will try again in a few weeks time. 

Milestones
She is pulling up to her feet a lot now. But has yet to figure out how to get back down...so a lot of crying because of this.

Sleeping
This week she started crying whenever I put her down to sleep. Normally she just rolls over and plays a bit before sleeping. Not sure why though. But it lasted a few minutes and then she would either quieten down or go to sleep.
Misha usually sleeps by herself (no rocking or patting) so when she had trouble sleeping due to her cold I thought I would rock her a bit to help her sleep but it didn't work. She seemed more riled up by my rocking than feeling sleepy. 

Misha: 41 weeks

Solids millet, dried scallop (cooked with her porridge), fried shallots, grapeseed oil (for frying)
I read that millet is more nutritious (and has more fat) than rice so I've started making her porridge with millet as well.
This week started with her eating quite well but by the end of the week she was starting to fuss after eating a bit of food. She would usually eat like 2-3 oz and then start to refuse (she can shake her head and try to push the spoon away). Not sure if she is bored of the food or just full from all the food I've been giving her... But if I offer her fruit she is always willing to eat more. Sigh...
I also tried to add some fried shallots to her porridge and that seems to interest her. But I have to place it at the top of the spoon so she can see it. Not sure if she likes the texture or the taste? But it seems to help her eat more. I have given up trying to force her to eat 180g (6 oz.) of food per sitting. I shoot for 150g but sometimes even 120g is a challenge.
Somehow she starts off eating quite enthusiastically but halfway thru she starts fussing....yet to figure out what she likes enough to eat more of.

Signing
I tried to change her diaper after nursing her and she started fussing and clapping (which was her way of signing 'more') cos she wasn't done nursing.

Bottle
Changed to #2 teat in the hope she would drink more milk. It seemed to work since she drank 145ml which hasn't happened in a while. Hopefully this helps her drink more.

Misha: 40 weeks

Clinic visit
Had her 9 month checkup this week. And she has lost weight! At her 6 month check she was 6.57kg. This time she was 6.55kg. Although its very minimal (negligible) she should have increased weight so it's a bit worrying. Had a long chat with the nurse and was given a few pointers on how to increase her weight.
1. Add oil to her food. Suggested about 1 tsp. a day. To her porridge or fry garlic and give
2. Add formula if needed
3. Reduce cereals (less calories) and give more porridge

After a bit of reading...I have decided on a few things:
1. Add grape seed oil ( need to buy)
2. Add tahini to her diet (very high in calories and fat)
3. Start avocado regularly
4. Feed more (I have to aim for at least 6 oz. of porridge for lunch and dinner...and make it thicker)

I am going to hold of from formula for now and see what happens in the next checkup. For some reason I am very hesitant to give her formula so I am going with my gut.
She has yet to fall ill and I feel that must be a sign that I am doing things right. It can't be all about numbers.
Next check up is in a months time so hopefully she gains some weight by then.

Initially I was thinking I need to nurse more or maybe top up with formula but I've noticed she doesn't really want to take much milk. Even when I pump and give her in a bottle she won't drink much. So seems like its pointless to add formula. I just need to make sure whatever solids she takes is packed and dense so less fruit purees and more fatty foods.

I also need to try and get her to nurse more. Lately she only seems to nurse like 3-4 minutes and she is very easily distracted. But now I am starting to feed her from both sides (it seems whenever the flow slows down she will latch off), so now whenever she latches off I will try to get her to latch on again (she usually will for a short bit) and then I switch her to the other side. So she is definitely nursing more this way. I try to aim for a total of 6 minutes at least . I think she is getting more milk now cos her diapers seems fuller now.

Solids spinach, ikan bilis, tahini
I have started to give her avocado to increase the fat in her diet...she can eat half a fruit for breakfast with some cereal mixed in.
Spinach was a bit difficult for her since its not like the other mashed up vegetables but she ate it with minimal fuss.
The first time I gave her tahini I added it to her cereal and banana and after her nap that morning she threw up! I thought it was due to the tahini but she was fine the second time she ate it so must be a coincidence. Or maybe a sign I was feeding too much...
It was the first time she has spit up that much food.
I let Meera feed her a bit this week and both of them really enjoyed it. Misha would open her mouth really big for Meera and also eat quite willingly. (trying to give her 6 oz. of food is quite challenging on some days.)

I was initially thinking she wouldn't be able to finish so much food but most days she can. And nursing doesn't seem to be adversely affected either. I just need to keep offering her the chance to nurse more and don't assume when she latches of that she is done. Nowadays I keep offering until she starts to fuss and whine. She will even sometimes shake her head 'no'.

Milestones

She started crawling this week! I kinda encouraged her with toys and by lifting her stomach of the ground with my hand and she finally got it. *beaming*
She still seems to do the combat crawl once in a while though. She's also started to pull up on stuff now a lot more so we have finally put her crib one level lower and adjusted the play pen mattress lower as well. She likes to pull up on the sofa but usually on to her knees only.
She does go all the way up to her toes but not often. And when she does it she gets upset since he doesn't know how to go back down. There were a few times she did this in the crib and I had to help her down.
She also started swinging doors lately. She spent a really long time just swinging her room door back n forth. I was afraid she might get her fingers caught but she was fine.

Sleeping
This week she stopped her third nap. Most days she can handle a 3 hour wake time. It was kind of a sudden since last week she would be cranky by 2.5 hours. But I noticed she was handling it better this week so no more evening naps. But some days she goes to bed before 8pm.
Moved her crib one level down.

Stranger anxiety
On Saturday we had lunch with Jing's dad and he carried her with no issues. We usually see them for dinner and she will usually cry whenever they try to carry her. I keep saying its cos she's tired at night and true enough she was fine the whole time that he carried her in the afternoon.

Misha 39 weeks (9 months)

Solids egg yolk, fish
Eating is going well. Finally started her on proteins. She seems to love it. I thought she might have trouble with the fish but she ate it quite happily. Maybe cooking it with ginger helps reduce the fishy smell...or she just likes fish.
Still giving her 3 meals a day. But now breakfast is some sort of cereal with fruit and porridge is for lunch and dinner. I notice she sometimes doesn't want to finish her food but if I give her a fruit purée she will eat that. So I give her fruit between mouths of porridge to eat finish.
Fingers foods are going well. Right now she is eating these mini rice cakes and biscuits. She seems to be better at holding on to the food...and if she wants more she will wave her arms up and down.

Sleeping
This week she has been waking up earlier...usually around 6.30am. A few days was 7 am but she will just play in her crib till I get her. I'm thinking she needs to drop her evening nap but I don't know how to extend her wake times to do it since she usually starts fussing 2.5 hours after being awake. And seeing that she usually wakes up by 3 it's a bit hard to keep her up till 8!

Her schedule right now:
7.00 am: wake up (sometimes as early as 6:30 am)
7:30am: nurse
9:00am: breakfast (sometimes earlier if she woke up early)
9:30 am: nap (1- 1.5 hrs)
11:30am: nurse
12:30 pm: lunch
2:00pm: nap (I'm trying to extend this as late as possible)
3:30pm: nurse
4:30pm: dinner
7:30pm: nurse or bottle
8:00pm: bed

Right now she is alternating between days that she takes 3 and 2 naps.
I've tried to give her 5 feeds a day but its been quite hard to fit it in. I notice if I feed to soon she won't really nurse well so it defeats the purpose of adding a feed.


Milestones
Can wave but not consistent. Sometimes she doesn't seem to notice when I say 'wave'. She started to try to pull up on the sofa but only up to her knees.

I notice whenever Meera sings she will start to clap her hands.

Misha: 38 weeks

I think I mentioned this already but it bears repeating...Misha is a really happy baby. She is always ready to smile and laughs really easily. All I need to do is cover my face and play peek-a-boo and she laughs....or if I tickle her torso.
She likes to clap her hands a lot. Not sure if its claps or she's trying to sign 'more'. Since whenever I say 'clap' or 'more' she will bring both hands together.

Sippy cup
She is finally starting to suck (and not chew) the spout. Water is still spilling out though cos after she sucks and gets a mouthful...she doesn't swallow. Sometimes she will smile (like she is proud of herself) and the water will dribble out! LOL
I decided to try the straw cup again...and this time she succeeded straight away! I guess once she could suck on the spout, the straw was easy. I sat and watched her do it and maybe it distracted her cos she would suck, then smile and water could come dribbling out!
She seemed to really like drinking from the straw cup. I tried taking it away and she actually got upset. She also signed 'more'! It was like a fist bump with both hands.

Solids barley, rice porridge
Finally transitioned to porridge. So far she is accepting it quite well. I make it in the slow cooker so it's quite soft. She takes a bit longer between mouthfuls. I don't think she needs to chew but there is definitely more texture to it than the cereals she's used to. Whenever I gave her the cereals or purees I was practically shoveling it into her mouth with hardly a pause.
She seems to be eating less this week. I try to give her a veg cube with cereal then apple for lunch and dinner. Sometimes I have to start on the apple in between the veg to get her to finish it up. She doesn't seem to like most of the veg ones. Maybe she's bored with it.
Whenever we go out I will usually try to feed her from a jar...most times I add cereal to it. Usually apple or peach and she will have no trouble finishing it. 
Right now she is quite consistently having 3 meals a day.

Nursing
Somedays she only had 4 feeds in a day. But she still seems okay. I am very conflicted about her feeding now. Not sure if I want to start her on formula or not. I have already surpassed the 6 month mark but part of me wants to go to 1 year. The other part of me wants to stop stressing about whether she is getting enough....not to mention my pumping issues. Seems like I can't pump as much nowadays. It can't be the pump since I got a new one...and yet I can't seem to get as much as before. So nowadays I sometimes nurse her before bedtime and pump before I sleep. This way I can get enough for her bottle feeds. So her bottle feeds are 3-4 times a week only. Hopefully that's enough to keep her familiar with the bottle.
I need to keep reassuring myself that she is getting enough and not stress so much. I will decide once I go for her 9 month check-up . 

Signing
'More' seems to be used when she wants something....so maybe she has her own interpretation of it. I also sign milk and all done but haven't seen her use those. Sometimes she makes the sign for milk (open and close palm) but not in context.

Sleeping
I think she is ready to drop her third nap but I haven't figured out how exactly to do it. She usually wakes up around 3 pm so it's tough to keep her awake till 8. I also like how I can put her down in the evening and am able to cook and eat dinner while she takes her third nap. Still need to figure out the best timing for this.

Misha: 37 weeks

Solids purple sweet potato, HappyBellies brown rice (with DHA and probitoics)

This week I notice she is getting much better at eating. She will open her mouth properly for the spoon and eat really well ( before her mouth hardly opens and I have to shove in the food so there's a lot of food around her mouth which I have to scoop off. But now it's so much better. She's also starting to eat a lot more. Some meals as much as 110g. I've also started to give her 2 course meals....first is rice with veg. Then dessert (apple). She really likes the apple.
I tried to give her papaya which I mashed up with a fork. It wasn't smooth like a purée and she did not like it. I think the lumps really confused her. She did her whining bit and pushed it out of her mouth. 

Wonder Weeks
This week there were a few days where she started to cry when I put her down for her naps. And a few of her naps were 30-45 minutes. After that she would cry until I got her up. It's been a while since she cried for naps so I started surfing the Internet and came across Wonder Week 37... A fussy time for babies which generally can start as early as 36 weeks and last for 4 weeks! After 2 days she seemed to go back to her normal self

Nursing
Right now she is feeding 4-5 times a day. I tried to feed her more often but most of the time she refuses or just feeds like a minute before latching off. Sigh.... As long as she sleeps well I am gonna have to assume she is eating enough.

Milestones
Nothing much to report. She is still doing the combat crawl...much faster. She can also sit up on her own. Initially it was a bit unsteady (so I was worried she might fall over) but she managed to stay upright. By the end of the week she was pretty stable and quick about it.

One day I had my hair wrapped in a towel (like a turban) after washing it and I picked her up. She kept staring at it and giving a puzzled look. She was really not happy with it and was on the verge of crying. After I took it off...she still kept staring at my hair like she couldn't believe what had happened. Lol

Understanding 'No'
Now that she is moving around I had to start setting boundaries. So whenever she tried to 'taste' the rugs or come into the wet kitchen I would say, Misha...no!  And she will hesitate. Sometimes she listens but sometimes she goes ahead and does it anyway. But I can tell she understands.

Signing
I've been signing 'more' to her. Especially when I give her finger foods. Notice she is trying to sign it whenever she sees the food. Only for food though. Need to use it for other things as well so she truly gets the meaning. 

Misha: 36 weeks

Doctor's visit
We had a follow up visit at Putrajaya hospital for her blood results. She is still having a low neutrophil count. ANC is 1.42 (normal should be above 2). But it's increasing so doctor said its a good sign.
We also got her weight...6.75kg. So she has only gained 100g in the past 2 months! I am trying to not stress over this...

Solids brocolli papaya
I am still doing 3 meals a day (occasionally I miss a meal if we had a busy day). By the end of the week she was eating as much as 100g in a meal. I am trying to slowly increase this amount and hopefully she gains some weight before her 9 month check up.

Nursing
Bacause she was sleeping so much, some days she only did 4 feedings. And she only nurses on average about 5 minutes each time. After our hospital visit I tried to get her to nurse more...I even offer her the other breast but most of the time she refuses. Occasionally she does nurse so I need to keep trying to get her to nurse both sides each time. I guess I need to have faith that she will eat if she is hungry...

Finger foods
She is getting much better at eating now. A few times she would enthusiastically move her hands whenever she wants more of it...not sure if she is trying to sign 'more'. Jing said he saw her sign it once but could be a coincidence. She definitely likes eating it cos every time I bring out the container (I always use the same green Tupperware) she will look at it and if I don't give her something to eat she will start to 'complain'.

Sleeping
No major issues. She seemed to sleep a lot this week! Maybe because of our busy weekend, she had to make up for a lot of lost sleep....but still...her morning naps were more than 2 hours followed by afternoon naps of 1.5 hours. Most days I didn't put her down for her 3rd nap. So she was sleeping around 15 hours a day.
Quite often she wakes up early in the morning (sometimes as early as 6am!). Sometimes she goes back to sleep but there are days when she just plays in her crib till I get her. So far she is okay to wait till 7.30am. One morning she was in there by herself for almost 1.5 hours!

OutingsLast weekend was very busy for us. We had dinners on Saturday and Sunday so Misha went to bed really late! Overall she managed well....it helps that she can eat finger foods now. She is quite content to sit in the high chair and eat while we have dinner. A bit messy but at least we can eat in peace! :)

Misha: 35 weeks (8 months)

Solids oats peach
I am getting more consistent at feeding her 3 meals a day. So far she is tolerating it well...not sure how much she can eat. I usually feed her about 80g which she finishes but I dont't want to give her too much in case she takes less milk.
I notice she will nurse less if she eats too much and she already doesn't nurse much as it is.

Pumping
So I have finally solved my pumping issues. After contacting customer service it appears my pump is worn out! Not even a year of use. Apparently the silicone parts can loose suction as early as 4 months though they're not sure what causes it. I contacted the UK office so they will be sending me replacement parts. In the meantime I got a new pump and am slowly trying to increase my supply. Sigh.... (Frustrated and relieved at the same time).

Milestones
She is finally moving. She does the combat crawl on her stomach...she still tries to get on all fours but can't seem to move forward that way.
She is very attracted to things she shouldn't touch... The first thing she headed for was the laptop wire (so we have move that away). Then she headed for the sockets (so we've blocked that too). Baby proofing is now ongoing.

Signing
I have been trying to sign 'more' to her and I think she is trying to sign back. But not in the right context...or maybe she does it when she gets excited.

Sippy cup
I tried offering her a straw cup but all she does is chew on it. Meanwhile she is getting better at drinking from the spout type. Not sure if it confuses her so I've decided to stop the straw type for a while.

Finger foods
One day I bought some rye bread so during dinner I gave her a bit.She loved it! She was busy gumming it the whole time we were eating dinner. Not much actually got eaten though...and her chair was a mess after it but at least we got to eat in peace.
She is also much better at eating other finger foods now and hardly drops her food. She still holds it in her fist though so she can't get to the part that's in her hands. She has yet to master letting go of her food into her mouth.

Sleeping
No issues here. Most of the time when we put her to bed she will move around a bit then settle down and sleep. Usually around 10 minutes or less. She is still taking 3 naps a day. For a few mornings she woke really early (one time it was 6 am) but she was just playing in her crib till I got her up at 7.30am!
Her morning wake time is extending I think. Sometimes she can do 2.5 hours before going down for her nap...and if she had a good morning nap, the next wake time can be another 2.5 hours.

Mobile
I have removed the mobile from her crib. I notice she was always reaching up to grab it....after taking it down I realized that she must have been pulling the toy down so much that one of the strings attaching the toy to the bars has given way!

Misha: 33 & 34 weeks

Milestones
Misha has started clapping.

She can also make clucking sounds but I can't seem to record this. Still no crawling. She tries but seems to end up pushing backwards. She has not attempted to lift off her legs or hands. Not sure how to help her figure it out (if that's even possible).

Car seat
We have finally stopped using the infant carrier and moved her to a bigger seat. The only problem with this chair is it doesn't have a sunshade so sometimes the sun would shine directly at her face. We've fixed a window shades which helps a bit.

Solids brown rice, mango (from a jar), banana
I have started offering 3 meals a day. But with the pumping issue I was worried about supply so wanted to make sure she nursed more. So I have cut back to 2 meals a day.  Right now she is eating about 80g per meal. I usually make my own food (so its a lot thicker than the jarred types). But I will add water to thin it out a bit. I notice she likes the fruit types more. She will not eat the cereal plain though. I tried a few times and she kept whining (more like wailing) so I had to mix a fruit or veg with it.

Sippy cup
Right now I'm using a Munchkin sippy. I started around 6.5 months but she has only recently started drinking decent amounts from it. Before this she was mostly chewing the spout like a teether. I plan to start offering her the straw type soon.

Finger foods
She is getting better at holding it so a lot more ends up in her mouth rather than on the floor. She doesn't seem to eat much though...at most 3 rings. After that  she looses interest. She still uses a raking grasp to get the food but it's more precise than before and a lot faster.


Separation anxiety
I notice she is starting to cry whenever she loses sight of me. As endearing as it is it also makes things a bit difficult.

Nursing
For the past 2 weeks I have been having issues when I pump milk at night. Most of the time I can't seem to get a proper let-down which has led me to question my supply. Still trying to sort this out. Initially I thought my supply was dropping but I tried to pump in the morning and still couldn't get much milk. So I started to wonder if the pump was spoilt. Bought a pump today and hopefully that solves the problem. I usually nurse her around 5.30pm and the next time I nurse is the next morning. So if the pump was not emptying my breasts at night...it would definitely affect my supply.

Sleeping
We have been quite consistent with our bed and nap-time routine and I think it is starting to pay off. When it's nap time I will usually take her upstairs, turn off the lights, sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and put her down. She will roll over to her tummy and I will say 'Goodnight' and close the door. I have been doing this for many months already and now whenever I turn the light off and start singing she will usually start rubbing her eyes and lying down on my shoulder. And she has stopped crying when I put her down. Of course this only works when I put her down at the correct time. If she's over tired then she does fuss a little but not as much as before.

Mobile
We have a mobile on her crib and recently she suddenly turned it on by herself early in the morning. I was watching her through the monitor and I could see she was quite amazed with it. Normally when I turn it on she doesn't pay much attention to it but this time her head kept going back and forth from the mobile to the power box. She kept batting at it a few times too. Luckily it turns off after 20 minutes and she went back to sleep!

Reading
Jing reads a bedtime story to her every night before putting her to bed. And I read to her whenever the mood strikes (usually at least once a day...2-3 books). I notice that lately she tries to grab the pictures off the page. Most of the time she is quite content to just sit and listen to the story.

Schedule
7.30am  : wake up (sometimes she wakes up around 6.30am but usually will fall back asleep), nurse
8.00am  : send Meera to school
8.40am  : get home
9.00am  : feed solids
9.30am  : nap 2 hours after being awake (usually a short nap 45 minutes)
10.30am : wake up , nurse
11.00am : nurse
12.00pm: feed solids, then bath
1.00pm  : sleep (this nap is usually at least 1.5 hours)
3.00 pm : wake up, nurse.
4.00pm : feed solids
5.00pm : fetch Meera
5.40pm : nurse, put down for nap
6.00pm : nap (usually 30-45 minutes)
7.00pm : wake up (if she's still asleep I will wake her)
7.30pm : change to pajamas
8.00pm : bottle (150ml), story, bedtime
8.30pm : asleep

Misha: 32 weeks

Booster chair
We have finally started to use the booster chair when we go out to eat. Not all the time though.... She is still sitting in the baby carrier so sometimes we just take her out from the car in it and forget about the booster. She is much smaller than Meera so she seems to still fit in the carrier. Also she can't really sit up as well as Meera at this age so she is usually slouching down in the chair.

And now that we are using the chair, I have also started giving her finger foods. Right now I have been giving her these which are quite easy to pick up and hold. She still hasn't eaten much of it though (she usually gums it a bit and then drops it...by accident). I don't give it often enough so that's to be expected.

Milestones
She has been pivoting around a lot lately (like spin the bottle). And rocking on all fours but no crawling yet.

Solids: silverbeet (part of a pouch food), carrot

Outings
This week was quite a busy week. Meera was on school break. Jing was off from work and it was Meera's birthday. So there were a lot of missed naps, late nights and missed feedings. Overall she handled it ok. On Saturday, we had to wake up very early (6 am) to go for the Hot Air Balloon Picnic. I was worried she would be cranky after that but she was fine. I think all the stuff going around distracted her.

Misha: 31 weeks (7 months)

This week was a slightly disrupted week. Jing was off from work the whole week so we went out quite a bit. As a result everything was quite off schedule.

Solids  4 grains (quinoa, rice, millet & amaranth)

I attempted to feed her twice a day but it was a busy week so not very consistent. During the weekend we were at IKEA so I took the opportunity to feed her in public at their cafe (they provide free baby food if you dine there). She ate almost the whole jar...but it was quite messy cos her hands were flailing all over the place in excitement (?).

Misha: 30 weeks

Doctor's visit

We took her for her pneumococcal jab this week. The next day she felt a bit warmer than usual but other than that no issues. 

Milestones

Notice than she has been pushing up on all fours a lot lately. A sign of crawling to come soon I think

Solids avocado, apple

This week I let her have avocado.....and she didn't seem to like it. After a few tries she was still fussing so I gave her apple with rice and she took it no problem. So I kept alternating between the 2 bowls and she ate it...but I think the apple helped mask the taste of it. I only tried it one day so need to offer it to her again next week.
Need to start feeding twice a day starting next week. 

Sleeping

No major issues. She is consistently sleeping through the night. Lately though she seems to be waking up in the middle of the night but will usually go back to sleep on her own. Saturday she woke up around 6 am and didn't go back to sleep.

Nursing
Typically her last feed will be a bottle  around  8.30pm (usually 150ml but sometimes she drinks less if the feed before that was a bit late). She will usually sleep till the next morning waking up around 7am. I usually feed her about 7.30 am and even then she doesn't seem very hungry.

Outings

We spent a night at Sepang Gold Coast with my brother on Sunday so it was quite tiring since last week we were at Sunway Lagoon. Other than a few middle of the night wakings she was fine. I nursed her when she woke up since I didn't want to disturb everyone else. Plus I wasn't sure if she was hungry (with everything going on she was quite distracted during the day).

Misha: 29 weeks

Sleep
This week was quite a fussy week. She seemed to have trouble transitioning cos she kept crying in the middle of her naps. Sometimes she managed to continue sleeping but sometimes I had to get her. By Wednesday she was fine but I realised a few things:
- her morning wake time extended to 2 hours (previously she would fall asleep during the car ride home but now she would be awake and when I reached home she was still not ready for a nap)
- she might have had a growth spurt (Tuesday she kept nursing for longer than her usual 5 minutes)

Nighttime sleep is getting more consistent. About 11hrs with no night wakings. Occasionally she would wake up and play a bit then sleep back.

Solids avocado, pear
I only gave her avocado one time (she didn't seem to keen on it)
This week was much better...I can see her getting the hang of eating off the spoon. Towards the end of the week I started using the Combi spoon (which is a bit deeper so it holds more food). This time she had no problems eating from it.
I usually feed her about 45 minutes after nursing but I find it a bit rushed cos I still need to bathe her after that. Hopefully her waketime increases and it won't be an issue.

Outing
On Thursday, we had a short holiday at Sunway Lagoon. We spent 2 nights at the hotel and she managed to sleep fine in the playpen (after moving her to her own room she hasn't slept in the playpen since). We spent a whole day in the amusement park and I guess it was quite tiring for her.

Sleeping at the theme park

By the end of the holiday, she was so tired she even fell asleep on my chest (with a bit of patting)...

Misha: 28 weeks

Eating
Solids are still not consistent. Some days she eats well others she is fussing by the end of the meal. Have added pumpkin to the list of foods.
Also started to use the baby bjorn bib. Initially it seemed like it was to big for her but now it seems to fit ok. I think cos she can sit straighter which helps the bib stay in place.

Nursing
Right now we are doing 4-5 feeds and 1 bottle which she usually finishes. So I'm thinking I need to give more than 150ml at night.

I wanted to put up a ROUGH schedule. It's more of my ideal than the actual day:
 7.30am : wake up (sometimes as early as 6.30am!), nurse (I try to wait till 7.30am)
8.00am : send Meera to school (Misha usually falls asleep on the way back)
8.40am : get home, continue napping. (I usually carry her up and she'll continue sleeping)
10.00am: wake up (usually a short nap 30-60 minutes), nurse
11.00am: feed solids, then bath
11.30am: sleep (this nap is usually at least 1.5 hours)
1:00pm: wake
1.30pm: nurse
3.00pm: nap (1-1.5 hours)
5.00pm: fetch Meera
5.40pm: nurse
6.00pm: if she's fussy I put her down for another nap.
7.30pm: change to pajamas
8.00pm: bottle (150ml), story, bedtime
8.30pm: asleep

I am aiming for 11 hours of sleep at night and 4 hours in the day. I notice she can sometimes go longer than 4 hours between feeds but sometimes she is hungry in less than 3 hours. She usually doesn't seem so hungry in the morning which is kinda strange since her last feed was the night before! Also the evenings are quite difficult cos I try to keep her up after her third nap so bedtime isn't too late. But she is quite fussy and needs to be held most of the time.

Sleeping
We moved her into her own room last Saturday so it's been a week of her sleeping by herself. I also got her a lovey (zebra which Meera insisted we name Zizi) which I put at the corner of her crib. She doesn't seem too be attached to it (maybe still early) but she does suck on it every once in a while (I can view this on the monitor).
I think she is actually sleeping better there...not sure if it's a coincidence but I think Jing getting ready for work was bound to have an effect on her. So now she is starting to sleep past 6 am (sometimes up to 7am) I am hoping it reaches 7 am (consistently).
 Initially she would wake up around 5am or thereabouts. But Jing would go and pat her back to sleep (I realize that if I pick her up she will immediately try to nurse so Jing had to do night duty for a while). Within a few days she was able to go back to sleep on her own (with a little bit of fussing) and Jing didn't need to go to her.
We've also left the a/c on throughout the night. (We timed it to turn off at midnight but when Jing went to her he would feel warm and turn it on again. So now we just leave it on). Not sure if that has anything to do with helping her sleep longer. For now we are not messing with what works :)

Doctor's visit
This week we had to go to Putrajaya hospital to find out about her blood results. Not sure if I mentioned this before but when she had jaundice they also checked her blood for other abnormalities and it turned out she had a very low neutrophil count. So we have been going back to the hospital for monitoring. So far she is fine...the doctors are just being cautious. But they keep telling us that if she ever has a fever that persists for more than 3 days we need to bring her in for antibiotics cos her body does not have enough neutrophils to fight off an infection. They say she has neutropenia but so far no symptoms.
The next day was her 6 month checkup and immunization. Her measurements are: weight 6.57kg, height 64cm, head circumference 40.3cm. Overall she is in the lower percentiles.

Misha: 27 weeks (6 months)

Nursing
This week I attempted to put Misha to sleep without nursing. I realize I have been going back on forth on this. Sometimes I think maybe its ok to nurse before she sleeps and then I start to worry its creating a habit. So this week I've decided it's better to feed her after she wakes up. I just might change my mind next week!

In all honesty it's a lot easier to feed her to sleep. But I've come to realize easier isn't always better. For one thing I don't want to have the same issues I did with Meera which resulted in my switching to formula. I want to breast feed Misha for as long as possible. (With Meera my goal was 6 months but now seeing all the benefits...I think it's better I hold off formula as long as possible). Also I hate always second guessing myself every time I put her down wondering if she's hungry or not. If I feed her as soon as she wakes at least I know she has a full/ proper feed. A lot of times when she feeds before bed she falls asleep so I'm not sure if she had enough.

Eating
Solids are going well. So far she's only had rice cereal and sweet potato (which I steam and batch freeze). Still very small portions...she doesn't seem so interested in feeding but I can't really remember if Meera is the same. She seems more interested in chewing her bib than eating off the spoon.

Sleeping

So now that I no longer feed her before naps, I have a harder time putting her to bed. The sh pat method doesn't seem to work...in fact it seems to get her more riled up. Right now, I sing to her while I carry her then I say good night and put her down. She fusses and cries a bit then sleeps. Usually within 10 minutes. Hopefully in time she cries less. It's not exactly the 'cry it out' method but a gentler approach.
She is still not doing 12 hours of sleep at night. But I notice she has quite long naps in the afternoon so maybe she doesn't need as much sleep in the night. I mean if she's already asleep 4 hours in the day its unrealistic to expect 12 hours at night. Or is it? Either way I can't really tweak this so will monitor and see how it goes. It seems to me she only sleeps about 10 hours in the night.
This week she has stopped waking up at 5 am for a feed. Most days she woke up at 6 am and that was the start of her day. I am hoping it extends to 7 am. I am not ready to start my day at 6 in the morning!
At the end of this week we moved her crib out of our room and she is now sleeping nights in her own room.  

Milestones
Notice she is trying to move forward by thrusting her body. Not very successful but she keeps trying. Most times she ends up going backwards. She only seems to do this in her crib and never on the mat or floor (?).
I also notice that she can pass an object from one hand to another. Not sure if that's a significant milestone(?) or when exactly it developed.

Starting Solids

This was something that I have been looking forward to for quite a while. A lot of people seems to dread this stage of baby's life but I couldn't wait!
And when I finally started it did not go as I had imagined! I started on a Saturday and I tried to do it as similarly to Meera as possible (since that went quite well). But Misha did not seem to enjoy the experience. After a few mouths she was wriggling and squirming trying to get off the high chair. I had to end the session before she finished eating (and it was only like 1 scant teaspoon of rice). Sunday wasn't any different...she didn't eat everything.
I started to get concerned (although it was only day 2, I did not want this to become a habit where every feeding session had her unhappy). I looked back at our videos of Meera eating and realised a couple of things; the spoon was different. I bought a Combi spoon which Meera ate from but I realise initially I had started with a different type. Also because I was using the Combi spoon (which has a deeper scoop) I was having to feed her by tilting the spoon way back into her mouth. I also re-read my book on solids which says you should place the spoon at the tip of the tongue and allow baby to suck in the food.
So on Monday I made a few changes (the munchkin spoon actually made it easier to place food at the tip of the tongue since its quite shallow) and she ate really well. *beaming* It's still early to tell but I'm guessing those few changes made a difference. The other thing is maybe she was too tired during the weekend...

I came across this site which gives an idea of how much she should be eating:

• At least 5-6 breastfeeding sessions per day or 24-32 ounces formula or combination (decrease solids if your baby is not taking in at least this much)
• Water is unnecessary (breast milk and formula have plenty of water in them). If your baby has any constipation issues, focus on P-foods (pears, prunes, etc.)
• 1-2 servings baby cereal (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons dry)
• 1-2 servings fruit (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
• 1-2 servings vegetable (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)