My magical breastmilk pendant ft. Jian Yi

I have decided to wean off my child once he turns 6 months. I am sure some of the pro-breasfeeding mum must be questioning "why? why? why?" To simply put it, I don't enjoy breastfeeding (no shame in that) probably cos I don't latch; I only pump. For someone who enjoys lot of freedom, I have to say I am amazed that I lasted so long. Even my own mother was shocked at how much sacrifice I am willing to give for my child. 

If you have been following my breastfeeding journey, you will know it has not been easy. I started off as a "low-supply" Mum to a "just-nice" and now back to "insufficient". My boobs have also gone through a bit of wear and tear and honestly I really, really want to go out (without a pump) and sleep through the night. 

Before I completely dry myself up, I really wanted to make a keepsake of some sort to commemorate this breastfeeding journey. I came across Jian Yi Breastmilk Jewelry Pendant and thought it would be nice to make a piece. Before the other mothers judge me on why I wasted precious breastmilk on this (since my baby doesn't even have enough to drink), this is made from spilled milk. Because of this, I cry a bit less over spilled milk.  

It is not particularly difficult to get this made. You only require 20ml of breastmilk and send it over to Jian Yi in a double ziplock bag after ordering it online. To make sure it reach them safely, use registered mail and indicate your order number. The feeling was really quite magical when I first lay my eyes on it. It is beautiful (without doubt) and also very sentimental. 

I wore the Starry Night out on my baby's 6 month growing up celebration, but this might be the last time I wearing it out...haha. It is far too precious and I think I might be devastated if I ever lose it. So I told my husband, I am putting it on lock. For normal days, I will just wear my normal cross along with the simple pendant version :) So make 2 or more Mummies, one to treasure and another to wear proudly. (There are glow in the dark and glittery ones too!)

Stupid thought: I did wonder who should I pass this piece on when I pass on. My husband said to pass it to my baby LOL. For those who are keen as well, there is an April promotion going on. Quote "FF10" to get 10% off. To get a better bang for your bucks, register as a member and you get $2 off. For each purchase you make, you can earn points to get discount off your future purchases. If you are seeing this after April, check out their instagram as they do have festive season promotions :D

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Follow my "Breastfeeding Journey" tags for tips and tools!

Fun for the young and old ft. Little Kaki

This post is so overdue because taking photos of our little one looking his best is tough LOL! Just so you know, we are proud to be an ambassador for Little Kaki because their stuff is totally our vibe. They have released a lot more items...and most of them are still quite up our alley. Today we will showcase 3 from their earlier series. 

1. Silicone Star Stack'em in Earth ($21.90)

This is one of their star products (no pun intended) and it is also my favourite because it is so versatile. We received this when he was about 3 months old (he is around 5 now). He did his first flip for this stacker when I moved it away during his bedtime (sadly I didn't manage to catch it). His motor grip wasn't that strong then so we mainly used it to teach him the different colours in English and Mandarin. 

Now that he is older, he is a lot more interested in the things around him. He can't stack yet but he picks and put them down or sometimes into his mouth. Although the silicone stacker was not made for chewing, the small stars do make quite a good teether. Eagle-eyed readers would notice the stacker in the backdrop in some of my reviews. When my child isn't using it, this little stacker does make quite a nice home decor. :P

2. Winkey Pacifier Case in Sage ($14.90)

My child doesn't use his pacifier now, but it wasn't like this before. He had a leap around the 3rd/ 4th month and the nights were terrible. He was used to this particular pacifier and somehow the pacifier was always missing. This case was so handy that time cos we clipped it to him at home or the carrier/ stroller when we are out. No more hide-and-seek whew!

But somehow he just didn't want his pacifier anymore now, but this case is no white elephant. The case does has other uses such as a grab-toy. We use it as a distraction during meal times. We would dangle it above him or clip it to the side of the rocker. He would fiddle with it and believe it or not, my the Hubs and I actually can have a proper conversation and meal together. It still works well as a carrier toy cos it is really light-weight and there are no "carrier-toys" in the market...hehe!

3. Poop-Seek-Kool - Space and Beyond in Grey ($15.90)

My friend told me sometimes she get things for herself more than her child. This is probably one of such thing that would belong into that category. In my defence, I initially wanted to use them to make icy breastmilk popsicle for the little one when he is teething. But I guess the Hubs and I couldn't wait. We made chocolate milk popsicle for ourselves instead.

I have to admit this is quite a fuss-free sort of fun and it is nice to de-stress eating ice and watching TV while baby is asleep. We probably will be making some space jellies to share with our guests during our housewarming too. When baby is older, I am sure we will be sharing this toy with him. Meanwhile, let Daddy and Mummy have a bit of fun first :P

Yummy lactation goodies ft. Baking Mama

Call me a sua-ku, but I honestly didn't know that there was so many variety when it comes to lactation goodies. If you have been following my breastfeeding journey, you would know that I have been using lactation goodies to boost my supply. 

We came across Baking Mama recently and was impressed by the variety. In their lactation menu (they have a normal menu by the way), you can find cookies, grandola, brownies, mushi-pan and even teas. We had the luxury to try a few of each and decided to jot a review here for other Mummies who are keen to try them out. 

Day 1 Breakfast

We started with a bottle of Mulberry Rose (3 for $25) which I had it warm. This is my first time having this drink combination and you can taste the spiciness. Baking Mama is very generous with their ingredients. The Blueberry Maple Mumffin (4 for $20) was stuffed with so many blueberries, it is probably the most I have ever seen in a muffin. The double coco mushi-pan was absolutely delicious, in fact their chocolate products are all really good!

Snack-time

If you are a breastfeeding mum, you would know how hungry we get after every session. These little classic chocolate chip cookies ($25) are my go to in-between meals. Honestly, it was really hard to stop eating these goodies. I had to stop myself every time. The good thing about Baking Mama is that she has a non-lactation series, so even after the breastfeeding journey, we can still continue snacking on her goodies. 

Day 2 Breakfast

I had Mulberry Rose cold this time round and I find that it definitely taste much better. For breakfast, I had Banana Walnut Mumffin (4 for $20) and 200% Lactation Brownies (4 for $25). For the Mumffins, you can really taste the oats being used. If you are not used to such textures, you can choose their other goodies. The brownies is my 2nd most favourite item. I eat it without heating it up. But if you are not lazy like me, you should heat it up. The chocolate within it will melt and it will probably taste a lot like a molten lava cake. 

Subsequent breakfast ($25)

Somehow I ended up saving the best for the last. Although many places serve granola, Baking Mama's was the best. It has a nice mixture of nuts and fruits and has a nice savoury taste. It was very different from all the granolas I have ever tasted. I love it and it is the first time I ever had problems to stop eating granola! I would really recommend this if you love granola. If you are wondering of the effectiveness, generally Baking Mama helped me to maintain my supply during this stressful period. For lactating Mummies living on the East side, do give them a try!

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Follow "Breastfeeding Journey" tags for tips to make the breastfeeding experience bearable!

Aircon for my little one's sedan: ft. Jellypop

You know how warm Singapore can be sometimes, lately I found baby sweating when he is sitting in his stroller. So, we decided to upgrade his "sedan" and gave him some aircon. Hehe. For those who are curious, nope we are not installing a fan/ aircon. We simply included a Jellypop cooling mat ($75) for him to rest on. 

Apart from strollers, the cooling mat can be placed on the car seats, bouncers and even high chairs. Between you and me, I have actually used the cooling mat when I was having fever. It can truly take away the heat. 

For those who are wondering how this works, apparently the cooling mat is made of a newly patented Hisobead technology from South Korea. The Hisobeads are evenly distributed and use a thermocycling process to keep the temperature constantly lower. The product is said to be very durable and I think so too, considering it could take my weight when I laid on it when I have fever. 

There are a few designs available. The front is made of high-grade oxford cotton which acts as an additional cushion to provide more comfort and support. Also, the cooling mat can be easily wiped clean. My baby has puked milk on it a few times and so far we have managed to sucessfully wipe them off cleanly with wet wipes. Baby has been feeling quite cool and comfortable on his ride. We are seeing him enjoying his days out more. Considering we use the stroller quite often, I would deem this one of the must-have tools if you use a stroller too!

Sembcorp Power Referral Code

 

Like it or not, adulting and managing a house does come with a lot of research work (which I don't exactly enjoy) Since the work has already been done, I thought why not just share what we know so that future homemakers can have a easier time by just following the series. 

For your power supply, you have a few retailers available. You can either choose a fixed price or a % off the regulated tariff amount (which may have some fluctuations). Personally I prefer things that are fixed cos your spending is more consistent and it is easier to manage the cashflow. However, this time round we actually picked a discount off the tariff amount because the discount is more significant. 

You can do a comparison among the different power retailer here. Sembcorp power falls under the Top 3. We picked it because it has a few tie-ups with the banks. We are Citi Credit Cardmembers so we get to enjoy an additional $60 bill rebate.

To make all your lives easier, here's the referral code "2XBM6AE6" you can use to enjoy the additional $20 rebate. We took quite a while to find someone to refer us. So you are welcome, just use our code :P

It's tea-time!

The Hubs and I decided to take a breather once every weekend to enjoy some date-day. We have made a pact to try out something new during this day as though pre-baby time. So last weekend, we decided to take the opportunity to appreciate our Chinese culture and went for a tea making experience at the latest teahouse - Royal Teahouse in town. 

As you can see from the pictures, this is no traditional teahouse. Royal Teahouse is very posh and modern. It is not just a place to yum-cha; they also have a few rooms which you can book to host intimate functions. It is quite the perfect place for solemisation, small business meetings or even corporate events!

For now, at $28 only, you can get to experience tea-making. I went in half anticipating to make my own tea. To be quite honest, I was nervous because although I had some brief exposure to 茶道 (the art of making tea) by my uncle, I don't really know what come first or next. I was quite afraid of making a fool of myself. 

Novices like me would be heartened to know that there would be a "tea-lady" to prepare the tea. You might think that it would be awkward but we actually quite enjoyed the chit-chat with her. We learnt a lot more about tea and that how I have been drinking it wrong which probably explains why I have a weak tummy. (Note: You shouldn't take tea the first thing in the morning.)

More pictures on this gorgoeous find and also some fun facts I have learnt there. My favourite knowledge was actually on the 茶道四君子. The tools used for tea appreciation has such a cute name - 4 gentlemen of tea appreciation. 

This included the 茶則 (a platform to showcase the tea leaves)、茶匙 (a scoop to transfer the tea leaves needed from its container to the teapot)、茶針 (a needle like devise to loosen the leaves and to unclog the stout of the teapot if the tea leaves are stuck there) and 茶夾 (a tong to pick the cups)

The whole experience is about 4-5 servings per packet of tea. The duration really depends on how long you take to finish it. Tip: Go during the afternoon for to enjoy the optimum benefits of drinking tea. Don't rush it to enjoy a relaxing experience. You get to pick your own tea to try too!

Tools for Tummy-time!

My little one has no problem with flipping. But I do know of mums who are very worried when their little one is a little behind schedule. So here's some tips and tricks I use to help my baby flip faster (and safely). 

As a first-time, I was initially very hesitant in flipping him over to do tummy-time. When my baby was a newborn, he was so soft and it was very scary to do so. We started his tummy-time on my chest. We would hug-carry him while I slowly lower my body down. Initially, he couldn't really lift his head very long. 

After his 2nd month developmental check, the PD advised to start him on his tummy-time. That was when I started to flip him over. Initially, we only used a tummy-pillow and did tummy-time on the mattress as it was softer. For mummies who are not familiar with a tummy pillow, it is a U-shaped cushion that helps to soften the blow when baby slams its head down (when their neck isn't strong enough yet). We used Taf Toys 2-in-1 Tummy Time Pillow ($35.90) which had 2 different heights. (Note: My baby was quite advanced by then so we placed him on the bigger pillow.)

First-time mummies would pretty much agree that the first lift of the head is pretty much an exciting milestone. One trick I learnt to take nice photos of it is to use a Tummy Time book ($33.90). To take a frontal view photo, I would place the book in front of him so that my baby would stare at it. I will quickly position my phone in between them to take "that shot" :P

Don't worry that this will be a white elephant. We use the Tummy Time book even for his bedtime story. We definitely flip it more than once every week, quite a good mileage if you ask me. The pages make a crinkly sound and by 4-5months, our baby adored such sounds. I would pass him the book to distract him while he is on his bouncer so that I can do my other chores when it is only just me and him. The different pages also have textures and flips so you can also use it to train your child's motor skills. 

As he became better with his neck control, we also started the use of a playmat. We are using Marcus & Marcus reversible playmat - ABC ($49.90) and it is huge! It can definitely fit snuggly into a playpen. For now, we are folding it so that it is twice as thick. Our little one is starting to dry-crawl, once he can really crawl, we will open the mat fully. 

On one side, the design is ABC and the other side is 123. Sometimes, we do use the mat to expose him his ABCs and 123s. The design of the neutral ABCs fit our scandenavian house theme better. The colourful 123s capture our baby's eyes more. To balance it out, we flip it as and when to balance Mummy's love for aesthetics and baby's love for development. :P

Here's a photo of our complete gear! I have to say I am rather enjoying motherhood and preparing for my child's each developmental stage. Hope my tips and tricks works for you too!

Move a baby at ease Feat. Cody the Crab

We might have been keeping it quite hush-hush about this. We have moved to our own place...with an infant too! We were initially quite worried that our little one would have problems settling down, so we decided to bring his sleeping aid along as a priority. I packed rather light, but Cody the crab ($63.95) was one one toy I kept reminding myself to bring him along. 

You must be wondering, so who/ what is Cody? Cody is a sleep projector that creates a magical underwater world in the bedroom with moving waves and fish swimming. There are 3 soothing melodies (ocean, heartbeat or lullabies) available for selection. Cody uses a 3-step sleep programme by slowly lowering the animation and eventually shut off after 30 minutes. It also has a cry sensor that would start up upon loud sounds.

The box didn't come with any batteries. But Cody was quite easy to start up. On the night I start it up, our little boy and even my husband were captivated by the projector. It was a lot more magical than expected. I shared the video of it with some of my friends and one of my friends bought it immediately. Her little girl and husband were enthralled by it too!

Cody is currently my son's favourite toy. Most toys don't capture his attention long. Somehow, Cody holds a very special place in his heart. Every time we bring Cody to him, he would give this toy a gentle smile and gently caress it. He is oddly affectionate to this toy. On the first night at our new home, we turned on Cody and he fell asleep as usual - no tantrums, no meltdowns.

I think I can understand why. Even adults love Cody! Sometimes, after a stressful day, I also turn him on for my own use and drift to sleep. Cody is very enjoyable. The only minor concern I have with him is that he has a hard shell and I am at times scared that my child might knock his head against it. When I turn Cody on, I would also direct it away from my boy so that the lights do not shine directly in his eyes. 

The cry sensor is very sensitive. Sometimes I end up startling Cody when I knock into some furniture as I navigate in the dark. However, as the lullaby is so soothing, neither my child nor my husband has been awaken thus far. Fellow germophobics, don't worry because Cody can be removed and washed! :D (Tip: Put it on the highest point and you can get clearer fishes on the ceiling. My boy likes to sleep with it by the window so the fishes is not as defined.)

You can listen to the 3 tunes here. Guess this explains why Cody works for difficult sleep regression nights too!