Kidkraft Toy Castle with Tunnel: Not quite ready yet!

My son received a play castle for his first birthday from a close friend. I was actually really excited about the gift and believe my son would enjoy it as well. But just like any household, space is an issue. We are renting a two-bedroom apartment and unlike other units, we felt that we are living in a good-sized apartment. Until my son came along, space we thought is enough seems inadequate. My husband and I usually find ourselves contemplating which toy to keep and which toy to take off from the box so we can use. 

As our son hits his milestones, we are also trying to let him play with appropriate toys suitable for his age. He is also not somebody who has any “comfort” item or favorite toy so we try to limit the available toys he can play with. That way, we have less/manageable amount of toys scattered across our living area. Plus, he can enjoy his toys thru stages. 

We were quite happy with the setup and we knew a couple of toys are still inside their boxes. Until our friend who gifted the toy castle constantly ask us where the toy castle is. We are always trying to let her know that we really appreciate the gift but needed the space where to put it. But every time she comes over, she asks. So one weekend afternoon, we decided to unbox the castle. My son was over the moon when he first saw the castle. He was so excited with the new toy he bought his favorite (so far) truck inside. As expected, he treated the castle as if it was his “home”. We even took a couple of photos to show our friend that there it is! We are using it! 

Inside the castle!

The first few minutes were OK. But then, my son decided he likes the small flag on the top of the castle. My husband and I were a bit busy trying to keep a few things to make room for the castle when we saw our son knocked off the castle in his bid to reach the flag! It was very easy for him to do it since the material was very light and there were nothing to make the castle stay put. My son literally carried the castle across the living area, we did not like it! We felt that it might lead to unwanted accidents especially if he is with his nanny or if we need to take our eyes off him for a couple of minutes. It could lead him to get hurt or break a few items in our living room in split seconds! 

Because of the incident, my husband read the box and checked the suitable age for the castle. Of course, it should’ve been done before we took it out and we saw it was for bigger kids (3 years old and above). It then made us realize that those precautions were written there for a reason. So it was a good reminder for us to make sure to read those first, before giving in to peer pressure!

Overall, I like my friend's gift but I think we needed a few more months/years before we can take it out again. Better to be on the safe side! For those with little ones who are interested (and old enough!), here is the castle my friend gave to my son:

Top Reasons why Motherhood is not for Everybody

I have a close friend from my previous employer and I bet she is laughing her ass off now. I remembered that after a couple of months since we got married, we had this conversation about family life and kids. Without batting an eyelash, I replied that I plan to have kids a year after getting married. Her reply? She doesn’t plan to have kids at all. I was shocked. All of my close girlfriends plan to have kids; surely she wants to have her own kids. I asked her again and her reply was the same.

Fast forward to this day, I now have my active little toddler. My friend stayed true to her word about not having kids. Don’t get me wrong, I love my little boy. But my past experiences as a Mom opened my eyes why my friend would not want to have her own kids. She is my son’s godmother. While I can feel she loves my son dearly, I can feel she is giving me the that’s-why-I-don’t-want-kids statement.

1. Her shopping bags contain items for herself. My shopping bag contains nappies and little person’s clothing.
2. She can leisurely eat dinner and enjoy her wine. I eat my meals in 5-minutes and drink wine to feel good sometimes.
3. She can read or watch mother-child themed movies and just shed a few tears. I need to bring a towel to wipe my snot off.
4. Her “me time” means she goes for a whole day thinking about nothing else. My “me time” is going outside of our home trying to do activities for myself but constantly texting my husband/minder how my son is.
5. She can yell at her husband for not tidying up the house. I can yell “ouch!” each time I tripped at my son’s little trucks.
6. Her concept of vacation is a trip to a beautiful remote island, maybe the Maldives. My vacation is a trip to the groceries without a child screaming at me.
7. She can have dinner at any restaurants she wants to try. I dine at restaurants where there is high chair and basically child-friendly.
8. She can extend her time at bed during the weekends. I wake up when my son wakes up at 6 AM even on a Saturday or Sunday.
9. She brings her nice leather handbag filled with makeup and accessories to go out. I bring a big bag filled with small toys, bibs, and other child-accessories.
10. She can wear her stilettos anytime she wants to. I forgot how to wear heels already.

Quick Toddler's Chow Mien!

I love preparing for my son’s meals. Especially now that he is over a year old, I can easily give and share “our food” to him with very minimal alteration from the recipe I use. I still watch out for the salt and sugar. If I make his meals, I don’t add any salt or sugar to it. But if it is store-bought, I try to find something that has a very minimal amount of salt/sugar in it.

One of my son’s favorite snacks is noodles. I am not sure why, probably he liked the idea of eating something long. He has this funny habit of getting a single strand from his plate using his pincers and put the strand inside his mouth. He will gradually slurp it while saying “mmm mmm”. LOL! Kids! They are so easy to please (sometimes!).

I made some chow mien for myself and my husband the other night so I separated some of the veggies to cook for my son’s noodles. I did not put any seasoning to my son’s veggies except for a bit of ground pepper to taste.

My son's favorite chow mien!

Recipe:

1 portion of uncooked egg noodles

a handful of mixed veggies (I used beansprouts, cabbage, and carrot for this) sliced thinly

ground pepper to taste

1 tsp sesame oil

Steps:

1. Boil some water and soak the noodles in it (if using dried noodles)

2. Heat your pan and place the sesame oil

3. Saute the vegetables for about 2 minutes or until it becomes soft

4. Strain the noodles and toss in the same pan with the vegetables

5. Stir fry for another 2 minutes or until the noodles and vegetables are well-cooked

6. Serve warm and enjoy!

Note: These are the ingredients/items I used to create this dish

Gradual Weaning Process for Myself: Letting Go

I was blessed with a lot of milk and I always thank God for that. While our breastfeeding journey was not perfect, I can say that I am so happy that until this moment we are still breastfeeding. I am also thankful that my current work setup allowed me to breastfeed my son directly. It can also be the reason why we were able to breastfeed for this long.

Despite being at home most of the times, I always pumped milk in the morning for my son. Regardless if he will drink the milk, I made sure that I pumped on my “pumping time”. It was the 15-minute session every day, every morning that I allocated to pump milk. Since my son did not regularly use the milk stash stored in the fridge, I accumulated enough freezer stash for him that filled the last tray of our freezer. Probably if our freezer was any bigger, I could’ve stored a lot more than what we ended up with.

When we go out, that’s when the stash became useful to us. I never breastfed my son in public (unless it was during a long plane ride) so we had to bring a bottle for him. However, at around 16months, my son voluntarily weaned from the bottle. We noticed that if we were out, he can last the whole time without drinking milk but will continuously do so if we were at home. If we tried to offer him the milk from the bottle whilst outside, he will throw temper tantrums while looking at me. Probably his way of saying, “What is this Mom?!?! I want boobs, not THIS!” We tried putting the milk inside his sippy cup, mixing with cow’s milk, mixing with flavored milk ETC. But nothing will make him drink milk unless coming from me.

So we stopped to bring milk while we are out. And that left us with our full tray of frozen breast milk stash. I had a quick look at the dates and the milk was still usable. I contemplated what I wanted to do with it. I initially thought of giving it away, but I held back. Why? I was thinking/hoping that my son will still drink the milk. I never thought I would feel that way, but it occurred to me at the time that the pumped milk belonged to my son. I thought of the days I was so busy with work, but I can’t/don’t want to skip my pumping session fearing my son will never have enough milk.

A couple of days passed by, and one frozen bag expired. I still have about 2 Liters of milk sitting inside the freezer. That’s when I finally accepted that my son will no longer use it. It has been months since he drank milk from any other source except me. I finally accepted that in order for the days/time I spent pumping that milk mean something is for it to be useful.

I offered the milk for donation and it didn’t take long for somebody to accept it. I didn’t meet the lady whom my breast milk went to but knew that her little one had tongue tie so they had issues with latching. But she was really determined to breastfeed her son. I gladly gave the entire frozen milk stash and somehow I felt a tiny pinch inside my heart as I was emptying our freezer tray. I knew that the milk will end up with somebody who needs it, but it just made me realize that it could be a sign; the start of my son’s weaning process. And it hurts me just by thinking about it.

After the milk exchange, I received a text from the lady thanking me. We exchanged a few more texts until I received this. With that, I just knew that giving the milk to somebody who will use it was the right decision. It could be the best way for me to gradually start our weaning process, letting go of our freezer stash.

Teething Drama is About to End! What Worked for Us?

Molars, why are you taking your sweet time to get out?! My son has been in this molar-teething stage for as long as I remember. He is actually very good with teething. He still sleeps well in the evening and don’t get feverish (thank God!). Unlike other babies, my son never liked biting on his teethers. We bought about 5 different teethers to test if he will like any of those but, nada! We placed them in the fridge/freezer but never worked. I even tried the breast milk popsicles, but he just made a face and threw it away! I also tried to give him a cold, wet washcloth, but it didn’t appeal him. But I know that he is suffering from this phase as he gets pretty cranky sometimes and totally clingy to Mum.

You are probably thinking, what worked for my son during this uncomfortable teething process. Here are some of the things that we did that seemed to ease his discomfort:

• Any metal objects such as spoons. As I’ve said, my son didn’t like his teethers. He would pick up any random object to chew and bite but not his teethers. When I notice that he does it often in a day, I immediately relate to this as teething. He doesn’t really bite anything unless his gums are already swelling because of a tooth about to erupt.

• Give him an apple or pear. My son loves fruits so much and that he likes to munch on crunchy and harder fruits when he is teething. So when I think he is teething, I give him sliced/whole apples and pears for a snack. If you are giving your child whole fruits, watch out for the core!

• Gum gel. My son can get pretty crappy when it comes to food when he is really in pain. He will not cry but constantly spit out his food. Probably because it hurts his gums. So to allow him to eat (since he is interested anyway), we massage a bit of gel around his gums. Remember to read the label on the frequency of application to avoid overdoing it. He particularly likes this brand and I tasted it. It is actually kinda sweet!

• Frequent latching on Mom's breast. If you are a breastfeeding Mom, you will immediately notice that your child wants to latch every-single-time. I work from home so I am able to feed him but like any working Moms, I also have deadlines. It is impossible to work and nurse at the same time. When he is teething, I try my best to accommodate to his every demand in “boobie time”. Breast milk has natural analgesic that helps them to feel relief when teething. Watch out for the bite marks, though! Teething babies will make frequent attempts to bite during this stage.

• Give some pain relief medication such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. When all things fail and your child is still cranky, give him/her a dose of painkiller such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. I am not a fan of giving too much medication to my son especially since he doesn’t have a fever. But when I feel that he is in too much discomfort (ie cranky, spits food frequently) even after trying the other things mentioned above; I give him a dose of medicine. I noticed that ibuprofen works best for teething pain especially with the molars. So you may want to use paracetamol for other teeth but ibuprofen for molars.

Remember that I don't do all these at once. I try to do one thing at a time and the last would be to give him a dose of medicine. Apart from these, additional TLC helps them get through this painful teething process.

Weekend Morning with a Toddler

Before my son was born, weekends meant that I get to wake up past 8 AM in the morning. Well, I don’t really wake up late. I think the latest would be around 9 AM. But at least would be able to stretch a bit while lying in bed. My husband and I can have a slow start to our weekend mornings. We can spend a few more minutes chatting in bed before somebody volunteers to start making some coffee.

Now that my son is here, he gets to dictate our schedule. We are awake when he is awake, which is around 7 AM (if we are lucky!). He is our alarm clock, and he can go off at random times each day. There is no telling what time he will wake up for a certain day. We are lucky if he wakes up consistently at the same time for a week; only to change it the week after. 

Sometimes, it feels surreal that we have been sleeping for less than 8 hours for more than 19 months now. It is just amazing to see how time flies by so quickly, we hardly notice that we have been into this parenting thing for so long.

My son's version of "Good Morning Mom!"

Fast forward to today, I still don’t get to stretch idly in bed during the weekend mornings. We wake up the moment he wakes up. Am I complaining? A bit maybe. But the moment my son wakes up, is a start of a happy day for me. It means that I get to hug my little rascal good morning and start a new day with him. It meant that I can expect a hand or foot in my face as he tries his best to wake me and his dad. It meant I can hear his contagious giggles as he tries to poke my nose, ears, mouth, and eyes just so I will stop pretending to sleep.

Parenting is not always full of roses. There were bad days that I wish would just quickly pass by. But I can’t exchange simple, happy moments like waking up each day with my son for anything in the world. I still miss my slow and lazy weekend mornings. But for now, I will savor each moment while my son is still this cute little fella. Time flies by so quickly, I am pretty sure the day will come when I wish my son is a baby again. I know other moms out there do, and I am certain that I will feel the same way soon enough.

Post Travel Rant: Flying with Baby

We recently went to a long flight back home in Asia with my little one. While I love going back home to see family, I admit that the flight was something I dreaded. My little boy is now 18 months old and is a very active baby. People would commend how he seems to have that never-ending energy. At home, he constantly runs, jumps, or climbs at anything to spend this energy. His nannies would bring him at our apartment’s courtyard so he can spend some of his energies while getting a dose of fresh air.

Traveling from Europe to Asia was not easy. It was a long 16-hour flight. While we took the best route we could get (splitting the travel time to 8-hour each), it was still a difficult task for any parent to make sure that the trip will be fuss-free!

If you are one of those families taking a long trip like this with an active little toddler, here are some of the tips that my husband and I did to survive the long flight:

• Make sure to bring small toys to entertain. My son loves the McDonald’s minions and toy cars. We decided to bring a couple of those to make sure that he would stay seated for even just a few minutes/seconds. Be thankful for each moment where your little one is content just being in his/her chair. It could get worse.
• Bring lots of snacks/homemade food. We requested baby food/kid’s meal for my little one for the duration of the flight. But on the first leg of our trip, we discovered that our son was not included in the headcount for the meals. It was really disappointing and while it was something that the airline company should be apprehended for, parents should make sure that little kids will not go hungry on the trip. It was a good thing I packed lots of snacks/homemade meals for my son and brought empty small containers. The reason why I did this is to make sure that when my son goes hungry, he gets fed. Little kids can go cranky if they are hungry and we can’t expect that his mealtimes will go on schedule as the cabin crew’s schedule for meals. If the crew served his meals and he is done eating or he is taking a nap, I pack it away so he can eat later. 
• Pack a couple of extra change of clothes. My son never liked changing nappies in tightly closed spaces like the plane’s toilets. He would cry and scream on the entire nappy change process. This would lead to some spills or sometimes he would end up peeing on himself. So to make sure your kid will not stink on the remaining hours on the flight, make sure to pack a couple of change of clothes.
• Choose flights with reasonable stopover time. My son loved it the moment we step out of the aircraft. Who wouldn’t be? Even I and my husband loved it when it is time to disembark! If you have connecting flights, make sure to allocate enough time for everybody to enjoy the change of surroundings. I would personally recommend to make sure that the flights in between have at least 3-hours stopover.
• Ignore other passengers. When I was a solo traveler, there were times I was really annoyed when little kids would go screaming their heads off on the entire flight. I think it is pretty common reaction for other passengers who wanted to catch some sleep, but can’t due to the noise. Now that I have my son and we experienced the difficulty, I felt sorry for how I felt towards the parents who were struggling to keep up with a screaming baby on the entire flight. I experienced how difficult it was for those equally sleepless parents to try to keep the baby calm while being equally tired and sleepy. I admit, I think I noticed some passengers close to us giving us “the look” when my son screams, kicks, or basically put his “I am pissed” emotion out on display. Believe me, we really tried our best to contain him and make him wear that seat belt or stop him from hitting the tray table but he really thought it was funny. So since it was a lose-lose situation, we decided to ignore those looks. It was not like we were not doing anything anyway.
  
  
  How about you, do you have tips that can help tired and worn out parents traveling with active little toddlers?