mommy hungry already

Playdate x Paprika Living Healthy Festival x Nyananyana eco-friendly fashion: Eco friendly kids workshop

2017-11-13T13:21:00.001+08:00

We're very thrilled when we were invited by Paprika Living Healthy Living festival to host an eco-friendly children workshop at one of their event.

We're very happy to be able to share through a fun activity for children about natural colors. We also did a small campaign through storytelling about 3R that the kids can do to help to preserve the environment especially in Indonesia. Let's join our hand together to take care our lovely earth as God created it very well.

And this is the link of the official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKrXy3Phljg&feature=youtu.be

Playdate x Garage Sale: DIY Recycled Craft and Indigofera Tie Dye workshop for kids

2017-11-13T13:14:00.003+08:00

We're very thrilled when we were invited by Garage21_fleamarket to host an eco-friendly children workshop at one of their flea market event. We fully support flea market ideas, since it's one of the way to do the 3R (Reuse, reduce, recycle)

As usual we open our workshop with gardening, we water the plants, and we do a small picnic, games, and storytelling. Thank God for the lovely weather.

The first workshop is DIY recycled craft

Followed by natural dye workshop

The goods of natural color: it's benefit for health and gives richness of flavor (Turmeric for yellow color dan a bowl of Soto/ turmeric base soup dish)

Kids proudly wear their organic tie dye bandana

July 2017: Children's Library and Planetarium playdate

2017-08-06T20:12:00.001+08:00

At the end of children's school holiday, we arranged a back-to-back playdate to Children's library and Jakarta Planetarium. Both are located nearby in Taman Ismail Marzuki.

Our today's EZI activity is:
1. Enjoy Nature
By learning about God's creation of universe in Planetarium's museum. We also taking a short walk from Library to the planetarium.

2. Zoom into Nature
By seeing the sun & sun's spot through the planetarium's telescope

3. Inspired by Nature
Singing a song about Earth, Moon and Sun Rotation

Playdate started with free play at Children's library playground

Educational toy section

Indoor playground with limited opening time and only for 5 year old and below

Walking to the planetarium

Taking a peek at the sun

Smiling after taking a turn at the big telescope

Watching movie

Bigger kids in action

Exploring the museum

One of the museum's impressive diorama

Our amazing solar system with it's harmonious movement, as God take care of His creation,
we must take care of our nature too

Circle time

Singing the Earth-Moon-Sun Rotation Song

Happy museum goer

Details:
Perpustakaan Umum Daerah Provinsi DKI Jakarta
@jaklib_Cikini
(021) 2305146
Children's Library Opens Monday-Sunday 09.00-16.00*
Indoor Playground Opens Tuesday & Thursday 10.00-12.00 (Must wear socks, and for 5 years old & below only)*

Jakarta Planetarium and Observatory
(021) 3154087
planetarium.jakarta.go.id/
The planetarium star show is closed until further notice
Free sun observation Monday-Friday 10-2pm (If weather allowed)*
Museum&observatory opens Monday-Friday 8am-8pm*

(Opens except for Public Holiday)
* Schedule may changed, please contact the office directly before your visit

Location
Taman Ismail Marzuki, No. 73, Jl. Cikini Raya, RT.8/RW.2, Cikini, Menteng, Kota Jakarta Pusat, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta 10330

See you at the next playdate ^_^

Cis Kacang Buncis Enclek! {Playdate at Puppet Museum}

2017-03-29T23:40:00.000+08:00

Our first playdate in 2017 is at Museum Wayang (Puppet Museum) which was held on Tuesday, since on the weekend the Museums at Kota Tua (Museum Wayang, Museum Seni & Keramik, dan Museum Fatahillah) are usually really packed, so we choose weekday so our munchkin can roam the museum more comfortably.

As usual, we have 3 parts of activities, enjoy nature, zoom in to nature, and inspired by nature (EZI)

1. Enjoy nature
- Circle time Picnic: sing along and sign language

Circle time: If you happy and you know it play your puppet!

Sign language for puppet

- Gardening (watering the plants) Thank God for the lovely weather :)

Watering the plants

Queuing for the water

Moms enjoying nature too

2. Zoom into nature
- Sensory play: slime insect hunting games

Rescue the insect!

- Guided museum tour:
The wayangs are using natural forms such as human and animal, and they are made from real bulls' leather and using natural pattern inside the wayangs such as plants, waves, etc

Our tour guide

Giant wayang

Puppet from Batak: Sigale-gale

Wayang's detail using nature's pattern

Wayang betawi Si Pitung

History wayang: Indonesian Proclamator

History wayang: Bible stories

History wayang: Admiral Cheng Ho

Childhood wayang: Si Kancil

Childhood wayang: Unyil Family

Childhood wayang: Bamboo wayang for little dalang practice

Kids enjoying the museum

3. Inspired by nature
Recycle art & craft: Diy Unyil puppet from toilet paper roll and yakult bottle

Storytelling time, our kids will make their own story

Diy Unyil Puppet (recycled craft)

Storytelling time!

My diy Unyil

Happy museum goers

Say Cheese! kacang buncis :)

Thank you for coming!

See you at the next museum playdate!

Please join our FB group Jakarta Museum Playdate for more info and updates.

✄ Jakarta Museum Playdate October: Bzzz bzzzz beee busy at the Museum

2016-10-08T00:09:00.000+08:00

This month's playdate is at Museum Kehutanan (Forestry Museum) which was held on Thursday, since the Museum opens on Monday to Friday, 9am-3am, and closed on weekend.

As usual, we have 3 parts of activities, enjoy nature, zoom in to nature, and inspired by nature (EZI).

1. Enjoy nature
Picnic, gardening (watering the plants), sing along, and bee hunting games. Thank God for the lovely weather :)

Our picnic venue at the garden of wood transportation's history

2. Zoom into nature
- Guided museum tour
- Bee storytelling and sign language

Smiling participant with our friendly guide Kak Dewi from the museum.

Busy bees at the museum

Whoops, forgot to do this sign language! (Image is from http://www.babysignlanguage.com)

Bee storytelling

3. Inspired by nature
Recycle art & craft:
- Bubble wrap beehive stamping
- Yakult bottle bee.

Bubble wrap beehive stamp

Yakult bottle bee

Kid's work of art

Happy to receive the goodies, terimakasih Museum Kehutanan!

See you at the next museum playdate!

Please join our FB group Jakarta Museum Playdate for more info and updates.

Jakarta museum playdate (August: Play and fly at Museum Layang-layang!)

2016-08-14T18:56:00.001+08:00

This August meetup we went to southern part of Jakarta and meet southern mommies & munchkins too! At museum Layang-layang we still have 3 parts of activities (EZI):

1. Enjoy nature
- Picnic: Introduce ourselves and familiarize the kids with place
- Introduce the Layang-layang museum, and explain how the kite flies through storytelling and song.
- After we hear about kites that flies to up to the clouds, meet's the sunny sun, it's time to water the thirsty plants (Gardening)

Image is from www.imagebuddies.org

2. Zoom into kites & nature
- Science: watch movie about kites and how to fly enormous kites using only ocean's wind
- See the kites collection

Watch movie about kite festival

Kites from leaves

Kite collection

Museum shaped kite! And it can fly

Kites from all over the world

Kids amazed with a dragon kite

2 cm kite from China

Kite from all over the world

Museum's collection

Fly, horsie, fly!

Our friendly and engaging tour guide today

3. Insipired by kites & nature
- Craft activities: diy kites, today mommies also do some crafts
- Fly the kites!

Craft activity

Time to fly the kites!

When children start running, all we got is blurry pics and good memories!

Today's Jakarta Museum Playdate participant

See you again at the next playdate!

☁❤ Museum tekstil Jakarta review & Jakarta Museum Playdate story

2016-06-27T09:46:00.001+08:00

As written in this post "What to do in Singapore for toddler who's not in school yet", hungrybaby was a regulars at many playdate group/community. As we stay in Jakarta, we're looking for the same community.

It is quite hard, for example if we compare the meetup.com Sg site that have extensive choice of toddler outdoor activities, with meetup.com Jakarta, there's only 1 inactive toddler group, the rest is mostly dating (mak comblang) communities! Ha!

My Sg playdate group organizer, now who became my friends, they encourage me to initiate a playdate group, which I never think of before. After a few months we feel that children outdoor activities in Jakarta is very limited, our "adventure" choice was the shopping mall.

And then one time, we visited Museum Tekstil Jakarta, for my work. And not one person, but many asked hungrybaby "What are you doing in a Museum, dear? Isn't it boring and dusty?". We were a Museum goer back in Singapore, and we want to explore Jakarta's museums too. Glad we did, we especially hungrybaby enjoyed the visit, and the Museum Tekstil also have a lovely garden and large outdoor area. From that moment, I have an idea to arrange outdoor toddler activities, in Jakarta's Museum venues. The Museum also very open and supportive with the idea.

Museum Tekstil's outdoor area: Taman pewarna alam (Natural dye garden)

Museum Tekstil collection

Natural dye from plants; at pendopo the place for learning batik

She had fun on our visit, she wants to take her friends to the Museum Tekstil too!

Follow this link for our playdate activities:

June: Main ke museum tekstil!

✄ Jakarta Museum Playdate (June: Main ke museum tekstil!)

2016-06-25T19:40:00.003+08:00

Playdate invitation

This June meetup is an introductory playdate where we have 3 parts of activities (EZI):

1. Enjoy nature
- Picnic: Introduce ourselves and familiarize the kids with the garden
- Introduce the Textile museum, and the famous fabric from Indonesia, batik, that many of the patterns inspired from the nature such as cloud (Mega Mendung), wave (Parang), lotus flower (Kawung), and butterfly.
- Gardening: Watering the plants, leaves collecting, and looking for the hiding caterpillar

Gardening, watering the plants and picnic

2. Zoom into nature
- Science Storytelling about the silkworm life cycle
- Science: Finding out how amazing God's nature creation: Silver/metallic cocoon
- Sensory play : rescuing the insect from slime (the highlight of this playdate!)

Silkworm life-cycle storytelling; Museum's collection of metallic silk fabric; props using pasta, metallic cocoon from yakult bottle& alumunium foil, and beads caterpillar; caterpillar image is from: http://www.claytonvnps.org/

Slime time: rescuing the insects; a little bit of experiments of mixing the color; and a little girl who's made the monster cupcake :D It is edible anyway (recipe is from here)

3. Insipired by nature
- Craft activities: Leaf rubbing (using the dry leaves we collected)
- Craft activities: Silver cocoon using yakult recycle bottle
- Craft activities: Caterpillar beads

After the playdate, we went to see the Museum Tekstil Collection and batik learning activities.

This Main ke museum! is planned to be a monthly activities. Please join our FB group Jakarta Museum Playdate for info and updates.

Sneak peek for our next playdate: Museum Layang-layang

Sampai jumpa!

Follow this link for the Jakarta Museum Playdate's story

☁ What to do in Singapore for a toddler who's not in school yet

2016-03-17T12:18:00.004+08:00

From time to time, I was asked: "How old is your daughter?", "Why she's not in school yet?", then followed by the question: "Must be bored at home, right?"

When hungrybaby turned 2, she went to a playgroup (pre-Nursery School) for couple of months. But for her (and mama) the 2 hours daily lesson was too overwhelming. So mama searched for activities around Singapore that can filled our days, the goal was to have more outdoor activities.

Diy weekly schedule

So we made DIY a weekly schedule, which had only one activity per day, such as Monday: Library, Tuesday: Mops, Wed: Park, etc... really simple and laid back schedule.

But after a while, after found out about meetup.com, mops, and other playdate options, the schedule became like this:

Schedules are subject to change, please check the provided links

Yes, we are busier than before baby was still in school! But we really had a great time, we are grateful to meet wonderful mommies and toddler friends, and learn, share so many things about parenting too.

Monday
On Monday, we are resting at home in the morning, because practically we spent the whole day in the church on Sunday. Before & after church, mama and papa usually have choir practice, or committee meetings.

If we feel energize, we go to:
11am Playdate at Fun & Laughter (organised by Toddler's day out)

The perks of joining mommy group is, we paid cheaper entry fee. As we're coming as a group and on weekday (off peak time). It's only $6 (usual price weekday $18)

If we're resting at home in the morning, in the afternoon, we go to Library, or other indoor playground.

Indoor playground dates (above at Fidgets, The Playhouse, Fun and Laughter, and IKEA).
Kids above 90 cm can be dropped off at Ikea's playground Smaland for one hour

Cool things at the library www.nlb.gov

Fun and Laughter
180 Kitchener Road, #B2-32,
City Square Mall, Sg 208539 (Farrer Park MRT)

Fidgets
200 Turf Club Rd, #03-10,
The Grandstand, Sg 287994
(Shuttle bus from Botanic Garden, Clementi, and Bishan MRT)

The Playhouse at Rochester Park
7 Rochester Park Singapore 139218
(nearest MRT Buona Vista)

Tuesday
9.30-11.30am Mops (Singapore Mother's of preschooler - childcare provided)
Mops is a biweekly meeting, alternate with Mommy and Me music class, or outdoor play date.
In this meeting, mommies listen to parenting talk while having breakfast and kids are in the separate rooms (according to age) taken care by lovely teachers/sitter.

Mommy and me music class at Mops, watching Tokyo Ballet together, and Mops' art and craft session

Mops (Mothers of preschooler)
International Baptist Church, Singapore
81 King's Rd, Singapura 266358 (Farrer Road MRT)

2.30-3.30 JWT Gym playdate (organised by Singapore stay at home mum)
This playdate is a twice a month, at the first and last week of the month. This is an open gym without instructor. And we only pay $6

JWT Gym
Clemenceau Ave,
UE Square Shopping Mall, Singapore 239917

or 2-4.30 pm Women's church meeting- KW at Gpo Orchard (childcare provided)
This weekly meetings is at my home church. You can find women's committee meetings at your own religious organisation. But if you're Indonesian, and a woman with kids (or not), you can come here and join the fellowship

Here's where baby find her Indonesian friends who speak in bahasa ibu, and eats yummy authentic food

Orchard Road Presbyterian Church
Jemaat berbahasa Indonesia
3 Orchard Road Sg 238825 (Dhoby Ghaut MRT)

Wednesday
9.30-11.30 Toddler Hiking (organised by Outdoor Family-Bukit Batok Nature Kids)

At noon, if we couldn't make it to morning hiking, we go for a swim, or join picnic playdate.

Thursday
10-12pm Singapore Young Gardener at Queenstown Library
The only library in Singapore with a garden also have volunteer program on alternate Saturday, kids are welcome.

On rainy days, they still have indoor activities!

Queenstown Library
53 Margaret Dr, Sg 149297

or 12 -1 pm Science Playdate (STEM workshop organised by Discovering Without Border)

STEM Workshop (Science Playdate)
Discovering Without Borders
15 Playfair Rd Level 3, Studio 1 (Tai Seng MRT)
(Available at other locations too)

Friday
10-12pm Parenting Workshop (organised by Discovering Without Border - childcare provided)
This is a monthly meeting of various great theme on parenting and education.

or 11-12 pm (followed by freeplay) Serious about preschool play party
This is a non routine event, but they also have perks of contests for members to win free tickets to kid's place like Pororo Park, POLW, etc, so we allocate the timing on Friday

Serious about preschool play party was held at various indoor playground

www.seriousaboutpreschool.com

Saturday
We go for a swim, cycling, or stroll at the nearby park, or sleep

At noon 2-3pm Dance class (At Recognize Studio)

Kids hip hop class

Sunday

Sunday school friends

The pink house in the weekly schedule means we're staying at home. Usually we spend time doing art & craft, play at the playground with neighborhood kids, and visiting elderly neighbor.

Yes, we stay at home too! Doing pre-schooler activities and visiting elderly neighbors

Other source of activities:
- There's a lot of mommy group at www.meetup.com, you can find a group that near your area.

Mommy groups at www.meetup.com

- Look for trial classes at coupon website eg.groupon, ensogo etc. We bought our dance classes here.
- Subscribe to website like www.supermom.com.sg, www.seriousaboutpreschool.com for children fairs, free trials, and contests.

Free trials we had at Julia Gabriel, Act 3 International, Wings to wings dance. We bought 4 dance classes at Magic Fiddler on groupon on sale (only $5 per class), and at a children fair from Supermom at the Float at Marina Bay.

- Singapore Government bodies have child friendly tours and galleries.

Such as LTA, Health Promotion Board Singapore, Police Heritage Centre. We went as a group organised by Toddler's day out. Group booking is easier, but you can come by yourself too. Museums all over Singapore are known for their cool kids programs, especially on school holiday, where they have Children's Season.

Visit to Singapore Art Museum, LT Gallery, Health promotion board gallery, and Police Heritage Center.

Land Transport Authority LT Gallery

1 Hampshire Rd,Singapore 219428 (Little India MRT)

Health promotion board Gallery
www.hpb.gov.sg/
3 Second Hospital Ave, Singapore 168937 (Outram Park MRT)

Police Heritage Centre Gallery
http://www.police.gov.sg/spfheritage/booking.html
28 Irrawaddy Rd, Sg 329560 (Novena MRT)
Updates on Singapore museums: https://www.facebook.com/ILoveMuseums

- In Singapore, children (especially pre-schooler) are spoiled with shows, musical, and festivals.
The Esplanade have their own toddler (2-4 years old) musicals. Shopping malls on holiday season with free shows of hi5, circus, Sesame street or popular cartoon characters, you can name it! Children festival as a part of Singapore's big event such as Sea Games, Asian Paragames, International Film and Art Festival, that you don't want to miss.

Toddler Musical at The Esplanade, hi5 show at United Square, Children's Film Festival at the Arts House, Asian Paragames Festival at Kallang Stadium, Playmobil at Palawan Sentosa and Dinosaur exhibition at Plaza Singapura

We will surely miss Singapore and all of the activities. Thank you for lovely memories! <3

Now we're starting a new journey in Jakarta, hopefully we can find new community and playdates *finger crossed. Here's a sneak peak of what baby do daily (before school starts!) :

Baby already found new friends here, one of them has the same name as her, they bond automatically! Mommies too.
It was started with a smile :)

Cheers from Jakarta ^.^

My top 10 iHerb list

2015-08-25T23:48:00.001+08:00

I considered myself as an iHerb regulars. Since Feb 2013 I've done 60 purchase from the site. I started with joining a motherhood forum spree, but quite a hassle with the meet up and my purchase quantity was became bigger, that's why I decided to buy myself. The shipment to Singapore is 5-8 working days using Singpost registered mail.

iHerb is a place when you can get raw, natural, and organic products. From the hype things such as chia seeds, goji berry, argan oil; to old school natural products. And here's my 10 ten list, completed with Singapore price comparison:

No	Product	iHerb price (Sgd)	Local price (Sgd)
1	Raw organic black Chia Seed 340g	8.4	15*
2	Childlife Echinacea	9.6	29.95
	Other popular brand such as Sambucol	26	44.9
	Nature's way Sambucus	25.5	34.28
3	Mane & Tail Herbal Gro Shampoo 355ml	5.75	15.9
4	Hero Yummi bear 200's	28.9	39.5
5	Brother's Disney Freeze dried fruit 6's	8	10*
6	The rub calendula cream	6.7	26.50*
7	Hyland's sniffles&sneezes 125 tablets	10	na
8	Natracare Ultra Pads Organic Cotton Cover 10s	6.6	11.9
9	Branam toddler toothpaste with xylitol	5.7	9.9
10	Y.S. Eco Bee Farms Honey 907g	15.6	27.9*
	*Other comparable brand

All price before member discount & using conversion rate 1.4 - Aug 2015. As you can see you can save up to 70%.

When hungrybaby was still a baby, this was the place where I bought Gerber's cereal, puff, fruit puree, fenugreek supplement, and other natural baby products.

Other products that I love from iHerb too, from natural hair gel for hubby, skin remedies, baking supply, to essential oils, off course all comes with a fraction price.

Tips to buy at iHerb:
1. Wait for free shipping offer. They have frequent free shipping times (Singpost registered mail) once in 2-3 months with minimum purchase of US$40.
2. Check out their super specials & clearance
3. Share shipping cost with your friends (to qualify for minimum purchase and get free shipping and cart discount). This is what I do most of the time
4. By becoming a member, you'll get member discount and get delivery to you address (unlike if you're joining the spree)
5. Share your membership codes with your friend and family so you can get rewards too.

If you're interested to purchase from iHerb and if you're a first-time iHerb shoppers use this code: QAJ145 and you will save up to $10 on your first order!

Free shipping to Singapore on this month of August :)

Click here

Wonderpets themed birthday

2015-03-31T17:38:00.002+08:00

Hungrybaby loves the Wonderpets so much, it is a show from nic jr about pets who rescue baby animals in trouble, and encouraging healthy eating habit too. It was mentioned on my last post too, about our favorite video review.

It was hard to find Wonderpets themed party favors in Singapore.And here's my attempt at making DIY themed birthday party.We had 2 small parties at home with neighbor kiddos, and with Sunday school friends, of course I re-use the same decoration for the second party :)

The theme was Wonderpets: environmentally friendly-health conscious-animal conscious party, with kraft paper color scheme. Lol!

Wonderpets party at home

Fly boats jelly :) recipe is adaptation from here, but I use the orange's juice, no waste!

Simple birthday coco jelly with schoolhouse and Linny, Tuck, Mingming decoration in kraft paper

Hungrybaby's helping in making the pizza

Wonderpets books from the library for props

Wonderpets bao/steam bun

Linny the guinea pig, Turle Tuck, Mingming duckling, and Wonderpets logo steam bun

It's my first time in making bao! It is hungrybaby favourite snack, last time there was a very nice bao seller near my house at Commonwealth Market. After they moved, I wanted to try to learn how to make this healthy steam snack. At the first attempt, I used ready mixed bao from Phoon Huat and worked well. The second time I tried this recipe that took 3 days to make the dough, aaand... failed.. the dough was not rising, although it was still edible and hungrybaby still enjoy eating them :D

Linny is chocolate filled bao (I took the guinea pig shape from here and choco filling from here), Tuck with Kaya filling, and Mingming is filled with gogo chicken sausage. I made my own natural coloring :
- Yellow: from turmeric,
- Brown: from Ghirardeli cocoa powder
- Red/pink: from beetroot juice,
- Blue: I use Wilton color (no choice) :D

Unsuccesful trial steam bun using cupcake cup

Other view of the snack table

e-invitation

Simple celebration at Sunday School

Another jelly birthday cake, unfortunately there's no detail pic. It's the Wonderpets Schoolhouse lawn with a lake of fishes beside it. The round shape was also with fishes inside

Recycled kraft paper bags with dog bones for the goodies

Wooden (recycled) customize puzzle with hungrybaby's pic on it :)
And the rest of the goodies (all with animal theme)

Sudoku puzzles for bigger kids - sorry for terrible pic!

On the animal sticker bag, I put a message how to help animals in Singapore

Overall I am quite satisfied with this DIY theme, since hungrybaby was very happy too :,)

Supplies:
- Kraft paper for birthday bunting, Schoolhouse, Jelly flyboat flag, and jelly birthday cake deco : Popular
- Recycled Kraft paper bag : Yogyakarta, Indonesia
- Recycled Wooden Puzzle : Semarang, Indonesia
- Kraft sticker paper : Etsy Sg
- Snacks: Indonesia, iherb.com, warehouse club
- Baking supplies : fairprice, Phoon huat
- Foam Animal Sticker(easypeasy), Fabric, Cupcake Stand : Spotlight
- Schoolhouse, Sudoku, Wooden puzzle free printables : http://www.nickjr.com/wonder-pets/

Ps: This was her 2nd birthday theme "Shaun the sheep"

So happy to see Bitzer & Shaun

And after that, at end of 2014, the Aardman studio that create Shaun & Timmy came to Singapore.. yay! Hungrybaby was super delighted to meet them and did clay workshop too.

Photo with Timmy

With Mr. Jim from Aardman Studio

Hopefully soon the Wonderpets will come to Singapore too! Hee hee

^.^

{Video Review} Signing Time and other favorite toddler shows

2014-10-10T08:40:00.000+08:00

I used to be an anti-TV parent,

At about the age of 9 mos to 3 yo, baby's brain is rapidly developing more than any times in human life (here is a very good explanation) and there are lots of research that shows negative effects of screen time on young children :
- here a study from urbanchildinstitute,
- here from kidshealthorg,
- and here from PBS the broadcaster side, they even give warnings

But (so fast for the but.. heehee) .. as the baby grown, my schedule also grown, and TV was one of a great help when I needed to cook, take a shower, eat peacefully or doing some urgent work of my small online biz or Sunday School tasks.

Still, we are very selective about which shows that hungrybaby can watch, screen time (1 hour per day) and allowing her to watch TV when she turned 1. Up to now, we don't watch commercial and cable TV, and toddlerhood runs so fast, so we adults decided no to watch TV unless baby is sleeping.

And from the selection, this is our toddler's fave show:

Yes... its : Signing time! <3

Signing time is teaching babies& kids how to use American Sign Language (ASL) through easy to follow songs, interesting animation, and lovely characters (Leah -a hearing impaired girl, Rachel- Leah's mommy and creator of Signing time, and Alex- Leah's cousin) . From their official website, here are the advantages of teaching baby to sign, and here are our version of why we love it:

- Help to communicate and gave confidence

I started to sign to her long before i met Signing time. When she's round 6 mos old, i read books about baby sign language, and tried to sign milk, mama, and more. By the time she's 9 months, she can sign milk! I was totally amazed. But then that were her few vocab. When I started to borrow the videos at the library, her signing increasingly added since, she knows animal, colors, word around the house, transportation, etc

If compared to her same age friends, hungrybaby was a bit late in talking. Signing helped her to communicate confidently. We are using Bahasa Indonesia as daily language, and she started using English at the playgroup, it also helps because either Bahasa or English, the sign is the same.

I use it if she runs away too far, I called her name and sign "wait". Or when she's started to whine or cried if she wants something instantly, I sign "wait", it's easier to sign than to talk if we are in an emotional situation :)

- Bonding

We, mama, papa, baby love to watch and learn it together. It's like our secret language. Even her grandpa approved, by only watching a couple of times, he can sign together with baby.

- Interactive learning

Even though it's a TV show, it doesn't stop hungrybaby to jump, sing, dance and off course to sign. Through a brief examination, her dominant intelligences are bodyly/kinesthetic and musical/rythmic intelligence, maybe that's why she learns quickly through the videos.

Look how jumpy she is

- Duration

For 1 series, the video duration is about 23 minutes, just nice for one sit screen time, then she can continue with other activity, and if she wants, she can watch other videos later that day.

Now hungrybaby's started talking and still love to sign, if we continue to use it, hopefully we can use it to communicate with the hearing impaired in the future too. (Links to Signing time web and their youtube channel.)

And here are some other series that she loves to watch too:

1. Wonder pet

What's gonna work..team work

This series is also about singing, singing and a bit dancing :). And off course like other toddlers, baby likes animals, and now she started to like pretend play, she plays saving animal in trouble and ask me to help too.. team work!

2. Shaun the sheep

Ooh life's a treat with Shaun the Sheep

When we are outside the house, we are not too strict about screen time, she can watch TV at her friends or relative's house. On a staycation at her cousin's, she was introduced to Shaun the Sheep, a silent clay stop motion series, and she love it since, thanks to all the farm animals and catchy theme song. For 2nd birthday I made her Shaun the Sheep bday theme.

3. Monkey see monkey do

Another interactive TV show, she won't sit still, will jump, dance, and acting like the animals following the monkey's cue.

4. Pingu

She laughed at this cheeky and nosy pinguin.

Another silent clay stop motion, she loves these, maybe as she is getting older, she will like stories with more dialogue.

5. Sukey's Circle

At the public library, there are extensive baby interactive video collection, but this one is quite special, we borrowed multiple times (there are only 2 series of these) since she turned 1. Simple gymnastic movement and easy to follow songs that me and baby can do at home. Even when we were not watching, we still love to play those circle time bonding activities.

6. Elmo Singing with the Stars

Hungrybaby does not really interested in Sesame Street, only some of Elmo's world and this video that we repeatedly borrow. She could not even talk yet, but could sing "No Mo.. No Mo" referring to adaptation of I'm yours "I wont stay inside... no more, no more" (Outdoors by Jason Mraz). I was in tears :')

7. Aku anak berprestasi

One of Bahasa Indonesia video that we could find at the library. This DVD contains popular Indonesian songs from my childhood, really enjoy watching this with baby, she loves the song too.

8. Cedarmont kids 100 singalong bible songs for kids

Hungrybaby joining Sunday School since she's 6 months old. Some of the songs are familiar and she loves to watch and follow kakak or "bigger kids" who sings in this video.

9. Shout praises! Kids ultimate praise party

This one is mommy's personal favorite, I am not sure why, but she won't last until the 4th song, and instantly asleep on the couch. It's odd, but i think it's a good thing to have a praise song as a lullaby *wink.

All of the videos mentioned above can be borrowed from the public library, if you click each link it will direct you to the library directory (except for number 3, 8, and 9 are personal collection)

Does your toddler likes the shows above? And what's your toddler's favorite?

^.^

Our June 2014 holiday outings in Singapore

2014-06-23T18:30:00.000+08:00

Children's Season and Play@National Museum of Singapore

93 Stamford Road S(178897)
Tel:(+65) 6332 3659 / (+65) 6332 5642

For children aged 3 to 7 years old

10-6pm daily (last entry 5.30)

Masak Masak: My Childhood
24 May 2014 – 3 August 2014
Free admission

*Outdoor playground opens only on the weekends

PLAY@National Museum of Singapore
Opens 24 May 2014
Free admission

Hungrybaby and friends was having a wonderful time visiting the National Museum.

Excited munchkin

Excited mummies

Level 1 Art and Craft

Level 1 Childhood games

Level 3 Play@NMS

Tent Movie Screening

The Live Turtle & Tortoise Museum

1 Chinese Garden Road SG 619795

7 days a week, 9-6
Admission $5 for adults, $3 for children

@ Chinese Garden MRT

Feeding the fish and turtle at the lake (free admission)

Inside the museum, thousands of turtles souvenir from all over the word.. sorry for the blur pic!

Inside the Live turtle museum

Soooo happy to see the turtles!

Once Upon a Time in Asia: The Story Tree
An Interactive Exhibition for Children and the Young at Heart31 May to 2 Nov 2014, 10am-5pmAsian Civilisations MuseumFree admission

Image is from todayonline.com

We wanted to visit this very interesting exhibition, unfortunately, we came too late. We thought that the opening time is the same with the museum's (until 7pm). So we roamed around the free exhibition part (level 2), and played at the front lawn.

We'll come back again for sure!

Play date at Bishan Park

We played around the sand playground (1). Image is from here

Blowing bubbles

Rockin' with the rocks :))

Storytelling with PLAYMOBIL

Date: 31 May - 29 June 2014
Time: 11am - 7pm
Venue: Palawan Beach, Sentosa

Playmobil store

Hands on playmobil toys for the first time :))

Storytelling comes alive show (airconditioned.. yay!)

Storytelling video

Storytelling program line up

The sand pit

Off course, a good day always ended with a splash :)

Holiday Activities at home

Next to visit on this last week of holiday :

- Kids stop at The science centre

- Back to Asian Civilisations Museum

- Garden by the Bay Children's Playground

- Singapore Maritime Museum

err.. wait?! To little time to much to do haha...well I'll update more when the holiday has ended...in the mean time... enjoy the rest of the holiday to all schoolies :)

☁ Jurong Regional Library - Impressive Children Section

2014-04-30T09:07:00.000+08:00

Image is from here

Yesterday, was not our first visit to the library, but it was the first time we notice how special the children section is. I assume because previously we visited on weekends, so the section that located on Basement 1 level is a bit cramped, and we decided to spend time at young people area (level 4), which had a free live music, which hungrybaby enjoyed as well.

Free music, free flow drink ^^ (this was taken when hungrybaby 1 y 4 m, now she is 2! weep weep)

Although the place is a bit far from our place, we went to this library because it has the book that I want to borrow - Raising your Spirited Child - which located in the Family section, also at Basement 1.. then we noticed the Early literacy section, and me & hungrybaby both were very excited!

Cozy reading lounge ^^

Number and shape wall-tracing

White/black board easel activity

Interactive e-learning, and some color sorting basket (one of the Montessori activity)

Another reading area that became climbing area >0<

Another tracing, beads, clock, magnet wall activities

Poetry section which has backstage area where children can try-out customes for role-play

We spent a good 2 hours here, and we were very happy because the staffs are very nice, unlike the children section at the Central library that are very strict. At Central library the tree house design is also very nice and attractive, but children must behave, no playing, jumping or making noises. Here, because it's an early reader place, I think that's why children/toddler are allowed to be...children ^^ (curious, excited, jumping happily, exploring)

And... the library visit ended with a splash activity across the street (at Westgate mall free children playground).

P.S: Today's expenses : Zero

Hungrybaby's Montessori inspired daily activities(18 months old)

2013-11-04T16:30:00.000+08:00

Some simple Montessori inspired..or just simply fun daily activities :

- Pouring activities (Practical Life for Toddlers and Sensory Training)

Pouring/Scooping pasta using spoon between 2 cups

Distributing the cornflakes cereal to an ice cube tray

Macaroni pouring

Pouring, scooping and sensory exploration using "sandbox" (we're using instant muesli)

Pouring, scooping and sensory exploration using water ball sensory table

Putting back the waterball to the bottle (and pouring it back)

- Wooden/laundry peg activities:

Result : Taking off the wooden pegs was easy, but she's not able to put them on again

This is an activity that she invented by herself :)

When I was doing the laundry, she played around and the pegs caught her eye

- Other practical & sensory activities

Pulling and pushing in chenile to a small hole

Putting in/out straws to a container

Sweeping using small broom

This is what happened if she's using the normal size broom,

showing off and bring it all the way to the side of the street :)

Inserting coins to a money bank

Cutting a bread using cookie cutter

Playing..or biting wooden puzzle :)

Watering the plants

- Art Activities

Finger painting

Result: She's not comfortable yet to have stains on her palms, so she was using a sponge brush

DIY finger painting recipe:

2 cups of corn flour/ starch

1 cup of cold water

4.5 cups of boiling water

Liquid food colouring

Playing with play doh

Result: it is not an art activity yet, since she likes to poke and roll the dough only, it is considered sensorial activity :)

Note: Adult supervision needed for all of the activities :)

- Music Activities :

Playing piano

Playing maracas

Playing guitar

Morning dance routine

Nursery songs

- Outdoor/nature play: Nature is the best and subtlest teacher, that's why we go outside around our house or to a playground, twice a day, 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon. We really enjoy this walks. Sometimes we do an evening stroll if hungrydaddy can go out from work early :')

Observing nature around the house

Pushing cart

Nature walks

And her favourite : Water play

- Language Activities: We read to her a bible story every night before we go to bed

Result : She is not really focused with the book yet, moving around and then back to the book, but excited for closing prayer time.

- Starting a Montessori inspired home in a one bedroom apartment

- Where to buy affordable Montessori materials in Singapore (part I)

- Where to buy affordable Montessori materials in Singapore (part II - ELC sale)

Where to buy affordable Montessori Materials in Singapore part II (ELC Sale)

2013-10-05T08:30:00.001+08:00

11. ELC (Early Learning Centre) Sale

I went to their clearance and renovation sale at the United Square Novena, on the first and second day ;)
On the first day, the queue was long, I arrived at 11am and Q for 40 minutes. But it was worth it. Because the toys was sold out quickly. (Sorry for the bad pics on this post)

This is only 1/4 of the queue

The venue is not overcrowded because the number of visitor was controlled

Some of the toys that I manage to take their picture:

Activity Pack $15 (Lacing, Clock, Shoe lace, Sorting and Matching Activity)

Rhythm Band $15 (for Musical Activity)

Roller $15 (For outdoor play)

Nurse, Doctor and Kids Costume $10-$15 (for play pretend)

Saxophone $15 (for Musical Activity)

Wooden Noah Ark $20 UP$69

Wooden Rail $5

(For sensory and fine motoric activity)

Some other toys:

Create and Play $45

Magnetic Play Centre $25

CD Player+2 Mic $35

Light it up Microphone (Record feature) $20

Tips:
1. We cannot bring stroller/pram inside, so bring your carrier, or better come with friends if you bring the kids, so can take turn to q or take care the kids.
2. Like any other warehouse sale, prepare some cash, since the cashier for cash payment need no Q
3. This is an annual event. If you want to come on the first day, come at lunchtime, the crowd is lesser.

^^

Related posts:
Where to buy affordable Montessori materials in Singapore (part I)
Starting a Montessori inspired home in a one bedroom apartment
Montessori inspired daily activity (for 18 months old)

Where to buy affordable Montessori materials in Singapore (part I)

2013-09-25T03:00:00.000+08:00

As mentioned earlier in my last post, Montessori learning for babies and toddler is activities that support development of physical skills and sensory experience. That includes:
- heuristic play,
- song, rhymes, stories and books,
- nature play (play outside)
- simple puzzles and manipulative toys
- early practical and sensorial activities, development of vocabularies are available to the older toddlers.

The use of natural material (wood, weaves, fabric) is encouraged to create a calm play environment. I personally not against plastic toys, but now I try limit the use and exposure.

Here is a list of places in Singapore where you can buy things for your Montessori at home materials:

1. Daiso

Wooden cutlery

Natural Baskets, cheaper option than Ikea, but only small to medium sizes

Wooden Blocks, ball, boards

I did a spontaneous visit to Daiso to check out are there any $2 items I can use for Montessori at home here? Surprisingly, Daiso have array of natural products to choose. From toys, wooden blocks to natural material baskets. Afterwards, I never missed a chance to visit them, when I happened to go to the malls that have Daiso outlet (Plaza Singapura, Vivo City, Ion Orchard, IMM)

Things I bought here :

Baskets and Wooden Trays for organizing the toys at hungrybaby's shelf

Wooden cutlery, blocks, peg, and wooden toys. Wiggle eye for sensory table activity.

Metal tin (it is actually an oil container), can be use for this chenille sensory activity. Chenille is from Spotlight

The oil tin also used for wooden peg activity (fine motoric activity)

Small broom for practical life skill (Daiso also have small mop, bucket, etc)

Warning: When you buy natural basket, there is a chance that your toddler allergic to it. It happened to hungrybaby, she is allergic to the willow basket, rashes appeared on her limb, which had direct contact to the basket, it lasted for 3 days :(
Daiso (Plaza Singapura)

68 Orchard Road
#05-01/02/03 Plaza Singapura S238839
Daiso (Vivocity)

1 Harbourfront Walk
#03-06 Vivocity S098585
Daiso (IMM)

2 Jurong East Street 21
#03-50 IMM S609601
Daiso (ION Orchard)

2 Orchard Turn
#B4-47 ION Orchard S238801

2. Ikea

Off course, organizers and boxes are the main items that I looked for here at Ikea, it really helps me to optimize my storage at living and laundry area, so I can give more space to hungrybaby's play area (See my last post Starting Montessori inspired home in a one bedroom apartment). Their plastic boxes even cheaper than mama shop.

I bought 2 pax of these

7 piece of this <3

I also bought the bead roller coaster, since the price is lowered

IKEA Alexandra
317 Alexandra Road,
Singapore 159965

IKEA Tampines
60 Tampines North Drive 2,
Singapore 528764

Tips : Check out their website www.ikea.com.sg for listing your shopping items and checking the item availability before you go to the store.

3. Enrighten.com
This web store sold real Montessori materials, and other cheaper option for educational toys.

Things I bought :

Wooden Apple and Worm Lacing $7.9, hungrybaby loves this so much

Crystal water beads $2 for 2 packet, she loves to scoop and pour it in her sensory water table

$1 Fruit Counter and $2 Tangram, I save them for later

4. Melissa and Doug at Mothercare Harbourfront

I've been a fan of this brand before I read about Montessori, I just love wooden toys. I put one on my bag to entertain hungrybaby when we are commuting. I never missed when they are on sale. On second thought, I only buy them when they are on sale ;)

All bought in 50% price <3 $4-10

Or buy one get one program ;) $5-8

Mothercare (HarbourFront Centre)
1 Maritime Square #03-07
Singapore 099253
Tel: 6513 3243

5. Spotlight

For diy art and sensory activities, we can go to this craft store, better wait for their regular sale period.

$2.50 Felt(3 colors) and $3.90 Chenille for art & sensory activities

Spotlight Plaza Singapura
Level 5, 68 Orchard Road (Located at the Dhoby Ghaut MRT),
Singapore, SG 0000
(65) 6733 9808

6. Qoo10.sg

As a regular at qoo10 I haven't bought anything for Montessori materials here, but they do have interesting wooden toy and sold Montessori set at a fraction price.

Montessori Set

Wooden toys

7. Littlecozyio.com

This web store has good quality wooden and educational toys, from puzzle to kitchen set, basic builder and bead maze.

Littlecozyio.com toys

I haven't bought anything for myself here, but bought 2 playsets for gift. Their price is a bit high, but it is good quality and using safe paints. And their sale offer, it's worth to look for.

8. Mimbits
This facebook base olshop is actually a beauty and skin care store. But they can help to source for things that are sold in the USA. I bought the rolled up piano here.

$29 Rolled up piano for music area, good for home with small space

For Montessori materials that are use in the classrooms :

9. Bambini Montessori
This is the manufacturer and exporter of a wide range of quality Montessori materials/equipment. Their price is in USD and excluding the shipping charges.

http://www.bambini-montessori.com

We can also use this website for diy inspiration projects.

10. Public Library
You can find some Montessori related books at the public library, here are some of them (but unfortunately, it is not available at all library branches):

- Teaching Montessori in the home : the pre-school years / Elizabeth G. Hainstock ; foreword by Lee Havis./English 371.392 HAI

- Montessori at home : a complete guide to teaching your preschooler at home using the Montessori method / Heidi Anne Spietz./English 649.68 SPI -[FAM]

PARENT/CHILD

- Montessori untuk prasekolah / Elizabeth G. Hainstock./Malay 371.392 HAI

- Large Collection for toddler story books

- Art and craft books

This is the list so far, hope I can find other lobang...

Note:

- All price is in SGD, bought between July-September 2013

- Montessori inspired daily activity (for 18 months old)

Starting a Montessori inspired home in a one bedroom apartment

2013-09-20T01:21:00.002+08:00

Before hungrybaby entering the toddlerhood (whoa.. time flies! She's almost 18 months now-my last post was when she was 9 months old!) I read many references about Charlotte Mason for her nature play, sensory activities and that leads me to Montessori books too. As an introduction, the Montessori Program focuses on five areas:

Practical Life for Toddlers
Sensory Training
Language
Art
Music

Montessori learning for babies and toddler, from the book "Montessori early years curriculum"

And a good environment for a toddler to develop (from the mind to the social to the physical) according to Montessori is a prepared environment which includes :

Aesthetically pleasing/beauty,
Order (Everything has its place, group of type of toys, such as: music, practical life, etc)
Reality (Use of natural materials and a calm play environment)
Simplicity (An excellent background for learning),
Accessibility (Encourage independence, children can easily get and return the materials, furniture is child size, and materials are rotated in small Montessori set-ups)

It's a turning point for me when I read about it. This was hungrybaby's toy & book shelves looked like :

Is it :
- Aesthetically pleasing? Don't think so
- Have order? No
Also the reality, simplicity and accessibility aspects, I think all answer are No.

At first, I was hesitate to set up a Montessori inspired home, because when I searched on the internet, the results were :

Image is from here

I mean.. look at those play rooms, they are gigantic, almost as big as my whole house ^0^

I live in a one bedroom apartment (in Singapore is popular with the term 2 Room apartment), with area approx. 42 m2, and I rent it. Other than space constraint, I also have "sense of belonging issue" to the place I stayed now, rental fee is annually rising up, and we must prepare to look for affordable place at times. The third issue is I accustomed with "hoarding" habit, it runs in the family, we don't throw out things. The last issue was the budget; the trays, natural baskets, wooden toys and materials are seem overwhelming.

Luckily, I came across these images too, which convinced me that the Montessori ideas is doable :

Image is from here

As we can see, big play room is not a must, and the prepared environment can be incorporated with other area such as living room, dining room, or bedroom. And for the materials, we can look for lobang, cheaper alternatives here in Singapore, or diy alternatives (check out livingmontessorinow )

Another book I read was Toddler on the move which says "One of the greatest gift you can give to your toddler is undivided attention". How can I give undivided attention if I spent my time in never ending cleaning, and always in the battle of cleaning up messy toys.

Then I realized, why most of the time the house is messy:

- We have too many stuff

- No designated play area, so the toys are spreading everywhere in the house, and I am not able start the habit of clean up the toys after playing, since it is confusing even for me.

So I did a revolutionary act :
- Sorting unused items: the hardest part was newborn things that I kept. It is better to donate them than wait for baby brother/sister which we're not in the planning yet. Also for my clothes, which I am not sure when I will be able to wear them again, since it's too small, and lots of books we need to clear to give space for hungrybaby's books.
- Furniture arrangement : we move one of our book shelf to make space for hungrybaby's space in the living room and maximize the storage at our kitchen/laundry area.
- Storage arrangement : I bought boxes and containers, one the key of organizing is to make place for everything, and categorizing them, especially the daily stuff needed space that is easy to reach.

And voila... hungrybaby now have her play area with a Montessori touch :)

The shelf is located at our living/dining room

Top row : Corn basket for legos, books, and pillow boxes for language and sensory area

Middle : Mirror, wooden tray 1: rolled up piano, and wooden maracas, for music area. Wooden tray2: lacing apple and a tin with wooden pegs inside for practical life skill
Below : a box with hat, apron, backpack for role play and practical life skill. And lacing beads for sensory and fine motor skill.

Now she can easily access her toys

I put aside all her other toys in container boxes, and organizing them for easy rotation.

She also has a floor table as a working/dining table and using her booster seat for the chair.

Well, this is just the beginning for her exploration in a prepared environment. And as for me, to build a new habit to keep the house in shape.

- Where to buy affordable Montessori materials in Singapore
- Montessori inspired daily activity (for 18 months old)

❤ What kind of "mother image" that I want to be remembered...

2012-12-22T08:00:00.000+08:00

Confession time:

Previously this blog intended to be a weekly updated blog, but right after my baby's schedule became more predictable (about 4 months old), I started to resume with my long time (delayed) dream project <3<3<3 ... Since this project involved with other parties and needed waiting time to do some R&D, I also tried to set up an online shop (typical SAHM I say? Hmmm), and even agreed to join my long time dear friend to open another home bussines ...

This is why this blog was idle for a quite some time (last post was two months ago ::cough::), while there was 21 draft posts that haven't been finished, and lots of new ideas crossed my mind too.

Today, December 22nd is celebrated as Hari Ibu or "Mother's Day" in Indonesia (and we don't have father's day btw), and this post is a bit mother's day spirit...

Lately I've been wondering what will my child's (or children :/?) memory about her mother on her childhood?

Since I've been busy lately, I am afraid that her memory about me will be like this :

Word of the day is : Wait .... :'(

or this :

Whatsapp done, e-mail done, oh no... my tweet that linked to my facebook that link to my instagram that linked to path.. wait, where was I...??

Since I like sewing, is this what I want?

Mom : Humm hum humm.. la ti da..
Daughter : Another white dress??

Uhhm, not really... How about this?

Me love house chores ... (Love this painting so much btw : www.turnbacktogod.com)

Actually, deep down... I wanted to be remembered as a loving mother, regardless any work I've done <3 <3

The hair kinda rocks too :D

This post, was actually inspired by a quote from Ibu Ainun Habibie (late wife of former Indonesian President) :

(Translated)

"Why didn't I work? Was I a doctor? Indeed. And the opportunity for me to work is broad open. But my thinking was : What was money or self achievement for if in the end would be given to a high salaried child taker with the risk we loose our bonding with our own child? Wouldn't have the time to hold him, or teach him his character? My child will loose a mother.

Is it appropriate to a child to loose both of his parent, or parents loose their own children, with the additional income and self satisfaction? That's why I decided to live modestly. For three and a half year we, three of us did.

Don't let your children to be solely with their caretaker.

What about the help from their grandparents?

It is enough to burden our parents who took care of us from birth until we have our own family. When will we give them the chance for them to fully devote in their golden time.

I hope this can be a motivator and answer for mothers with graduate certificate and commit their time for family and children, so their household is strongly put together and children can grow with care, not only for academic measure, but also for religion teaching, because it is the true role of a parent."

I am a full time house wife, but to be honest, right now I am too occupied with my mobile phone and PC.

It is not easy, I am already used to my mobile phone stick with me all the time, I am okay not to watch TV, but not to be left out from the social media hype, or not connected to the internet for more than one hour. Sometimes I use this as an excuse that I depend on it to do my works (::eyes rolled::)

Well, we can say that this is for the New Year's resolution or what not, I want to be smart in using my time, not to be occupied with something that's not worth spent than to have quality time with my baby.

Wish me good luck, and I wish you (mothers) Selamat hari Ibu!

My loving mom and me (circa 92's)

^^

PS :

Ibu Ainun Habibie's quote about full time housewife was circulated recently on Facebook, that inspires this post.

For a SAHM like me (Stay At Home Mom - a parenting term) it is very heartwarming, but it doesn't mean Working Mothers is not "a mother enough", not all family are the same, each have their own burden and struggle.

Maybe for the last decade a full time house wife has been underestimated, but it doesn't mean that now it's the time for working mom's turn to be judged.
I personally think if a mother wants the best for her child, she will do everything : equipping herself, squeeze her brain 180 degrees (putar otak), juggling with the schedule, even sacrifice everything that can be sacrificed, SAHM or not.

Totally agree with the statement : a mother's calling to bring her child to God.. Using a helper or the help from grandparents, doesn't mean shifting this calling to them, that would be a wishful thinking.

☁ Baby's First Skills - Miriam Stoppard {Book review}

2012-10-22T17:21:00.000+08:00

image is from nlb.gov.sg

Title : Baby's First Skills - Miriam Stoppard
It was borrowed from Queenstown Public Library

Dr Mirriam Stoppart is using the "golden hour" method which means in just an hour a day you can help our baby develop during the first year. The golden hour is divided into 5 areas : friendlines, minds hand, talking, and moving.

This book also gives many ideas about the activities that learned through play and bonding time, completed with the materials and informative pictures. The activities also divided according to the age group. Inside the book sample :

Image is from http://www.dk.co.uk

One of the books that can be helpful for mommies that looking for ideas for activities at home with our baby, that shows full affection. Another interesting book from the author is "Teach your Child".

❤ Breastfeeding Diary

2012-10-15T08:00:00.000+08:00

I started a breastfeeding journal since day 1 using Philips Avent's Baby Feeding Diary book that I got for free from the Prenatal Class.

The Avent free diary's template

But after a few days using the diary, I created a diy-journal which I thought it will be easier and simpler way to record the baby daily schedule, not only for feeding, but also stool, and sleeping pattern.

Diy-journal template

How to use it:

Pink color : Feeding time with approx. time (15 mins or 30 mins) - I used a ruler to create the lines

S/A : Sleep/Awake or play in between feeds

Stool : Mark the time of pass motion

You can also add bath, pumping time, etc.

The actual journal result : untidy, black & white,
and it is feeding by demand, no exact time before baby is 4 months old,
but still works perfectly fine for me :D

Breastfeeding diary highlight :

❤ First day

I am so blessed I have the chance to nurse my baby immediately after she'd cleaned. It was a very precious moment to see a tiny mouth slowly sucks and then right away drank like there's no tomorrow. (´ε｀ )♡

❤ Fourth day

After brought home for 2 days, baby's back to the hospital due to jaundice. Because of my milk supply haven't built up and I have nipple sore problem, baby was given formula as addition of the breast milk. I was with her at the hospital to do pumping and nursing, at night time, I went back home. It was a very hard time to be separated with my new born baby, I almost cried all the time.

❤ Tenth day

After 2 days admitted to the hospital, baby's bilirubin count was stabilized, and able to went back home. Due to the situation, I didn't give attention to my own body. When I was 6 months pregnant, I started to feel itchy on my skin, and rashes appeared, the gynae said it was hormonal and quite common for pregnant women. On the first day after delivery, the rashes re-appeared and on the 10 tenth day after delivery, there were a lot of blisters appeared on my lower limb. The doctor suspected it was gestational pemphigoid, a rare skin disease cause by pregnancy hormones. I was given a steroid medicine, therefore I must stop breastfeeding :((

❤ The Longest 15 days

Just after I got the hang of sore nipple, waking up every 2 to 3 hours at night time, I must stop breastfeeding, I felt very-very sad, but one of the advice that gave encouragement was from the pediatrician, that a mommy to be able to take care the baby is to be healthy first. For 15 days I wasn't able to nurse, I pumped (and discarded) the breast milk so I could still maintain my milk supply and avoided breast engorgement.

❤ Day 28-37

The rendered part is for formula (bottled) feeding

This was the transition days when I mixed the breast milk and formula. As we can see on the record, the amount of formula was lesser and lesser every day. I am very grateful too that the baby was easily adjusting from the breast to bottled feeding.

❤ Day 39 to 81 ( 1 month + to almost 3 months old)

Successfully total breastfeeding.

❤ The longest 14 hours

"Milk Marathon"

Started from the 44th day her feeding is like almost non-stop. It is like what hungrypapa called "milk-marathon". In the morning she will nurse from 8am to 3pm (7hrs), at night she will starts at 6pm to 11pm (5hrs), after one hour nursing, resting only 15 minutes in between.

14 hours of nursing .. hungrybaby!

It was exhausting.. Even there's one time she wanted to fed from 9am to 11pm non-stop (14 hrs).

This quote was my expectation in feeding a newborn

What I had in mind was lesson from Prenatal-Childbirth Class that a newborn feeds about 20-30 minutes every 3 to 4 hourly. Even this free journal's quote said so. Ok, I was prepared to do that, but nursing more than half day non stopped?

I've read about cluster feeding, but hungrybaby seemed to took longer nursing hours.

Was it growth spurts when it last for weeks? Some mothers said that a baby girl likes to drink little by little. One opinion that made me feel discouraged was my baby is spoiled and wanted to use the nipple as a dummy/pacifier.

But hungrybaby shows the sign that she is hungry, she's rooting, and cries the hungry cry.

My hunch was my milk supply is not built yet, and also because I am using one side of breast only. The reason is...

❤ Flash back to year 2010

Two years back when I had a breast mastectomy : removal of all the milk duct in the right breast, since they found early stage cancerous cells called carcinoma.

Again, I am so blessed that not only I am totally recovered from the operation without drugs, chemotherapy, or radiation treatments, but also because I was given the chance to breastfeed after all that I've been through.

I've searched the internet for fellow breast cancer striver with keywords "breastfeeding" and "breast cancer". The result was articles about the benefit of breastfeeding in preventing breast cancer. Maybe because breast cancer mostly diagnosed at the age of 45 to 55, I am walking the silent road here.

Then I put other keywords "one side only breastfeeding", there are result for mothers who experienced this too ... some with inverted nipple or because the baby prefers one breast only. So in the breastfeeding context, I am not alone.

Thanks to my lactation consultant at Mt. Alvernia hospital who was encouraged me to try total breastfeeding although with this condition. If the baby shows the sign of dehydration (pink colored urine, sunken fontanels, etc) then I can give formula supplement.

She also encouraged me to share my experience to other mothers, she said if you can do total breastfeed with one side only, then fortunate mothers with both breast should not have reason to say they can't.

❤ Day 81 - to 4th months

Baby was not gaining weight, her PD was very concerned and asked me whether I am willing to add some formula. Baby's needs was increasing as she's growing, and nursing for long hours was tiring both for baby and mommy. I agreed to do so. His advice was to start with breastfeeding for 15 minutes then top up with formula (60ml-90ml).

Started with 15 minutes breastfeeding then top up with formula, about 30-90ml

❤ 4th - 6th months

Her feeding schedule was more regular and predictable. She was also able to sleep through the night ヽ(´ー`)ﾉ

Her feeding was 3-4 hourly.

❤ Sixths months onwards (Solid food introduction)

She has breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack time

After introduced to solid food, this past 3 weeks, hungrybaby's milk intake was became lesser, but I still nurse her in between feeding times.

❤ Conclusion :

Breast feeding is the best and natural way to feed our baby, but it is not always easy. My expectation was to give total breastfeeding, but due to my health history, I am not able to do so. I used to feel that I was not a "mother enough", but it was all feeling and emotion, no use to puddled in a miserable situation. The rational way was to give what's best to our baby, and there are other ways than total breastfeeding.

Here are some links to interesting articles about the truth behind breastfeeding, for mothers who have difficulties, but sometimes mainstream media or other successful mothers in breastfeeding is not giving encouragement, but adding guilty for not being a "mother enough":

- Breastfeeding is intuitive and easy? No!

Mentioned in the article that some mothers thought that breastfeeding is cheap, the fact is not. I agree with the articles that I spent quite some amount of money for breast pump, storing bottles and other equipments, comfy nursing chair (this one I got for free from a dear friend :P), breastfeeding pillow, and nursing tea, nursing wear, baby sling and don't forget the daily nutritious and healthy food intake.

- Breastfeeding: natural, but not necessarily easy

The ups and downs, roller coaster ride of breastfeeding

I am expecting to breastfeed my baby until 1 year old. I hope my milk supply will continue flowing :)

Phew! This is a long post indeed.

^.^

PS : A4 format of DIY breastfeeding diary

☁ The Fatherstyle Advantage {Book Review}

2012-10-09T01:17:00.000+08:00

Complete title : The Fatherstyle Advantage: Surefire Techniques Every Parent Can Use to Raise Confident and Caring Kids, Kevin O'Shea , James Windell
It was borrowed from Queenstown Public Library

I searched for parenting books that specifically intended for fathers. From the public library I found this book and some other interesting options such as:

1. I'm going to be a dad : now what? : everything you need to know about first-time fatherhood / by Craig Baird.

2. Show dad how : the new dad's guide to baby's first year / Shawn Bean. (Interesting comic guide)

3. 100 answers to 100 questions about being a great dad / Lila Empson, Rick Killian.
4. D is for dad / Michael Heatley

At the Antenatal/Childbirth class were mentioned about about the importance of fatherhood.

Some sad facts about fatherless homes (source) :

63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.

90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes – 32 times the average.

85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Center for Disease Control)

85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Fulton Co. Georgia, Texas Dept. of Correction)
71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father. [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services press release, Friday, March 26, 1999]

Back to this title, which encourage fathers to spend more time with their children. The authors are Harvard-educated attorney Kevin O'Shea left his practice to become a stay-at-home dad. James Windell is also a highly involved father, as well as being a juvenile court psychologist. They give advice through this book about fatherhood meaningful and enjoyable activities with children. They share about five parenting techniques that active fathers are actually better at than active mothers.

I only read the preface & hungrydaddy also didn't finish since for him the book is not engaging enough for him. Some points taken are father's parenting style is different than mother's, and different assumption can be source of argument. But each role is important and have different approaches, but since it is book for fathers, it emphasize what are positive qualities of men in contributing in parenting including a strong sense of play and exacting standards.

❤ Baby competition vs stage mom syndrome

2012-10-01T17:04:00.002+08:00

Yesterday was hungrybaby's first competition result.

We entered her in her first competition in her 6 months old of age. When she was 3.5 months old, she tried her first swim outside mommy's womb (she was swimming in there too, right?) ^^

Why we took her swimming? I read that it was a good activity for babies in strengthening and stimulating to improve their physical growth and mental development. And we got a voucher for swimming trial too ^o^, and surprisingly, hungrybaby loved it so much, she's moving very actively and didn't stop smiling.

Her first swim ^^ (and first"botak" haircut too)

Confidently saying hi to her "audience" :3

On her 4th swimming session, one of the carer at the centre offered me to enter my baby to "Baby can swim Contest", and guaranteed that hungrybaby would went trough to the final, since she was very active, could swim with legs in the back, and had connection with parents outside the pool, when we cheered her.

After gave some thoughts, we entered her to the contest. And the carer is right! She went trough the finals. Sorry, no pictures, we were too excited in cheering her, and forgot to took pictures!

So, as mentioned earlier, yesterday was the final day. Hungrybaby was asleep, and woken up just before the competition. She's not as active and cheerful as usual (╥_╥).

Her name on the list of finalists

Well, the result was, she didn't get any number, but got a consolation prize, not bad for a newbie. Although for us as a parent there's a bit of regret, not a slight effect for hungrybaby, after swimming and fully woke up, she's back to her cheerful self. Yes, we, the parent was the one with expectation.

Parents waited for the final's result

Her first won prize ^^v (image is from here)

I read about stage mom syndrome, parents who ambitiously entered their children to competitions, even since baby. We've heard about cutest photo contest, chubby baby contest, to toddler beauty pageant. Well, I don't want to go there, I hope :). Here's an article about stage mom syndrome (source):

There's a fine line between an encouraging parent who helps a child do his best, and a stage parent who doesn't know when to quit :

1. Understand that achievement doesn't always equal fulfillment. While it's momentarily exciting to win first place, there are countless adults in the world who have all the outward appearances of total success (wealth, power, fame, etc.) and are miserable. Helping our children understand that winning is great, but isn't everything, will help them maintain perspective on both success and failures now and in the future.

2. Learn to separate yourself from your child's experiences. Our children are on a constant roller coaster of fear, elation, anxiety and joy based upon whatever is happening in any given moment. Our job as parents is to keep two feet on the ground, and to provide level-headed wisdom and support—celebrating the successes and loving them through the disappointments. If we indulge every emotional urge we have, and if we get all bent out of shape about, say, who was chosen to pitch today's little league game, we're compromising our ability to parent effectively.

3. Give your kids balance. Just because your little girl has a knack for gymnastics, it doesn't mean she should spend 30 hours a week in the gym at age 6. Children—especially young children—need the opportunity to explore a variety of interests and develop a well-rounded sense of self. If a whole childhood is invested in one sport or activity, and that road comes to a sudden end due to injury or other factors, your child's identity may seem to have gone away with it. Resist the urge to go all out in one area until your child is old enough to understand what he or she will be giving up to pursue that passion.

4. Acknowledge that your interests and your child's interests may be very different. Just because you love tennis, it doesn't mean that your little girl does. And just because dad was the star quarterback, it doesn't naturally follow that junior will even want to play football. We, as parents, have had our turn. Our children deserve (within reason) to invest themselves in the things that bring them real joy. If you offer opportunities in your personal area of interest, but your child goes in a different direction—then you may just have to learn to love lacrosse.

5. Keep the focus on the life skills and character building that are derived from working hard and doing your best. If parents and children alike understand that these activities are about shaping kids attitudes and habits and—lest we forget—fun, the whole thing becomes less about the awards ceremony and more about the journey.

From point number 1, achievement is not the most important thing. Although this country's education system that's highly competitive, waiting for her in the future, we as a parent need to support & love her as she is.

Aaah, what a parent of 6 months old baby is talking about here?? It is still a long time to go, for the time being, I want to build bonding through fun activities & play times with dear baby! Yes, from point number 4, I do want to have activities that both me & baby can enjoy together. Come to think of it, I enjoy swimming, and I've spent some time swam together with baby previously :

^.^

❤ Baby friendly cosmetics {Notes from last post}

2012-09-24T16:41:00.000+08:00

After receiving some precious feedbacks, I split this note that was embedded on the previous post, Growing Green babies, as this week's post :)

Image is from here

Having a baby makes me think more to have a safer environment for my precious bundle of joy. Having a close contact 24/7 with baby while breastfeeding, playing, giving affection and other daily activities, made me question, am I, myself is a safe "environment" for her?

I found some chemically harm sources that might be dangerous for baby from the cosmetics I use, they are :

1. Nail polish :

I don't think I can live without it! (｡♥‿♥｡) ... I used to do my own nail art and regular visit to a nail salon (not in Singapore tho', in Indonesia this kind of services is 1/4 the price). On my pregnancy I used this as a substitute for a chemically based nail polish (thanks to my lovely cousin Sharon who bought this for me) :

Image is from sallyhansen.com

After gave birth, I realised I prepared my baby's milk, and food, so I tried other products which is water based and doesn't required nail polish remover/acetone such as Suncoat, Polish & Peel, Water-Based Nail Polish.

2. Lipstick

I've seen an episode in Dr Oz that shows shocking amount of wax or paraben that comes into our body through our lipstick. When we're eating or drinking, we swallowed some of our lipstick/gloss too. That's why I sourced for natural lip products that is safe to kiss my baby and safer for my body too! Alba Botanica TerraTint Lip balm is one of my favourite.

3. Hair gel/wax

This is for hungrypapa, I don't use this kind of product. We choose natural hair product since we often co-sleep with the baby. Giovanni L.A. Natural Styling Gel is the product that he uses now.

4. Creams, Body Lotion, Skin Care

I use products from Devita, Reviva Labs, Derma-e, Avalon Organics, they are natural organic products, very mild on my skin, even for facial sun block now I use hungrybaby's Sun Protective Lotion (Reviva Labs, Beach Baby, UVA & UVB)

5. Face base and powder
How about our many layers of "face paints" : serums, foundations, primers, concealers, face powders, blush on, etc . I imagine when my baby wants to kiss me (now she's just 6 months old, I imagine it will be delightful!), I don't want to hold back or pulling away. Some of good natural & organic brands are Bare Minerals, Physicians Formula, and Aubrey organics.

For more information do check out these articles about harmful chemical in lipstick, paraben, paraben and baby products, and acetone as nail polish remover.

At first I hesitated to use organic products because I thought it would cost a fortune, but it is not really true. Nowadays we can find many organic products that we can choose wisely to suit our budget. These companies is obviously environmentally conscious. So it is healthier for our body, mother earth, and safe for baby, everybody's happy! (@^▽^@)

If you're looking for natural organic, paraben free cosmetic & skin products in Singapore, you can find it here at Mimsbits.

Other posts about eco-conscious motherhood :

Growing Green Babies

Eco-nomical baby guide review

Cloth diaper diary

Diy-diaper change mat

^.^

☁ Growing Green Babies {video review}

2012-09-17T13:33:00.000+08:00

Image is from amazon.com

Complete Title : Growing Green Babies : with eco-lifestyle expert Sara Snow

It was borrowed from Queenstwon Public Library

This video contains advice from experts about sustainable lifestyle for parents, during and after pregnancy.

From the editorial reviews this DVD includes :
Eco-friendly pre- and post-natal advice for mom
Step-by step guide to creating a green nursery
Delicious organic recipes for mom and baby
Medical and nutritional tips from a holistic pediatrician

What made me interested with the video is because green is not only environmentally friendly but also better for our health. What's good for our body is natural product.

From this video we can learn about cleaning products that uses what we have in the kitchen and other more safe options. Good nutrition when we prepare our own baby food and pregnancy diet. Also advise in preparing baby's nursery and diaper selection. Includes also selection of cosmetics and easy prenatal and postnatal fitness workouts by Patricia Moreno.

---------------

Personotes :

Other posts about eco-conscious motherhood :

Eco-nomical baby guide review

Cloth diaper diary

Diy-diaper change mat

^.^