This is how Rachel 'sayang' people... hehehe

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan

Rachel surprised me yesterday, by knowing how to wave bye bye...
I have been teaching her this for SO SO long... And lately, lotsa people were asking me, "huh? still don't know how to wave meh?!"...

So, yesterday she FINALLY does it, over and over again somemore!
And she knows how to relate this moving-of-hands-up-and-down action to the word bye-bye (as in everytime she hear bye-bye, she'll move her hands).... Only problem now is, when people say HI RACHEL to her, she also does the same hand movement!! *slap forehead*

Photo doesn't show the movement of her hands as of the photo she did with GIMME-5, because it was taken with my point & shoot (using sports settings (fast shutter speed)) versus the use of DSLR with slow shutter speed that showed the movement...

p/s: I AM a little proud, cuz this is one of the thing I can tell my mom, eh eh, see... I trained my dotdot also leh!! hahaha... If not, everything Rachel learnt also she teach one... (except the sayang people's cheek, I tot her that too, cuz I want dotdot to sayang me... hahaha)...

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan

NOTE: Long post, without photos ahead!!

Rachel's development in terms of understanding and learning has been developing in a very fast pace lately... So I can't wait until her 8th month to post... hahaha.... Here goes:

1) Recognising People...
I'm a little surprised by this, and has been testing waters since more than 2 weeks back... But this week, it is CONFIRMED, Rachel knows how to recognise people and look for them... Why I say so?

Hehe... When I carry her, I like to ask her, eg: "Rachel, where is Daddy?"... What she'll do is, she will turn to where she thought Tecky was standing (most of the time, it's the last place where she saw him)... If he's not there, she'll turn around until she sees him... Sometimes stop at each faces along the way of her head turning, but she'll stop searching as soon as she stare at Tecky... The only thing she won't do, is when I ask her where's mommy when I'm carrying her (same goes for whoever that is carrying her, she won't look at him/her)... She can do this to nearly everyone in my family and inlaws... cool eh? hehehe...

2) Clapping
She has been clapping on demand since more than a week ago... When we say 'clap-clap' or 'pai pai chou' (Mandarin : Clap hands), she'll put her hands together and clap, together with a smiley face... (I'll post a photo of this soon)... However, she has 'overwritten' this ability on gongxi gongxi (hand movement to ask for angpow during Chinese New Year next month)... So we are trying to train her to know the difference between this 2... Last week, she will clap when we say gongxi gongxi, this week, a little better, starting to know the difference...

3) Singing
Of course it's not real singing kind of singing, but she has been showing signs of wanting to sing... Why I say this? hehehe... She has been screaming to music on and off, but I tot it was just her showing her tantrum... HOWEVER:
That day I was singing to radio, on Michael Wong (Guang Liang)'s new song, "I AM WHO I AM", and she followed suit... She'll just shout AAAAAAAAAAAAA (with an '0' shape lips and pulling it long in 1 breath, even when she's out of breath, she'll stop to breath and then continue), but when I stop for breath, she'll stop, then when she hear me continue, she'll go AAAAAAAAA again... I HAD to take a video of this, but then, err, was too happy hearing her 'sing' to remember... *slap forehead*...
Yesterday, when I reach home from work, my mom was singing '10 little indian boys' to her, and clapping, she was happily doing her AAAAAA and clapping along... I couldn't take video, cuz camera with Tecky in Brunei! *slap forehead*
This 'stunt' of hers is VERY dependent on mood... she happy, she'll do it, she will not do it when she's in new surroundings and busy kepoh-ing around....

4) Sayang (Malay: Caress in sign of love/affection(?????)) people
Yesterday night, for gazillion times, when I tell her "Rachel, sayang xiao ah kiu (my youngest brother)", she'll raise her hands to his cheek (hehe, yeah, I showed her this everytime I say sayang)... When I tell her to sayang kak tina (the maid), she'll raise her hands to her cheek!! But when I ask her to sayang mommy, 4 times(!!!) she oni did it once! :(

Of course, when she's cranky or when she's attracted by something therefore not paying attention to us, she wouldn't be bothered with whatever we ask her to do! *roll eyes*

No photos to show for this post... :|

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan

Rachel learnt to anticipate this pass few weks... We like to play peekaboo with her, by hiding behind the person that carries her, then reappear on the other side... She has learnt to swap side after a while, and anticipate our reappearance... When she gets it right, she'll squeal with joy... Or when she doesn't, you just have to call her name and she'll turn around and smile...

It's such joy playing with her, when she's not cranky and crying and demanding a lot that is... hehehe...
p/s: That is the babysitter's (maid) voice in the video asking Rachel, where is mommy??

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan, Video

Rachel had her first swim on the last day of 2006...

We bought the 'pool' from Tesco a while back, and since it wouldn't fit into our apartment (yeah, there's a child pool in the apartment, but don't know when was the last cleaning ler...), we left it in inlaw's house in Kota Kemuning and didn't have much time to set it up, somemore lately rain all the time, COLD MAR!

We bought her swim suit during a triumph sales, 50%! BUT BUT BUT!! TOO BIG LAR! Silly mommy, hahaha... It was practically dropping! Poor Rachel... :D

It was a tough job filling it up with water I tell you! I think we spent more time filling it up, than she actually spent in it! She was nearly falling asleep already while waiting, so we decided to put her in when the water was 1/2 filled (which was good too, cuz she isn't that tall, hehe)... Of course, the excitement was more for us (Tecky, MIL, BIL & gf, Tina and myself) than her, but we had fun! hehe...

She was a little afraid, crying at first... Tecky went in with her, and I was busy snapping with D70, hehehe... Later on, she did had a little fun I supposed... But most of the time, she still have that blur (I'm-in-strange-ground) look... We'll try it again later on, hopefully with a fitting swimming suit... hehehe... (AIYOH! New one lar, not hoping her to grow that big that fast)... :D

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan

Rachel was SUCH a show off yesterday evening....


Everytime she stands up, she look at us, waiting for applaud, and yesterday, she tried to let go of her right hand, then catch the railing again, then smile!

Here's a photo from yesterday, of her enjoying her banana in the munchkin... She didn't allow me to pull it out, held the munchkin in with both hands, TIGHTLY! SO "WAI SEK"!!! I guess, like mother like daughter eh? hahaha...

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan

Rachel's 2 bottom teeth (BOTH teeth same level of sprouting) has shown their 'faces'... I can feel the sharpness already, she even bite me yesterday when I was giving her a taste of mango! Quite painful ler...
(I tried taking a photo of her teeth yesterday, but of course, with such actively kicking kid, quite IMPOSSIBLE!! Will upload a photo as soon as I am able to get one... :D)

Yeah, the teething process nightmare that I dreaded all the while has started!!!
No, good thing no fever detected, but for 2 nights in a row, she wasn't willing to go to bed herself at night... Whenever I leave the room, she'll cry cry cry, SO LOUD my neighbour that was drilling the other night might be complaining (hahaha)... But when I carry her, she'll just fall asleep... Yesterday, I tried not to carry her, so I just pat, and yes indeed, she'll fall asleep, but will occasionally still open her eye to check if I was there... She'll even turn around to look for me, and if I'm not around, she'll cry again instead of going to sleep...

VERY TIRING LEH!!
So we both became bad parents yesterday, heartless!!! hahaha....
We let her cry... It continued for a while (of course to me it seemed like centuries), and then she fell asleep, then after a short while CRY again, but eventually fell asleep!!!

The gum is really that irritating eh? No more morning smile too, once she wake up, she'll cry... Lets hope this ordeal passes fast...

I tried freezing the baby toothpaste (I forgot the name, but it was claimed that they contain breast milk enzymes) and applying a little on her gum to numb it, it doesn't really work... Any other tips in making this episode an easier one for her (and of course most importantly for me)???

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan

WOO HOO!!

Just got a call from Tina (the sitter-maid) to tell me Rachel finished her porridge today! No need for adding milk! I'm happy...
Now I know, we have another fussy eater in the family... :D

Recipe for the 1st Succeessful Baby Porridge:
Ingredient:
1 1/2 tbs of white rice
1/2 stick carrot
1/2 sweet potato
22 tbs water (hehehe, yeah I measured the water also)

Instruction:
1) Wash the rice, and rince with hot water.
2) Peel of potato and carrot.
3) Slice carrot and potato into slow cooker (I used peelers to do this, ezy-pezy).
4) Add water & on slow cooker, set at Auto. (I let it cook from 10:30pm to 5am)
5) Scoop out and blend till desired texture.
6) FEED BABY! (hehehe)

If anyone see anything wrong with the recipe or method I'm using, please let me know... Sometimes I really hope that there is a 1-2-3 instruction guide to ALL baby matters for new parents like me...

Labels: Baby Recipe, Milestone, Parenting Tips

As stated yesterday (here), she lifted her own heavy butt, all by herself and I didn't have my camera to take it. So yesterday first thing I did upon arriving in my mum's house is, sit her in her playpen and make her stand... The first few times, she just pull herself and squat there like she's going to the loo, then look at me and laughed! CHIHHHH!!!

Then she finally did it... She pulled herself up, shouted but then drop down again... HaHaHa... This is the best I could get yesterday, but the day before, she stood and held herself up until I put her to sitting again... Yeah, I am proud of my little girl, but then now that I received the comments from other mommies reminding me of the chasing job as soon as kiddo starts walking, I'm starting to realise the hectic exercises coming up... hahaha... *slap forehead*

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan, Video

Rachel constipated from cereal, so I have been trying porridge since Saturday...

First attempt: I tried brown (SOMALI) rice with carrot... Too little water, porridge turned out to be rice... Aiyah, lousy mommy... What to do, Rachel have to go without solid another day...

Second attempt: Because the day before too little water, I ended up putting too much water, but still, brown rice doesn't make good porridge, still has it's rice form and the whole pot of water still crystal clear! *slap forehead* I'm darn lousy with porridge... ISH!!
Anyway, I scooped all carrot and rice, and blended it for Rachel.
She didn't like it at all... Told maid to add milk to the porridge, still, Rachel spit everything out... Another day without solid...

Third attempt (today) : I tried white rice today... Good amount of water, everything turn out nice... Still I blended it today morning...
RACHEL STILL SPIT EVERYTHING OUT!!!
Aiyo, how leh????

Anyone got any good recipe for first porridge? I only put carrot, I'm thinking of trying sweet potato tonight... Please give me some suggestion to prepare for, just in case Rachel spit the sweet potato out also...

Labels: Milestone, Parenting, Rachel Huan

Sunday, 3rd December 2006... The first time I don't have my camera with me, Rachel decided to do something to surprise us...

There she was, sitting on her playpen, and having her arms on the side railing, and looking at me talk... Suddenly, Tecky told me, "Look at your daughter"... Guess what I saw!!!!!

She was standing, holding onto the side railing, but STANDING!!!!! I jumped up in joy, gave her a hug and she too, shriek and smiled, maybe sensing from my happy tone ler... What I did was to sit her down again, and let her try, and she just pulled herself up to standing position again with ease!!! Oh, my little girl is growing, especially this month, so much development, so much changes... Too bad I don't have my camera with me, to take photos or video... :(

When asked, Tina (the maid-sitter) said she saw Rachel doing this the day before... ish, she didn't tell me... :|

So here goes, Rachel has OFFICIALLY (proven and reproven) to be able to pull herself up from sitting to standing, ALL by HERSELF on Saturday 2nd December 2006, when she was 6 months and 6 days old!!! My heart still skips a little when I say it out loud... hahaha.... With this, and also her being able to put 1 leg after another to the front while we support her armpits, maybe she'll break my record of walking at 9 months old??? hahaha.... She has 3 more months to practise... :D

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan

As requested by Annie, here's a family photo, taken last month... I guess not much introduction required eh? haha... That's me, little Rachel and hubby (affectionately referred to as Tecky from this post onwards)... So if you do happen to bump into us in the future, don't run away yeah... :D

Yesterday evening, we gave Rachel something new again... This time around, it's PAPAYA!!!

Looking at the photo on the left, does look yucky yeah... I just scrap the flesh off, and mash it up with spoon... :D

SHE LOVES IT!! Must be because it's really sweet and juicy... :D
I'm glad Rachel loves fruits, it seems that any fruits we gave her (apple, banana, papaya) thus far, she'll whallop the whole thing, and then wait for more... :D

Oh, I have to add, she did her big business (poop lar) yesterday morning (normally once a day, or two), but about 30 minutes or so after the papaya, she poop again, A LOT somemore I tell you... But no, it's not diarrhea, just softer lor...

Labels: Family, Milestone

I have SO many things to blog about, but so little time, that I don't even know where to start... haha... So I guess this blog is going to have bits and pieces of things, with my mind jumping in and out... :|

Firstly, most importantly, Rachel is confirm teething!! :D
White bumps appeared on her lower gum on Thursday (16 November 2006). She's starting to rub her toys across her gum, and fussing a lot more... I'm not sure if the latter is related, but I sure hope the fussing and manja-ing decreases when her gum feels better...

Secondly, Rachel can now roll over all the way (she rolls from back to tummy towards her right side, then from tummy to her back again, also to right side)!! I first saw her doing this on 12 November 2006 (last 2 Sunday), but because the bed wasn't leveled, I tot it was just gravity and the slanting which helped her, so I dismissed it as coincident, but she did it on a leveled mattress on the floor again one of the weekday (if I remember correctly, it should be Wednesday 15 November), and again yesterday 19 November 2006! I'm very happy, I did not miss this!! Hehe... In fact, even the maid-babysitter didn't know about it, until I announce it to everyone yesterday... However, little Rachel is still VERY lazy, she won't even turn to her tummy much, so chances of seeing her turn all the way is pretty slim... She likes to lay there and play, or demand to stand more nowadays.... That brings me to the 3rd point, she can stand unsupported for a while now... We help her hold onto something, either the bar of her playpen, or daddy's legs, and she can stand for a while...

On Saturday (18 Nov), my god-mum ('adopted' kind of lar) came down from Batu Pahat again, and this time around, with 10 (out of 19, yeah, she has NINETEEN grandkids, eldest around 13, and youngest being few months old... she'll have 20 if Rachel is included as her god-granddaughter, and Rachel's the youngest if so) of her grandkids (my nieces and nephews, in the age range of 1-12)!! Trust me, it was a total chaos, and a big headache... This is the first time Rachel in amongst her generation, as she's the eldest grandkid in both hubby and my side of the families, she only have cousins from Batu Pahat! They were SO noisy that she didn't sleep at all the whole day, until they left in the evening!! *phew*

Lastly, we bought Rachel a baby chair yesterday! hehe... We were initially looking for a high chair, but when we saw this, we fell in love with it!! It's from Fisher-Price... Yeah, a little pricey, we paid RM169 for it, but looking at how excited and comfortable Rachel was in it, it's totally worth the money... It can be strapped onto our chair, so she can eat at the table with us (there's an adjustable height leg to it, 3 levels), or it can be lowered (for safety reasons) and be put on the floor... I LOVE IT! I guess I was more excited with it than Rachel was!! Oh, I forgot to mention, there's a fitting dish plate with a cup holder that can be fit onto the tray, and a cover for it too... It's really really nice!! Oh, I think it helps train her with her sitting too, cuz with this, she won't be leaning in front... Too bad it's only for children up to 20kg... But we'll think about that when she reaches 20kg or when she couldn't fit into this now... :D
That's all folks! :D

Labels: Events, Milestone, Rachel Huan

Remember my post about how chaotic trying to give Rachel semi-solid food was?? We have tried Milan's Rusk, and she LOVES it... She had one on Saturday, one whole rusk soften into a smooth cereal like texture. She didn't have enough even after finishing the whole piece, kept crying until we gave her milk... She will have her mouth open in a big 'O' shape towards the spoon or she'll fake a fuss when you remove the spoon! However, she got better on Sunday, not as fussy as the day before, still finished 1 whole piece, kept having her eyes on the bowl and opening her mouth towards the spoon...
Yesterday, I tried something different... Without the bowl and spoon! I only gave her 1/2 a piece though, cuz she finished her milk an hour ago (when I return from work)... I dip the rusk in water, until it's soften, then I slowly put the soften rusk into her mouth... SHE LOVES IT!! She was so so anxious and so excited about it, look at how messy she was! But she looks so darn cute... Below is the video showing her anxious ('kam cheng') self, until can hear her slurping sometimes... (I couldn't upload previously, YouTube was acting up!) :D

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan

We were at 1U! Rachel's 1st time there... :P
My long overdue Japanese Buffet (promised since I was pregnant) finally came through... We went to Shogun, yeah, Tina (the helper cum babysitter) included... Nothing to shout about, food was just OK, I really wouldn't go back a 2nd time, cuz I don't think it's worth the money... :D
A big headache in Shogun as little Rachel was SO SO SO fussy, crying and kicking, the waiters were crowding near our table, probably waiting for us to shout for help... What I did was made her milk (an hour early), put her in the pram, shove her the bottle, and continue eating... Good thing she already started to hold her own bottle... Bad mommy eh?? hahaha

We also bought this cute headband for Rachel (the one she wearing in the picture) there, yeah, I used 'WE' here, but in actual, I chose, and hubby paid... hahaha... Both the grandmother loved it, VERY MUCH! More than me actually, hahaha... Except the time in Shogun, Rachel was pretty good... She just look around and then dozed off...

On Sunday, we gave Rachel her first solid food... It was a TOTAL disaster! We tried the Nestle Brown Rice Cereal, and I give up! I totally give up!! We did give her a little earlier than her actual feeding time, to make sure she don't get frustrated due to her hunger... But from the looks of it, she wants to chew on the spoon more than she wants to eat, and she was also reaching for the bowl an the spoon to play with it, and it was SO SO messy... Everytime I try to feed her, her hands will come and grab the spoon too... End up, ALL of us (daddy, me and Rachel) all got too annoyed and frustrated, Rachel starting crying and fussing, and we were shouting at each other! *shame shame* At the end of it, Rachel was given her milk... :D
Any advice from anyone??

Solid aside, Rachel is already starting to sit for a short while without support. She is also starting to show signs of laziness (must have gotten that from me), even when she's holding her bottle... I've caught her doing it a few times this weekend, holding the bottle with 2 hands at first, and then resting 1 hand and only using her left hand to hold the bottle... (can see her laziness in the left picture, see her right hand? RESTING!)

Labels: Milestone, Parenting, Rachel's Outing

We (actually it was grandma, with the permission of my aunt, Rachel's trusted paed) gave Rachel a taste of apple on 24th October 2006. It wasn't really a first try of solid food, but we just used the spoon to scrap some (VERY VERY little) apple and the juice, and feed it to her...

She was SO cute, sucking and tasting on her lips, I really don't know how to describe it. For a pretty long time, she was still sucking on her lips, probably thinking, wow, what is that taste! hahaha... We only gave her 2 times, and the 2nd, she scrunched up her face probably because it was GREEN apple, and a little sour... hehehe...

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan

Rachel picked up a new crying sound/'vocab' yesterday...

As always, when hubby and I arrive home from work, she'll smile and play for a while, and then if we would to put her down to have dinner, she'll cry (FAKE cry most of the time), probably because suddenly feels lonely (could that be possible?)... The whole of yesterday evening, whenever she fake her cry, she'll make a AH-NYEA-NYEAA-NYEEEAAA sound, then stop, then repeat again... SO CUTE! hahaha... I can't stop laughing...

Anyway, it's a good thing, as this shows her vocab starting to pick up, she's already started to make different kind of sounds lately, instead of just the common few, AH-GOO, AAHHH, etc...

I wonder when she'll call MOMMY... HeHeHeHeHe...

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan

Rachel has now started to hold her milk bottle steadily for more than a week now.

Last month, she was doing it very clumsy, wasn't very stable and needed constant help from us.

Now, she will lung forward towards the milk bottle (IMPATIENTLY - nearly always kicking and struggling trying to get up and reach for it), and with a little help, stuff it into her opened 'O' shaped mouth that she will make since she see the milk bottle in front of her, and then, she'll hold the bottle with both her hands, until all the milk finishes.

It's fun seeing her do it. All 3 of her grandparents (2 grandmas and 1 grandpa) were so proud of Rachel's achievement, they can't stop coo-ing about it... However, I think her finger grips are not very well controlled yet, and the big Avent bottle doesn't really help, but I'm sure very soon she'll hold the bottle better... ;)

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan

Rachel has turned yesterday!!! However, she still doesn't know how to remove her hand from under her... So she turned, then got stucked! Can't turn more, and can't turn back! I didn't manage to see her in the turning process, so that's a little sad. This is the 2nd time we found her in the turned position, the first was on 4th of October 2006.

When I tried to make her turn again, she wouldn't! She'll just lie there, and look at me and my camera... So far, she has only turned once a day, still a little lazy I guess... hehehe.... Lets see if she'll turn more during the weekend morning exercise... :)

By the way, I'm ok now, from the food poisoning yesterday, and Rachel is officially OK from the diarrhea she had a few days back too.... Hubby came home to 2 sleeping piggies yesterday, as he reached about 11pm. Poor guy, didn't have keys, called me 2 times and I still didn't hear. After medicine mar, so sleepy and drowsy... hehehe... Come back from so many hours of flight and cab, but still have to wait outside the apartment door so long... hehehe...

Labels: Milestone, Rachel Huan