8 month...going on 9

My goodness, where have time gone to? My baby girl is about to turn 9 months old tomorrow. My usual procrastination self says that I got to clean the floor, fold the laundry, wash the dishes, and a whole long list of things to do. But I am sitting myself down and typing this before time flies by again and all is forgotten. I kinda ashamed to admit that I have forgotten to do a monthly growth photo for the past 2 months. Oh well, I must make a mental note to take the 9th month growth photo for Hannah tomorrow. 

So this is going to be a milestone post. If you are not interested in baby updates, just skip this post. 

Hannah is turning into a beautiful smart girl with a mind of her own. Everything with her is new and exciting and being her mama and watching her learn and grow is the best thing ever. I cannot believe she is on her way to the big 1 year old mark and there are times I wish that she will just stop. Stop everything, stop growing, and just stay my little sweetheart. But oh well, I do  cherish every moment with her and love her to bits.

Sleeping

- Hannah co-sleeps with me. Before we left the States, she had quite a decent sleep habit and slept well on her own and only woke up twice to feed. But as we started our journey back home, she had to share bed with Rockstar and I while we settled in. And with the added change of being in a new place, surrounded by unknown factors made her especially attached to me. She have to sleep beside me and would wake up to 5 times a night to nurse or be comforted. It was pretty exhausting to say the least. But thankfully things are getting better. Some nights she just wakes up and reach out her hand to touch me before falling back asleep. Things are getting into a rhythm and on good nights, she only wakes up twice. I've been trying to train her to sleep in her own crib. Success rate is sadly low but guess what, last night I persisted. She slept in her own crib the entire night. It was pretty tough hearing her sobbing herself to sleep and not allowing myself to carry her back to my bed. And my heart broke a little when she woke up this morning and refuses to look at me. As if I had wrong her. Oh, be strong my heart. 

Feeding

- Eating solid started out real rocky at first. I was in the States and I tried all kinds of baby food to which she rejected. The week before we left, I brought up my concern to the Pediatrician about Hannah's reluctance to eat. She told me to try feeding her whatever we eat as most babies can eat most food by 6th month. So we did. From out stopover in Japan to back home in Malaysia, we gave her all kinds of food. Japanese curry, beef rice, prawn noodles, wan tan mee, rice, pasta, she enjoyed them all. However, I've been receiving lots of 'advice' such as no meat in her diet, no salt, no adult food, etc and it came to a point where I started doubting myself and my ability as a mum. I've started preparing plain and unseasoned food and using the frozen ice cube method. But I got to say that its tough when she refuses to eat them and clamp her mouth shut. She still prefers eating whatever we eat. Oh well, at least she is eating something. And it beats having to see my carefully prepared food thrown onto the floor and having to clean them up. Feeding her is still like a car ride with lots of speed bumps and slopes along the way. Will just have to wait and see how things goes next month. 

Other milestones

- Her lower two front teeth popped up last week. It's just barely showing but guess who is super excited about it. 

- She learned to sip from a straw. The first time she managed to suck her orange juice through the straw, she had such a 'what just happened' face that made me laugh out loud. This girl still fascinate me with her expressions. 

- She is crawling. Started with just a hand pull and dragging of body method but have now progress to a proper crawl. 

- She can clap her hands. Soundless but its clapping all right. 

- Smiling on cue. OK, she learned that a couple of months back but it helps when you stick a camera in her face and say 'smile'. I love her cheeky grins. 

- She can somewhat say 'papa'. But I got to remind all that 'mama' was her first word. 

- She has this funny thing that she does. She puts the back of her fist to her mouth and open and close them while making some noise. Kinda like a Indian call. I can't take credit for that. Rockstar is the big culprit for this silly noise, on top of the raspberry blowing. 

- She is a strong pincher and grabber. She grabs everything she can lay her hands on, study them for a bit before popping them into her mouth. She kicks hard too. Lots of headbutting times and bruised nose and mouth.
- She tried durian for the first time. Although I can't really tell if she likes it or not, she did go for a few more bites. She has this funny expression on her face whenever we feed her. Like a 'what did you just feed me' silly face. 

There are days where I feel like I am about to lose patience and control. But the good days outnumbers the bad days. And I am enjoying this phrase of my life and being a mama. There are still many things to learn and I am far from being a perfect mum. But I know that I will do whatever is best for my baby girl. I love her. 

Strolling the streets of Pasadena

If you have been following me on Instagram, you will know that we were in Pasadena last weekend. Rockstar have been telling me about Pasadena a couple of times but we never got around visiting it until now. A friend graduated so we were at Pasadena City Hall for some photos before heading to Mother Moo Creamery for some yummy ice-cream first. Their raw honey ice-cream was amuhzingggg. I now add raw honey ice-cream to my list of ice-cream favourites. Parking at Old Pasadena wasn't an issue even on a weekend. It was such a pretty street to walk with so many small quirky shops to explore, side alleys and interesting people. I didn't managed to take a picture but there were even a jazz band set up in front of a cobbler strumming out music. Papers, especially pretty ones make me go a little paper-crazy. I was craving for some 85degree egg tarts but the queue at the cashier was too long that we decided to not wait. There were a few other things that I wanted to do but since we arrived a little late in the day, we were not able to do much. I hope we can go back for another stroll one day. 

We are heading off soon for another amazing weekend. So excited! XO

mini ms.busybody

Feeling extra emotional this couple of days. My baby is growing up so fast. She has so many antics on her own and sometimes I feel she's like a mini adult. She listens when I talk to her like she understands me. She puts on a serious face when I scold her. She has to join in the adults conversation and she started voicing out her opinions in her high pitch squeals.

Just last night, she refuses to sleep after her bedtime feeding. So we spend some time playing on the bed. She has this really cute way of putting her hands on my cheeks like she wants to comfort me and staring into my eyes. But that happens only for a split second before her fingers poke my nose. Haha... But I do enjoy letting her hands explore my face just cause she had cute chubby hands. She's such a curious little thing and have to touch, grab, kick everything she comes in contact with. She has strong legs, this little one.

She started patting me whenever she needs something. Like when I carry her, she's pat my back to let me know if she have pooped or that she is hungry or tired. 

I will never get tired of the way she looks at me. Like when I'm feeding her. She stops and look up at me. And when I carry her in the carrier while doing housework. And when she just wakes up from napping on me. She's just stare at me with her big eyes and gives a smile like I'm the most important person in the world. Her smiles still makes me all gooey and soft inside. Her shrill chuckles and laughter still makes my day. When she lays her little head on my chest/ shoulder, my life feels complete. 

So it's OK that she wants to nap on me every time every day, or that she prefers to sleep with me in bed every night. Or she wants to nurse longer than usual. Or if she wants me to carry her and bounce her up and down for ages. Because I know very soon, she will not need me as much anymore. I am so not looking forward to that day. So till then, she will be my round mini ms busybody.