Nature On Tape

I took Aramis out for a walk this evening and we did the masking tape activity again – described in this post.

His fine motor skills have developed a lot since the last time, and he seemed to enjoy sticking on the bits and pieces I gave him, as well as exploring the stickiness of the tape in general (finger on, finger off, ooh, sticky! Two fingers on, two fingers off, oooh, still sticky! Now for the palm… you get the general picture)

Here is what we ended with:

Why I Love My Sarong Sling

How did I survive a two-hour walking tour with three boys under seven?

I don’t quite know. But I’m sure my sarong sling had something to do with it. Months ago I wrote a comparison of the baby carrier and sarong sling. Since then Aramis has outgrown the carrier, but the sling is still extremely useful as a baby hands-free kit

The more interesting comparison now is between the sling and a pram. Although the pram is less physically demanding (I don’t have to bear the baby’s weight), I’ve come to the conclusion that most times, the sling wins hands down. Here are 5 reasons why:

Want to know more about infant vocabulary?

The NUS Dept of Psychology is conducting an Infant Language Study to better understand vocabulary norms for Sngapore infants (12 to 30 months).

If you sign up, you’ll be sent a questionnaire which will ask you to fill in a vocabulary checklist and to tick the words you think your child can say. You’ll also have to fill in a few details as well as a consent form. At the end of the study, NUS will provide you with a summary of the results i.e. what the vocabulary norms for Singapore infants are.

The study already has 200 parents and the researchers are looking for another 100 families before the end of the year. Do consider participating – call 6516 8768 or email psytsh@nus.edu.sg for more details or to sign up!

Botanic Gardens: Lushness!

I had a rare morning off work today. So after dropping the boys off at school, Aramis and I had a little date at the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Now gung-ho as I was, I thought it would be wiser to attempt this only after having some caffeine in my system. (Despite my earlier bravado about weaning, I am, I’m sorry to say, still nursing at night. We don’t call him Suckzilla for nothing….)

And here is where I start my rave about the newly renovated Botanic Gardens.

Bullied by a Baby?

A few moments ago, Aramis woke up crying, and insisted on being rocked back to sleep.

Not wanting to wake the other two boys, I obliged.

But it’s a hot sweltering night and he was still squirming after a while. Then he sat bolt upright, pointed quite firmly towards the middle of the room and said, “Unngh”.

Again, I obliged, not quite sure why that spot was so special. He seemed to settle down. I walked away, and he sat up again, and with the same insistent “UNNGH”, pointed me back to the middle of the room.

Sleep deprived mother that I am, I finally figured out what he was after – the breeze from the ceiling fan. Is it my imagination or has the cherub got me wrapped me around his little finger??

Aramis Walks

Last night, I watched as 14-month-old Aramis made an epic journey from the kitchen, across the living room, and into my arms. All by himself.

Gulp, snif, my little boy is growing up so fast….

The Pilgrim Parent Star Cryptographer Award

In a masterful performance worthy of Bletchley Park, Rachel @ Pigstorm correctly decoded 2 of the 3 puzzles posed by 13-month-old Aramis.

• Ower = flower
• Namo = no more
• Moo = moon

For that code-breaking feat, I hereby confer upon her the title of Pilgrim Parent Star Cryptographer! And ice cream on me when you come over for that playdate

Can You Figure This Out?

13-month-old Aramis now has a massive vocabulary of THREE words. To wit:

• Ower
• Namo
• Moo

If you can decipher their meaning, you will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the Carribean my undying admiration and (for what it’s worth) the title of “Pilgrim Parent Star Cryptographer”

Aramis Walks!

I’m pleased to announce that Aramis has taken his first tentative steps!

You’d think that having done this twice before, the thrill would wear off. But it hasn’t. To feel him hold my finger tight even as I gently prise him away, to watch him stand there and wonder if he can make that long journey of 2, maybe 3 steps unaided, to see the delight on his face when he does it – priceless.

Baby in Pool? Try Swim Diapers

Say you want to bring Baby for his first swim in a pool. But (a) he isn’t yet toilet-trained, or (b) you can’t find a swimsuit that fits. A regular diaper will swell up and be uncomfortable and heavy. What are you going to do?

Enter the swim diaper. We’ve been using these for years but we still get asked about them from time to time. (Most recently today, hence this post.) The only brand I know of is Huggies Little Swimmers, which you can find at Cold Storage. They are like regular diapers, except they are pull-ups and don’t swell. They cost about $1 apiece, which isn’t exactly cheap. But it’s one of the best options for Baby’s day out in the sun and the water. Give it a go!

The Many Uses of A Chopstick

Yesterday as I was having lunch, Aramis signalled that he wanted to hold my chopsticks.

I obliged, curious as to what creative uses his exploring one-year-old mind would come up with. Would he roll it? Use it as a drumstick?

How limited is my imagination. The Very First Thing he did with said chopstick was this:

Why I Am Weaning

Last week, Grandma gave Aramis aka Suckzilla his first ever bottle of formula, and so began the process of weaning.

Why?

I hadn’t really been thinking about weaning, except that 11-month-old Suckzilla, who usually nurses like so:

…last week decided to adopt this position:

Maternal Multitasking Mayhem

All mothers are consummate multi-taskers. Just ask anyone who’s ever had to change a poopy diaper on a squirming baby without the help of a change table.

But tonight, I took multitasking to a whole new level of achievement. I was having dinner and Athos asked to play chess. Then Porthos, who was struggling to finish his dinner, asked to be fed. And then Aramis wanted his snack too. So there I was – feeding myself, nursing my baby, supervising my middle child and playing chess with my eldest.

Pilgrim Mom takes a bow and curtsey….

I would celebrate except that science has told us multitasking is terribly inefficient…  At least now I have an excuse for losing to a 5-year-old at chess!

Aramis Pulls To Standing

Another threshold is crossed. Aramis can now pull himself from a sitting position into a steady stand. I’m pretty sure he’ll be an early walker – it’s just written all over his face when he sees the rest of us moving about him!

A Mother’s Reflections At Christmas

As far as motherhood goes, this past week was rough. I’m sure there were good, even transcendent, moments, but the ones that really stand out are:

Sarong Sling or Baby Carrier?

I was a faithful user of baby carriers when Athos and Porthos were pre-walkers. I was also given a sarong sling which has been gathering dust on the shelf these past 5 years.

With Aramis, I’ve finally found the time to try out the sarong sling. So here is one mom’s opinion on the Big Question: baby carrier or sarong sling, which works better?

Aramis Crawls!

The past few weeks have seen Aramis turn into quite an intrepid crawler. He can cover the whole living room in a few minutes, which means we need to pay closer attention to where and how long we leave him. Just the other day, I left him in the middle of the living room, only to hear a loud cry moments later because he had fallen over the step that leads to the kitchen!

Add to that his experiments with pulling to standing and we’ve now got ourselves a moving body of potential accidents. How quickly they grow….

A Funny Picture

I was organising our digital photo library today (oh, the modern curse of proliferating digital data!) Anyway, I came across this picture we took earlier this year of Pilgrim Dad and Aramis and it made me chuckle. Sasquatch spawns!

Solids And Avoiding Allergies

The other day, I picked up a brochure produced by Nestle. It promotes their hypoallergenic infant formula (Nan), and also includes some information on how to reduce the incidence of food allergy which I found really useful. Here are the salient bits:

• Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months provides the ideal protection
• Introduce solids after the 6th month
• Foods least likely to cause allergic reactions: rice, pear, prune, carrot, apple, pork
• Foods which occasionally cause allergic reactions: barley, apricot, beef, wheat, plum, spinach, cabbage, oat, banana, chicken, peach, broccoli, lamb, turnip, potato, cherry, corn
• Foods most likely to cause allergic reactions (introduce from the 9th month): berries, cow’s milk, legumes, fish
• Foods which are highly allergenic (introduce from the 12th month): seafood, peanuts, egg white

We’ve already transgressed the guidelines on fish! Still, it’s a useful list to keep handy.

Baby Talk

Aramis’ one-syllable vocabulary has expanded! His repertoire now includes “da”, “ada”, and long squeals of “aaah”. So, so delightful.

Alas, “mama” still eludes him….