Developments - the flip!

Nat has mastered the skills of flipping from back to tummy. Attached are the captured moments of her turning!

At 6 months she is using all her senses to explore and learn about her surroundings. She gets more attuned to colours, noises, reacts to Junior's presence and of course my disappearance ie not within her sight. The traits of seperation anxiety seems most accentuated during this week whilst I am home. She demands to be carried and showered with attention all the time. Always wanting to be part of the action! She gets irritated particularly during naps and cries as soon as her little bums touch the bed, her upper torso is still in my arms when she makes her usual protests of being left alone in bed! Got to repeat the putting down process at least 2-3 times before she settles. She'll take short 15 - 30 mins naps in the day. She is at her best when we are out, no tantrums simply a matter of dosing off quietly in the baby carrier or infant seat.

She enjoys looking at books together. We schedule bedtime reading either before or after her bath depending on how alert she is. Grandma will read to her in Mandarin to help her develop an interest in her mother tongue. I will read to her in English. She loves it when both daddy and mummy sing her a medley of nursery rhymes. Repeating in different tones and pitch just never fails to amaze her. She loves board books which are colorful and sturdy, so she could bang her little hands on them. Compared to previous, she is starting to notice finer details and displays interest in alphabets/ words rather than just concertrating on the pictures. I am amazed at how much patience she has when it comes to reading. She listens attentively even when I re-read the book a couple of times at one seating. Love reading to her as it also provides a great opportunity for cuddling and socializing.

Per my earlier entries, Natalie has started on solids. To date, she has been introduced to sweet potato, rice cereal and apples. We're trying out peaches and brocolli next. Freezing the presteamed and pureed baby food really does help to save time as you are able to prepare the varieties in batches. Apples seems easily digested and produces sweet smelling poop. Digested sweet potatoes has a stronger stench and takes longer to digest. So rather than daily poop, we typically had to wait 2-3 days. Was really worrying at first cause she is a breastfed baby and poops on a daily basis. We've even prepared suppositories for her as a precautionary measure. I've also introduced Heinz teething biscuits to her to soothe her gums. Can't wait to see her first pair of milk teeth!

Cute random poses

Nat & Bumbo

Bought a Bumbo seat for Nat and she simply can't get enough of it!

The seat which comes in bright lime colour is an instant hit with Nat. The Bumbo seat's soft polyurethane material supports her little bumps comfortably and structurally it provides excellent support for the lumbar area of the vertebral column. Based on my google results, Bumbo has a favorable orthopedic effect that is important to assist in the correct spinal development of an infant. The seat's raised leg spaces result in an increased flexibility of the baby's hip and knee joints, which has the benefit of decreasing stress on the baby's spine.

Check out the happy face! Great for both feeding and playtime!

6month visit

We visited Dr Veronica Toh today for her 6th Month injection and oral vaccine.

The lucky her had her Grandpa and great-grandma tagging along as well!!

She was really brave today. Only cried a loud shrill "Maaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" when the vaccine was given and stopped immediately when she was picked up by me. I could tell that the bond between us is only getting stronger. I am no longer just her favourite food source but her favourite parent as well. It gets really apparent at this stage where she learns to recognise familiar faces and creates a hierarchy of her favourite caretaker. Of course, I'm thrilled that I took the first place in her heart. Daddy loses out a little, but I'm sure he'll get on equal footing very soon!

So daddy don't fret k! Work on your playskills and I'm sure she'll be charmed by your creativity!

As for her allergist visit, we've cancelled it. Veronica reassured us that the reaction is common amongst breastfed babies and effects may not be permanent. We could give cow's milk a try again when she passes the 1 year mark. Meanwhile, we could feed her with soya as an alternative. This saves Nat from becoming a lab-rat, and saves us a couple of hundreds from seeing a specialist. Really can't bear to see her going through any painful prick tests... we'll just have to give soya a try and keep our fingers crossed.

Btw she learnt how to stick her tongue out today! Saw her playing with her tongue when I woke up this morning. Baby Nat never fail to amaze us daily!!