Unwanted advice

As parents, I'm sure we have all had our fair share of (unwanted) advice from outsiders on how to raise our babies.

"You should let them Cry it Out" is probably one of the most popular ones. 

Sure. Easy for YOU to say.

I was getting that advice even BEFORE  Em was born. At that time, my replies were closer to something like "yeah sure, of course I'll do that if I have to." I didn't think it would be a hard thing. On the contrary, I thought it would be easy for me because I can be quite hard hearted when I want/need to.

Now that Em is close to 13 months and still not sleeping through the night, I roll my eyes whenever someone dishes that advice to me. Especially when it comes from my parents. Like seriously? You think I haven't tried? "She's already 1," they say. "You should be able to just pat her to sleep." Wow. Like it happens like magic? Why don't you give it a shot? Then you'll see why I don't just "let her cry it out", why I can't "just pat her to sleep". 

Em is a very active baby. She very rarely, if ever, sits still for 2 seconds. The only time she does is when she is doing a poo. Seriously. That's how I know she's done a poo, she suddenly goes quiet for about 5 seconds, then starts bouncing and babbling again. But I digress. The point is, if I lay her awake in her cot, she will simply scramble to get up, climb, crawl out of her cot. I'm sure many parents can relate and those who have been through it say to just leave the room and let them "learn to self soothe". Well, I love my baby too much to just walk out on her when she's crying out for me. 

If she needs me, I want to be there. If she wants to nurse just for comfort, I want to provide her with that comfort. Why would I want to leave her to work it out for herself when she still needs me? Isn't that what being a mum is all about? Being there for your child? I seriously find it hard to believe that she'll still need me to put her to sleep when she's a full blown teenager. Ok fine, maybe I'll still need to be patting her to sleep when she's say... 4, or 5... the age when it seems ridiculous for your child to still need to be aided to sleep. But hey, whatever works right? Babies won't want you forever, soon they will be saying things like "go away", "leave me alone", "I don't need you", "I can do it on my own", etc etc. I know I was like that before. And my daughter has half my genes, so I'm pretty sure she'll have that streak of independence in her too.

So until then, I'll be here for my daughter. I'll soothe her when she's crying, comfort her when she wakes up in the middle of the night and nurse her until she's ready to wean, if that's what it takes to build a strong mother-daughter relationship!

Em's first swimming lesson

I took Em for her first proper swimming lesson today. After watching a video of a 1 yr 9 mth old toddler swimming, I felt inspired that Em should also pick up this skill. At least I won't panic when she's near the water and we can plan more family vacations that involve relaxing by the pool and beach! 

We have a pool at home and I know most people say to just take the baby down more often, let them get used to the water, they'll pick it up one day. Em has no problems with the water, in fact, she loves it! What I really want her to learn tho, is the ability to kick herself up to the surface, swim to an edge and keep herself afloat should she fall into a deep pool of water. Sounds ambitious for a one year old? Well, we'll see! 

After her first lesson, she wasn't ready to go underwater yet (like a proper dunk, not just dribble over her head). Baby steps... We'll get there!

I decided to pick Marsden Swim School at Turf City since its close to my parents place so swimming day doubles as grandparents play date day. Also, it's indoors and the pool is slightly heated so its comfortable for the baby (and me!) even on a rainy day. The instructor is patient and the timing for the group we are in only has 2 or 3 pairs of mums (sometimes dads) and bub's each time so we get plenty of practice during each session.

I'm so glad Em takes to water like a duck. I can't wait for her to be able to swim laps on her own!

Oh what fun, Em turns one!

It was Em's birthday a few days ago and I finally have some time to sit down and reflect. Leading up to her party, my mind was full of preparation ideas and everytime I was out at the shops, I was on the hunt for all things pink and purple or with butterflies. Yep, that was the theme, Pink and Purple with butterflies. And I love how it turned out!

Thanks to help from my sisters, the venue was decorated so beautifully!

 

We held the party at Rochester House and thank goodness it rained in the morning so the weather was nice and cool. Being an outdoor venue, I was worried it would be too hot for the guests. Plus we had haze in the week before too, but luckily that cleared up in time for the party.

Apparently, the food provided by La Viva Spanish was really good too, I didn't get to try everything, but I'm glad the guests were happy! Definitely a good venue choice for a first birthday celebration in the end, as we had a huge open area to ourselves, food was good, atmosphere was relaxed and kids could play inside the playhouse while the adults sat outside and chatted away.

We set up a Pink and Purple candy buffet table too, so guests could help themselves during the party and take some home in the "noodle boxes" as a goody bag. From pink and purple mentos and cherry blossom jellybeans, to pink and purple cake pops, this table looked soooooo pretty!

The cake pops were from Lollipop Cakes and the lovely Thet squeezed my order in even though she was already overbooked. And everyone said they were yummy, especially the red velvet flavored ones!

And here's her gorgeous birthday cake from Sweet Perfection! The team did such a fantastic job, with only email descriptions from me, I was afraid the cake would not turn out how I wanted it to look like in my head, but I'm so pleased with the results. It was strawberry flavored and everyone said it tasted yummy!

How time flies, Em is one already and soon I'm sure, I'll be planning her 2nd birthday! It's so fun watching her grow up into a little lady, I just wish time wouldn't fly by so quick.

My birthday wish for you, Little Em, is to always have that strong fighting spirit in you, may you grow to be a gorgeous lady, both inside and out!

Here's a video I made for my little girl to remember her first milestones. Happy Birthday little one! xoxo, love mum :)