She's crawling!

Olivia finally did it! She is crawling. A few days ago, she was just trying, scooting around on the knees a bit. Now, she is mobile.

Whenever we put her down and leave the room, she doesn't cry anymore, she just followed....LOL

I read in the latest issue of Babytalk that babies nowadays are bypassing certain milestones, crawling is one of them. The Back to Sleep campaign has reduced Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) but studies have shown that babies are achieving milestones later or bypassing them altogether, due to weaker upper body.

Some experts are of the opinion that when babies skip crawling, they miss out on more opportunities to develop their upper body muscle.

In Malaysia, as long as I can remember, babies are put to sleep on their backs. I have never heard of babies being put to sleep on their tummies. We hardly hear of any issues from putting babies to sleep on their backs.

Here, however, there are studies about everything. I just wonder if we are looking too much into an issue and conclude that babies are not crawling because they sleep on their backs. Doesn't sound logical but I'm no expert.

Speaking of which, I better put up those gates. :-)

BabyLegs

What are Babylegs? BabyLegs are leggings for babies and toddlers and they are cute. They protect soft knees from harsh surfaces and keep legs and arms warm during the colder months.

I found out about this product from a message board about parenting. Now that Olivia is starting to crawl, I want to protect her knees when she’s crawling on hardwood floors and also from getting carpet burns, especially when she’s just wearing a onesie.



I have been contemplating buying one for her for some time but am not sure if it’s useful or frivolous. I finally caved and bought this pattern for her today. There are tons of other beautiful and hip patterns on their website.


I also want to use it as a layering under long pants during winter, instead of tights as tights could be quite cumbersome to put on and take off.

So, we will see if it is useful or a waste of money. :-o

Is this just a phase?

I must say I am blessed with a very happy and easy to care for baby. Olivia started sleeping through the night 2 weeks before I had to return to work. I can leave her in a room with her toys around her and she will entertain herself. For naps and bedtime, I can put her down in her crib and she will fall asleep on her own.

Being able to fall asleep on her own especially at night is crucial for me, as this allows me to cook and have dinner with hubby.

However, last week, Olivia’s behavior suddenly changed. She refused to be left in the room by herself to play and she would cry her heart out if I leave her in her crib. She is also starting to wake up in the middle of the night. I don’t know if this could be due to teething or if she is hitting milestones like crawling and pulling to stand.

MIL said babies get clingy at this age (8.5 months). I hope it’s just a phase.

This mommy is tired….*yawn*

Montauk vacation or not (7/17/07 - 7/20/07)

Last week, we went on vacation for the first time with our 8 month old baby daughter, Olivia, to Montauk, NY. It is about 2 hours drive from home and we will be staying in an oceanfront motel.

I was looking forward to it as we haven’t had a vacation since Oct 2005, plus it takes the grind out of the daily routine.

A few days before we left, Olivia was having a lot of poopy diapers, much more than usual but the pedi said if it’s not diarrhea, to not worry. Note to self: always trust your mother’s instinct. If you feel that something is wrong, it probably is. Off we went on a Tuesday morning with Olivia happily strapped in her car seat. About an hour later, I did a poop check and saw that she had a bowel movement. We exited at the next exit and when we took Olivia out of the car seat, we realized she had a blowout. Her clothes are soiled, so is the car seat cover!! Uugghhh….

We drove around looking for a Laundromat and ended up spending some ‘quality’ time there. We finally reach Montauk 4 ½ hours later. Note to self: always allow plenty of time when traveling with a baby.

The next day, after breakfast, we took a stroll down the streets of Montauk with Olivia in the stroller, enjoying the sights. When we took her out of the stroller, lo and behold, she had a blowout again and the stroller seat is soiled! So, back we went to the Laundromat. It also rained heavily that day, so we weren’t able to spend time on the beach.

The next day, we left to come home (which was a day earlier than we had planned) as I was getting concerned with the constant bowel movement, to take her to the doctor.

So, to sum it up, I was changing poopy diapers the 1½ days that we were there. But I enjoyed the time spent with Olivia and I love having her with me for almost the whole week. I am a working mom, so I only have limited amount of time during the week with her.

Hopefully, our next vacation, whenever that may be, will be more enjoyable.