Baby J eats first porridge

My baby sitter is down with flu so I took a day off today to stay home with baby J. I made him his first porridge! I only cooked 1 tablespoon of rice which I processed into powdery form. I shredded a bit of carrot into the mixture of rice and water then let it cook for about 25 minutes. Stir it from time to time to avoid the tiny bits of rice from sticking to the base. I hope he will love his first porridge

Baby J eats stewed apple

I haven't been writing much about anything else except baby J's development. I am still cooking but I am not cooking anything new. I have been making the same old food again and again like salmon spaghetti and herbal soup on weekend especially for father's day. Although we went for seafood dinner, and Nando's lunch, I still want to make something special for the new daddy.  Last week, I cooked the usual daily food except for one of the day which I made lion head meatball because the new daddy has been asking about it.

The company gave 2 apples on one of the day last week. I saved them up and make stewed apple for baby J. It's easy to make and healthier. I did not opt for the ready made puree for baby because I can make it myself, so why not? Baby J slept a little earlier today at 9pm so I quickly rushed and finished up some house chores then prepared the stewed apple.

How? I cut, core and cube the 2 apples. Spread them in a pot and add a little water just enough to cover the  base. Cook it for few minutes or until soft. Transfer over to blender or food processor then blend them into soft, smooth texture. Keep in clean sterilized containers and write down the date before freezing up. Whenever I want to use, I will just thaw and warm up the apple in hot water. This is the second batch I made for baby J. We have 4 apples :)

Baby J at 5 months

I introduced baby J to semi solid food since 2 weeks ago. I started weaning with rice cereal that was commercially prepared to get him get used to the softer and smoother texture of his first semi solid food as I mixed the rice cereal with expressed breast milk. He didn't accept the food so well in the first where he kept pushing the food out with his tongue. He could not understand the concept of swallowing food but now he will open his mouth when he saw his tiny cute weaning spoon approaching and close his lips to capture the spoon. He can swallow although sometimes bigger chunks of food still being pushed out from his little mouth.

I made mashed pumpkin for him. Steamed and mashed with potato masher , then serve to him with mixture of breast milk to thin the texture. I kept the left over in clean container and freeze them for subsequent feeding. I also tried mixing carrot into the rice cereal. Another food that I prepared for him is stewed apple, where I cooked apple cubes until they are soft and blend the apples. We bought some avocados and fed him on weekend too. The avocado has creamy texture and there is no early preparation or cooking required. I just mashed the avocado and mixed with a little hot water to thin the texture because I took the avocado straight out from the fridge. Baby J doesn't like cold food or milk. There are some left over that will be used for the rest of the week. We only feed him once a day , during dinner hour because that's the only time I can do this motherly task.

He started to roll over from tummy to back a week ago and subsequently in the next few days he was rolling like mad. He can roll on both sides now. Baby J was very fussy yesterday. He kept waking up after we put him to bed at night, every freaking half/one hour and cried! It was very tiring as he also woke up twice through night (after 12 midnight) and very early this morning.


We love him.

Slap myself twice. *piak piak*

I feel like slapping myself. Since I am back to work, I am not efficient at all. I don't have much time to concentrate on my work. I know it's hard to explain to people what am I doing during the work hours that occupied much of my time. Anyway my heart isn't there. I don't have the energy to learn something new and venture into the adventurous journey of my new assignment although it's something that will boost my knowledge deeply on technical side. So, slap me twice.

Sometimes I feel I am too used in the comfort zone because I have been holding the same position and responsibilities for years. Now I am being assigned to very highly technical task, I just don't think I can handle it. At home, I am occupied with my little angel day and night. There is no room for work. I got to rush to run house chores whenever there is time.

Nowadays baby J is fussy with feeding. He doesn't like to drink milk anymore. I can only nurse him for 5 minutes and he will get very distracted with his environment. I cannot even smile or talk to him or else he will not drink anymore. I even tried weaning today. I got him rice cereal to mix with breast milk because a  friend told me not to wait until 6 months to introduce baby solid food. Her baby is diagnosed with lack of iron in his blood because he is exclusively breast fed. Mother's milk doesn't contain iron, based on his pediatrician's explanation. I bought a very cute and (expensive) weaning spoon for baby J. It costs me RM12 each because it is small and can fit baby J little cute mouth. However he only took like 3 LITTLE spoons and didn't want the rest. But I am glad that he knows how to swallow.

Baby J is also getting harder to fall asleep. He sleeps very little at day time due to this. He needs constant rocking and carrying for comfort. I really want my darling baby to sleep easily and no need any help to fall asleep. I tried letting him cry on bed but he just won't fall asleep. What I did is to make him tired with crying, carry him up and nurse him and he will sleep. I know this is not a good practice but I don't have choice, do I?

Good now, I have to go back to work because baby J will wake up very soon from his nap.