Eating with Friends is easy with a BLW baby

Emma is one year old and she happily eats by herself on the table with my husband and I, and her big brother since she was 6 months old.

Recently when I went to visit my friend, she did me proud sitting by herself and eating the same food as us. We were having rice with fried tofu, boiled veggie and some prawn crackers for lunch. They didn't have a high chair, so Emma sat on the same chair as us. I make sure it's safe on both sides so she would not fall off. I didn't bring a bib because we didn't plan for lunch. So she just had a linen napkin on her nap.

What a doll!

BLW Checklist

Baby-led weaning is the best thing for our baby. I really do believe that. I feel sad when I see children being spoon-fed. Because actually we rob them of the joy of touching and eating food just the way it is.
Emma never had any mush, or mashed up food (except when it is supposed to be mashed like buttered potatoes or rice porridge). She is healthy, chubby and loves mealtimes!

I'd love to share some of the things you might need to go on the BLW journey:

• Invest on an easy to clean, sturdy highchair. Don't take one with intricate nooks at the bottom or on the legs. Imagine yourself pouring a bowl of spaghetti down the top. If you can clean it reasonably well, take it. Here's a link to the Gulliver ikea wooden chair that Emma uses.
• Always spread enough old newspaper underneath. You'll never know.
• Have lots of non-moisturizing baby wipes handy.
• Clean the surface of the table before eating. Foods always manage to escape the plate and into her mouth. Use anti-bacterial wet wipes, or just regular baby wipes mentioned above.
• Use a disposable table mat when outside or in a restaurant if possible. If not, just wipe as you would at home. Unless you are at a food court.
• Clean fresh fruits or vegetables thoroughly in running water before giving it to her.
• Always be positive and praise her eating. Never scold her for spilling food when she didn't mean to. Just enjoy our time with her and try to let her be as much as possible. Don't wipe her face all the time.
• Remember to start only when she is 6 months old.
• Remember that her main food is milk (breast or formula). These mealtimes with you is PLAYTIME until she turns one year old.

Turning One

Emma is one year old last week.
She can already handle a spoon, not poking herself. Because she is used to handling food like steamed broccoli, slices of apples, etc. So she can gauge distances from her hand to her mouth.
I can even trust her with chopsticks. Under supervision, of course. But it's unbelievable how nimble she is with the utensil. She can copy us picking up rice or noodle with the chopstick and eating it!
This will never happen if I have been feeding her cereals or porridge only with a spoon. Thanks again to Baby Led Weaning!

Jeremiah 29:11

If I could go back to the past to meet my old self, this is what I'm going to tell her:

Don't worry about anything. It's gonna turn out fine.
God has planned it all for you. You just take His hand.
Make sure you follow His commands. 
Everything will turn out fine.

Although now you may have no money, 
and you don't know if you'll get a good job.
You'll see, sister, that you will get an amazing job. 
And you'll do just fine.

Now you may wonder about a husband. Much less a baby. 
How would you afford it?
But He'll make sure you'll get the one He has chosen for you.
And the babies, the most wonderful babies, 
- yes, not just one baby - will come, too!

And you wonder how you'll ever serve God. 
If you'll ever gonna be any good.
Sister, you'll see, He has lovingly prepared 
Exactly what you need to be!

So now that I'm here in this wonderful future of mine, I should remember one thing more.
It's all gonna turn out fine later. 'Cos God is still in control of it all.
I do not hold my own fate. It is all in His merciful hands.
And He says, "I know the plans I have for you. Child, you'll do more than fine."

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. " Jeremiah 29:11

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

I just realized that Emma has enjoyed all the food mentioned in the Very Hungry Caterpillar book.
Thanks to BLW (baby-led weaning).
She knows and has eaten all the fruits: apples, pears, plums, strawberries, oranges and watermelons.
And I mean she knows the taste and texture. She knows the fruits not from the jar. Not only as juice. Not mashed. But the real fruit.

And not only the fruits. She loves all kinds of cheese, salami, apple pies, quiche, sausages, cupcakes, corn cobs, fish, prawns, steak, even seaweed and cooked sushi. Occasionally she also enjoys chocolate cake when we have some.

She has tried all those since 6 months old. It's so much fun!

She loves to open the book and touch all the pictures. She loves to have me read the book to her. She is only 10 months old.
How cool is that.

happiness is ...

... brushing hair together with your daughter in the morning.

As I started to brush hair, my 9-month-old Emma was very interested with my hairbrush.
So I took out her little soft-bristled, purple baby hairbrush and lets her play with it while I brushed my hair.
What bliss!

I thought about the many times when I was younger. When I was dreaming about having my own daughter doing stuff with me.

Praise the Lord for His amazing attention to detail in perfectly ordinary stuff.

Eating Out with a BLW baby

Now that Emma is almost 9 months old, I am just so grateful for BLW.
It's amazing EASY to eat out with her. She can eat anything in restaurants.

My husband and I took her out for a fancy teppanyaki dinner when she was just 8 months old, and it was fantastic. We thoroughly enjoyed dinner. We could talk and eat and didn't have to fuss about her too much. She was just busy eating her favorite table water crackers and camembert, and oranges and strawberries, all of which I packed for her from home.

We went back to that restaurant last Saturday. It was a full service buffet this time (brunch). And Emma could really eat the same foods with us this time. She sucked on the grilled marbled beef, grilled prawns, grilled salmon, shiitake mushroom; everything! She closed with a couple of mini mandarin oranges I brought.

It's just so satisfying to watch her eat. It's hard to believe that she only started last December. She's just so confident in handling food. She sometimes even join in the conversation with us during meals with her baby talk.

All this sure beats force-feeding her with a spoon!

Call unto Him

Today for the first time my daughter calls me, "Mama," very clearly! It has been "yaaa" or "maaa" for a while, but today it was a really clear two syllable word.

I can't describe how happy it made me feel.

I wonder if God also feels the same way when we call His name. When we call Him, "Father God," or "Lord Jesus," how does He feel?

Why don't we call Him more often?

Psalm 89:26 (New International Version)

 ²⁶ He will call out to Me, 'You are my Father,
       my God, the Rock my Savior.'

the Gift of An Ordinary Day

What a timely reminder.
A year ago I was still wondering how life with a teenager may look like. I still don't have a clear picture as yet. But I've had glimpses of it in the past year.

Yes, one must not fret. One must treasure.
Treasure these gifts of perfectly ordinary days that I'm having right now.

This one's for my son.
Mommy is sorry and I will always love you. Always.

honey for a child's heart blog!

http://tumblon.com/honey

I stumble upon this wonderful blog by an author that I consider my 'mentor' in reading books to my son!

I read her book 8 years ago when Nathan was still two years old.

Many a wonderful daily reading cuddles later, Nathan is now an avid reader. (In fact we've had to pry away books from him because it's time to eat, or study, or sleep!)

I've always loved books but her Honey For A Child's Heart taught me principles of reading and sharing books with my family. Thank you, Gladys!

In her blog you can find book recommendations, and wonderful insights on all time favorite books for all ages.

Countless times I've copied her list of books for the young from her book to look up in our local library or bookstore. My son always loves it ( I also read them to kids when I volunteer as reader at the library). And always, I love them, too!

Not all books are equal. Read only good books. Especially to our children.

Learning to give thanks!

Right now is the best years of my life.
Yes, right now. Not two years ago. Not next year. But today. Right now.

I should never complain and worry all the time. I must always be thankful. After all that's God's command.

Why is it so hard for me to be thankful? There is always something I'm not satisfied with. There's always more things to clean, to reorganize, more stuffs to do!

But I'm missing on the good stuff God has blessed me with. Instead of showing my love to my family, I'm always harried and moody. I wonder how they can stand being around me all this time.

Oh Lord, help me. Only You can save me from a life of futility. Only You.
Yes, He not only saved me from the punishment of sins, but also from my life of sins!

I know I can be free from under this cloud of dissatisfaction because of His power. Not by positive thinking or self-help tricks, but by His strength.

Praise the Lord.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song (Psalm 28:7).

happiness is Watching your baby devour food with gusto!

BLW works!

Emma is now 7 months old. She's eating all kinds of stuff with us on the table. I'm watching the sugar and salt content, though. She mostly eats steamed vegetables, and grilled meat or pan-fried tofu.

In this photo above, she is munching on a shiitake mushroom, lightly pan-fried with olive oil.

So she could eat spaghetti and meatballs with us. Steak and baked potatoes. Grilled fish with miso. Etc.
She snacks on crackers with soft camembert cheese. Bread with cheese. Steamed japanese sweet potatoes.
She eats tons of fruits and veggies!

She does not choke because we observe what the book advises us to do with her.
I strongly recommend all parents and would be parents to read the book before doing this. Once you get the hang of it, it's so useful!
Our mealtimes is a happy occasion, three times a day!
We must treat meals for her as playtimes, as exploring time, instead of a chore.

Plus, Emma is still fully breast-fed. Thank God for that.

I'm lovin' it.
http://www.baby-led.com/

Going out with baby

Tips on how to always be ready for trips with your baby/toddler:

• Replenish the diaper bag once you get home. Don't wait until your next trip.
• Bring wet wipes, tissue, change of clothes and diaper, bibs.
• Strawberries, apples and oranges are my favorite take out food for Emma because they stay fresh a long time uncut/unopened. We can always cut stuff up with a table knife at the restaurant.

got milk?

http://www.whymilk.com/

As a breastfeeding mom, drinking low-fat milk is my morning routine.
It's a huge source of calcium for my breast milk.

The calcium in fresh milk is the best because it is the easiest to absorp. That's why I always drink milk.
For my bones, and especially, for my baby.