Vern Practically Lives On My Hips/Tummy 24/7

Child#1 gets like 300+ blog posts. Child#2 gets half of it at 150+ blog posts. And poor Child#3 gets less than 10 blog posts since he was born.

Some people had the nerve to make me feel guilty saying that I am not being fair to him, blah blah blah. But it was clear that she had not been in my shoes.
Well, although it is not fair to him, but life haven't been fair to me as well.

The number 1 reason I don't blog as often before is because baby Vern sticks to me like glue 24/7. When I say 24/7, I meant it. He practically lives on my hips/tummy (babywearing).
The moment he saw me walked away from his sight, he wailed the house down. And that makes showering and poo-ing a wailing affair.

I've got loads to blog about. Vern's 4 months old traditional ceremony at home, all his milestones; his first laugh, his first tooth, his first crawl and many other firsts. But they were all being updated into my FB because it is easier to post a short status update using my phone than to type a thousand words to form a blog post. (my blog posts have always been lengthy)

I miss blogging. I miss stating down the every day lives. I miss putting my thoughts into words. I miss writing reviews. But then I've got my hands full with 2 schooling kids and a sticky baby.
I'm glad hubby is around doing the ferrying of the kids most of the time but then hubby is not 'mummy' and Vern only wants 'mummy.'

It can be really exhausting having him with me ALL the time. The only time he is not with me is that I requested for hubby to to 'keep an eye him' so that I can wash the dishes, or do the laundry. And if I'm not doing those stuff, it is my responsibility to have him with me, or I am made to feel guilty. (or maybe it is just me feeling this way).

This feeling can be very overwhelming and a little suffocating.
It is not easy for me as well. I am learning as well. I am not perfect.
Sometimes, I just need a little time for myself without him sticking to me.

So today I just told hubby to give me a little time to myself every night after the older kids are asleep. I really need this to keep me sane. This and maybe a long-due holiday. *grin

So let me end this post which some photos of my sticky baby at 8mo, and tell me how can I get angry at such a face? :)

   
Vern at nearly 8mo @ 6 March 2016

I really hope I get to blog more often soon. 

Nites people. 

Celebrating 34th and I was Hubby's Girlfriend for 2 Hours!

Just hubby & me!

It was a fabulous birthday because I felt like hubby's girlfriend again!
Well, let me clarify what I meant by that.

1. We got to spend 2 1/2 hours for lunch just the two of us! (yes, without the baby!)
2. I got to sit in the front seat next to the driver. (and not on the 2nd row with Vern)
3. I got to wear a dress which doesn't have any 'secret' opening slit because I didn't need to breastfeed Vern.
4. I got to wear heels, because I didn't need to wear flats for fear of toppling over myself and baby.
5. And lastly, I got to eat with BOTH my hands (and not with one hand carrying the baby).

Haha, yes it was all because of Vern!
But because mum agreed to babysit him for 2 hours in which I got some alone time with hubby, which I super appreciate. Thanks mum!

But look at this face. How can I be angry at him?

Hubby took his girlfriend for the day (a.k.a me!) to Farquhar Mansion for my first ever self-paying fine dining experience!

And so with me in my dress and heels, we both went phak thor! haha.

Once we were there, we took a rare selfie of the two of us. No kids photobombed our selfie. ;)

This was our menu of the day. 5-course menu of RM138. Price is per pax + 6% and you just choose your main. 

Most expensive lunch we paid for. 

It was ages ago since I took a selfie in the restroom. Haha. It felt good. 

 

Being on a weekday, we had the small room all by ourselves when we first arrived. Halfway through though, another couple came in. 

And we were the cheapo people that did not order any wine. Sorry, no alcohol for the breastfeeding lady, and hubby doesn't like wine. So we drank this water only. lol.

The Farquhar Mansion bread roll that came with these butters were delicious.
The homemade unsalted butter sounded plain, but it was buttery and creamy. And as a bread lover, I loved it with the herbed butter and sundried tomato butter and almost wanted to ask for more bread.

The first appetiser that came was the Duck Breast Cappacio, and it was my favourite dish. I don't know if I was hungry by then, but it tasted super nice.
The duck breasts cappacio came with balsamic dressing with some spots of mustard dressing, and a little mix-green, air dry garlic, feta cheese and poached pear.
The combination in my mouth was sooooo good.

Next was the Half-Grill Salmon.
I loved the seared scallop that came with it almost as much as the salmon, which was half-grilled to perfection. I love the quail egg as well and the whole appetiser came with micro herb, wakame, salmon skin and house special dressing.
This was hubby's favourite dish of the day.

 

The soup was a letdown. It was Asparagus Volute.
I prefer my soup to be served piping hot and it was not.
The milk foam was weird for me and the crispy leek tasted rubbery and not chewable. Eeek.

After the appetisers and soup, there was a mini strawberry sorbet for us to cleanse our mouth. This was delicious too, haha.

 

Hubby ordered this Salmon Trout as his main. 

The skin was crispy and flesh juice inside. It was marinated perfectly too, with the right amount of salt. Yes, I know because I ate half of his main. :)

 

Mine was the Beef Loin and it tasted delicious. Tender and juicy and medium rare.
Hubby didn't like the pinkish colour but I loved it.

Desert was a perfect end to our perfect lunch .

 

Oh ya, they served us coffee or tea too. ;)

A photo of the happy us dining!

Overall, it was a great lunch. I would recommend it to anyone who can pay the price because it tasted great.

But ambience wise, I think Macalister Mansion was better but the food was not that nice.

 

On the way driving back, we already received a phone call from mum telling us Vern was wailing away for mummy. Haha.
It was all ok because I miss him too after 2 hours! :)


And after the kids were back from school, we celebrated my birthday round 2!
It was at Creameal, a new cafe I discovered a week ago.
See my photos of Creameal in my Facebook here and here. (nope, I don't own Creameal, just in case you are wondering!).

How can I not celebrate with my noisy brood? They are my life, my 3 boisterous boys! ;)

Yes, I ate my favourite Waffle with Ice-Cream there!

 

They gave us 2 pcs of cake to wish me Happy Birthday too. Thank you Creameal!

And lastly a photo with my beloved extended family (minus Min and Wen). =)

Happy Birthday to me.
I am 34 this year and feeling great! (Ok, I feel old too!)  =)

Conversation with Shern @ 6 years

It has been almost a year since I last shared Conversation With Shern.
These are a few of the things he said for the past year which I'd remembered to pen down. There are lots more which I'd forgotten. haha.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shern: Is there iPad in Heaven?
Me: What do you think?
Shern: I think don't have.
Me: So do you still want to go to Heaven?
Shern: Yes.
Me: Why?
Shern: Because I can sleep on the clouds in Heaven....so nice!
Me: But Heaven doesn't have iPad wor.
Me: Is ok. We can play with God in Heaven, no need iPad!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While sitting in yee-yee's old Kenari.
Shern: Yee-yee, is your car feeling cold?
Yee-yee: Why?
Shern: Because your car is shivering non-stop!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wanted to sell my old Kenari, which gives us quite a lot of problems lately.
Me: Shern, we are going to sell off mummy's car.
Shern: Ok. But you cannot sell it for a lot of money. Only can sell for less money.
Me: Why?
Shern: Because a lot of things spoiled. The lock is spoiled. And sometimes the car cannot start when daddy fetches me from school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few months ago, we found that Shern was very slow in his writing/homework. We tried many ways to encourage him to write faster.
Then at one of the nights where the boys were having a race with hubby, and hubby deliberately ran super slowly,
Shern: Daddy, why did you run so slow?
Hubby: To show you how slow you were when you were writing.
Shern: No lah, I write even slower than your slow running!
(haha. We expected him to protest and say 'no lah, i am not that slow', but on the other hand he admits he was much slower. haha)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Met up with hubby's friend whose name was Lee Kuan Shern.
Daddy: Shern, do you know this uncle has the same name as you?
Shern: You mean your name is also Lim Yiu-Shern?
(haha, he was not wrong you know!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You learn a lot by watching cartoons too. These are the examples of what Shern learned through watching Nickolodeon Junior.


#1.  We were at a bbq party at a friend's rooftop. Shern saw lots of bright stars in the night sky.

Shern: Mummy, have you made constellations of the stars?
Me: Wah, where did you learn constellations from?
Shern: Erm...from Dora the Explorer.

#2. We were having lunch and Shern told me this today:

Shern: Do you know that ketchup can remove the stinky smell of a skunk?
Me: where did you learn this from?
Shern: I learned from Mrs Lee and from Paw Patrol cartoon.
(I googled and not so true, it cannot remove but it indeed can mask the smell of a stinky skunk)

Review & Discount Code: Pittari Wrap (Baby Wrap With Waist Belt)

22 August 2015 - Vern @ 1mo in Pittari Wrap

I chose a wrap to babywear my newborn/infant baby#3, instead of a soft-structured carrier (SSC). My first wrap was the Ergobaby Wrap. 

Wraps provide a great way to develop the bond and closeness between parents and baby in the early months and beyond. Being carried in a wrap keeps baby feeling safe and secure, reminding them of the womb. 

Although most SSCs claim that they are suitable for infants, I feel better using the wrap or ring sling for infants.
This is because carrying baby in a wrap carrier is very much easy to achieve Safe Babywearing, especially for an infant. 

So what is Safe Babywearing?
A general rule of thumb is to wear your baby close and high enough to be easily kissed on the baby's forehead. Baby's chin/airways should always be uncovered and visible.
Their hips and thighs should be in a squatted straddle/frog-leg 'M' position, which occurs when baby's spine curves into a natural 'c' shape while being worn, just like the diagram below. 

Photo Source: http://www.babydoousa.com/info/safety/

I am so honoured to have the opportunity to try out the innovative Pittari Wrap, thanks to Unison CA. 

SO WHO AND WHAT IS UNISON CA?
Unison CA is the exclusive distributor of the Lucky Company. The Lucky Company was founded in the year 1934 and it is the oldest and most trusted baby carrier manufacturer in Japan. 

Throughout the years, the advance technology, continuous improvement and the product testing and research of LUCKY products have been recognized worldwide.

The people behind Unison CA are parents themselves. So they encourage parent and child attachment, as how they encourage and promote babywearing. Out of all, safety and comfort of babies are of their utmost care, and so they bring us high quality and reliable products from around the globe.

(Source: unisonca.com) 

FIRST IMPRESSION & FEATURES

It came in a cardboard box so it was well-cushioned and protected.

Inside the parcel was the Pittari box itself. 
This is how the Pittari packaging looks like; front, back and side views.
It has big images of models wearing their kids from infant to toddler. 
And at one side of the box it has diagram of its features and basic instructions on how to use it. I find this information simple but useful. 

 

 

I like that it has a sling on its box, so it is convenient to carry it on-the-go. 

Upon opening up the Pittari box, the Pittari Wrap was wrapped with another layer of plastic, which made is well protected, especially from wetting it. 

 

I got the Turquoise Blue Pitari Wrap and I love the colour as it is a fresh and pleasant colour.
This is how it looks like. 

 

 

The Pittari wrap brand is sewn onto the waist belt. 

And just like my Ergo SSCs, it has a strong buckle, with a safety elastic buckle strap to ensure maximum buckle security. You just need to thread the belt into the loop before buckling and have a peace of mind for the extra safety measure. 

 

This is the usual ends of the straps and comes with a rubber tie, which you can roll up the loose ends of the straps when it is too long and then use the rubber to secure it. 

What makes this Pittari Wrap so special is because of this waist belt. 
Pittari Wrap is an innovative wrap with a waist belt, in which I find it really convenient and easy especially for a first-time-wrap-mum/dad.
This is how the waist belt looks like. The waist belt has something like a pouch and that is where you keep the folded fabric neatly.

This is one sheet of the long fabric. The other sheet is behind it. As you can see, it is not too long, as compared to the Ergobaby Wrap. 
A shorter fabric means it has a lower learning curve as it is easier to handle a shorter fabric. So it is good news for new mothers/fathers. 

All you need to do it fasten the waist belt securely around your waist. Then open the cloth into the correct position to wrap the fabric around your body. 

I watched this short youtube video clip on how to wrap this, and it is pretty easy. 

I watched it a few times and I could wrap little Vern all by myself!

This was my first time wrapping Vern at home using Pittari Wrap when he was barely 1 month old. 

You can further support the infant's head by pulling up part of the stretchable fabric like below. 

Just make sure that the infant's airflow is not obstructed in any way.

This is a closer look on the infant underneath the fabric. Baby Vern was all cozy and snug in it. 

 

As it was easy and fast to wrap with less fabric to handle, I felt confident to go out with Vern with Pittari Wrap. And when needed to rewrap, then I can just find a corner and re-wrap Vern with it in just a minute or two! 

 

A photo of Khye and I with baby Vern asleep snugly inside the Pittari Wrap.

The fabric also can be used as a makeshift blanket in an emergency. 
I was breastfeeding Vern in the breastfeeding room in Parkson, Gurney Plaza and I found the place to be a little cold. I then realized I forgot to bring his blanket and so I used the wrap fabric as a makeshift blanket to keep him warm. 

After breastfeeding him, I re-wrap him up again in the Pittari Wrap and we both were ready to brave another few hours of shopping in Gurney Plaza hands-free! :) 

 

With baby Vern sleeping snugly in the Pittari Wrap close to me, we could dine in peace with my both hands free to indulge in some Haagen-Dazs ice-creams!

  

Guess what? Spot little Vern in below 2 photos. 

I posted these 2 photos in my blog's fb page and some people commented that they need to look twice before they could spot little Vern in my Pittari Wrap! :)

So what is the downside of this wrap? 

Well, I must say that the material is not as thick or luxuriously feel as the Ergobaby Wrap I'd reviewed, but on the other hand because of this, I would say that the Pittari Wrap fabric material is more cooler and breathable, thus more suitable for our hot and humid country. 

Another thing is that there is NO WAY that I can bring the baby in and out of the wrap without the need to re-tie the wrap, like I could with the Ergobaby Wrap. 

Once I take baby out, the wrap gets loose and thus the need to re-tie is a must!

But since it is so easy to re-tie it, I don't find this an issue at all.
I could re-tie baby in Pittari Wrap in less than a minute all by myself! 

Another thing to note is that the weight limit for Pittari Wrap is 15kg (31 lbs) which I think once too heavy the fabric might sag, so when the baby gets bigger, such as 6 months old, most people would graduate to either a woven wrap, or to using a soft-structured carrier (SSC). So the lifetime of this wrap is pretty short.

But all in all, I love this Pittari Wrap as I still feel that a wrap or a ring sling is most suitable for newborns and infants.

I'd wish I'd found Pittari Wrap earlier with my two elder kids as it would definitely increase my confidence of using a wrap with my newborns!

And Pittari Wrap is so easy to learn and use that I would definitely recommend this to any new mothers/fathers, or anybody that are intimidated by using a wrap.

To read about my other reviews on babycarriers, click on below :-
a) Soft-structured Carriers (SSCs)
- Pikkolo by Catbird Baby

- Boba 3G

- LÍLLÉbaby® Complete All Seasons (Part 1, Part 2)
- Ergobaby; Ergobaby Performance, and Ergobaby 360.

b) Wraps
- Ergobaby Wrap

- Pittari Wrap

c) Slings - SUPPORi Baby Sling
- SUKKIRI Ring Sling

TO PURCHASE WITH DISCOUNT CODE

Good news! Thanks to UNISON CA, readers of this blog gets:

15% off ANY products from their website store from now until 31 January 2016, using discount code 'HappyGoLucky' upon checkout. 
Check out the different products by UNISON CA ranging from carriers, feeding products and accessories.




You can also visit their Website or their Facebook Page for more info.
Or you can also add them on Instagram @mysuppori_unisonca 

Disclosure: I received a Pittari Wrap for review purpose, but no monetary incentive was received. All text and opinions are of my own and represents my honest opinion of the product(s).