I'm a full-time mummy

Welcome to the Safe Cosleeping Blog Carnival!

This post was written for inclusion in the Safe Cosleeping Blog Carnival hosted by Monkey Butt Junction . Our bloggers have written on so many different aspects of cosleeping. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

When Ben was 17 months old, I wrote a post about the Beauty of Co-sleeping with him. He's 33 months old now and yeap, still co-sleeps with us. Our 3 months old baby girl is also co-sleeping with us on the same bed.

Now, I co-sleep to:

* breastfeed BOTH my children (yes, even my 33 months old boy)

* sleep better, I don't need to physically get out of the bed in order to feed my child. All I need to do is just turned sideways (Ben on my left, Alyson on my right) and nursed them back to sleep

* provide assurance and comfort to my children

* enjoy the beautiful sight of pure angelic faces sleeping next to me!

Of course, if you googled around, there are many more benefits (and risks) of co-sleeping. What works for us, may not necessarily works for others. All I'm saying is co-sleeping works for us.

I myself co-sleep with my parents until I turned 7 years old. I remember the comfort of being right next to my parents, waking up from a nightmare and realising I'm protected by my parents who are just right next to me and feeling everything is going to be fine.

How long is this going to last? As long as we want to be next to them I guess...

Welcome to the November Carnival of Natural Parenting: Kids in the Kitchen

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared how kids get involved in cooking and feeding. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

As a parent, of course we would want our child to display good manners at all times. My MIL likes to say that whenever someone sees a child misbehaving, it will always fall on the mother's responsibilities to teach the child good manners and people will always presume that it is the mother who is not teaching the child properly (sigh!*)

So anyway, for this month's "Carnival of Natural Parenting", I would like to share with you guys how my husband and I teach and encourage our 32 months old son (his name is Benjamin) to adopt good manners and maintain his responsibilities during his mealtime. Now what we strives for Ben to continuously do this for his mealtimes are:

1. Pray before eat

Why? -This will teach Ben to appreciate his food and be grateful that he gets to eat everyday! Watch this YouTube video to see how Ben prays before he starts his meal. 

2. Wipe own hands and mouth if messy

Why? -This will teach Ben to maintain cleanliness at all time. I always have a wet handkerchief around me whenever Ben eats. And I'll try as much as I can to remind Ben to wipe his own hands and mouth when it gets messy - of course there are times, I just rush in and clean up for him, but yes, I do try to get him to do it himself as much as he can.

3. Saying 'Please' and 'Thank You' when he wants and get something

Why? -This will teach Ben to ask for something he wants instead of expecting things to be 'spoon-fed' to him!  Watch this YouTube video to see Ben at 19 months, learning to say 'Please'

4. Buckle up for Safety!

Why? -This is so that Ben always remembers safety is a must regardless where he is at. Watch this YouTube video to see Ben at 20 months, learning to buckle up the safety strap when he sits in his high chair. Before he learned to buckle the safety strap himself, he will often reminds us to buckle him up - even in his car seat!

5. To put the empty plate and cutlery into the sink

Why? -I'd want him to take on a more 'big boy' role by doing this and also wants him to feel that mummy and daddy trust him to do bigger tasks. Plus it does ease my workload now that he is doing this! I have just recently started teaching Ben to put his plate and spoon into the sink once he has finished his meal. So far so good!

So how about you?

What mealtime manners and responsibilities that you are trying to instil on your child?

Welcome to the I Love Me! Carnival!

This post was written for inclusion in the I Love Me! Carnival hosted by Amy at Anktangle. This carnival is all about love of self, challenging you to lift yourself up, just for being you. Please read to the bottom to find a list of submissions from the other carnival participants.

For those of you who hopped over from the carnival, welcome and greetings from Malaysia, I hope you enjoy reading me bragging about myself (oh please bear with me... it's really rare that I self-complimented myself in public!!).

For my regular readers and visitors, hope you enjoy this post and do check out other participants' posts in this carnival if you're free!

Now what I love about me?

1. I quit my job to be a full-time mummy

Yeah! I kissed my beloved job goodbye back in June 2009 and became a SAHM since then. No regrets now that I look back at it. And I thank God for providing us with what we need since then.

2. I am a low maintenance kinda girl

Yeap again... no make-ups, no perfumes, no branded clothing, shoes, handbags, etc etc. Back when I was still working, I would spend money on books and magazines and the occasional clothing which I can wear both to work and for casual, but that's about it. No unnecessary spending. And now that I'm a SAHM, I get my books for FREE (since I get to review them hehehe...) and if I have to buy them, I use the money I earned from my blog.

3. I exclusively breastfed Benjamin for the first 6 months of his life

And by exclusive breastfed I meant totally on breastmilk and nothing else. No formula at all. With the rare couple of occasions where I was nagged by MIL to give Ben a few sips of water (during one of our very hot season). I am proud to be able to nourish my boy solely on my breastmilk alone!

4. I prepared Ben's solids myself

Other than the first small tin of rice cereal we bought to try out on Ben when he started solids, I prepared his solids myself. Steamed, mashed, minced, sliced all sorts of vegetables and fruits and prepared it for my boy. I wrote a post about Ben's solids and why I DIY his solids and you can read it at my old blog here.

5. I nursed my boy through my pregnancy!

Even though my breastmilk dried up during my 5th month of pregnancy, that doesn't seem to stop Ben from continue suckling from me. And now that my baby Alyson is born, Ben continues on breastfeeding (only prior to his afternoon naptime and bedtime) which makes up my next point which is...

6. I tandem nurse my 2.5 year old boy and baby

It is now almost 2 months that I tandem nursed my boy and my baby. Of course, during the initial few days, I was having emotional battles whenever I nursed Ben but slowly, I worked through this obstacle and am hoping it will completely go away soon.

7. I love my big eyes

Yeap, I admit it. I love them. I love that Ben inherits my big eyes. I hope Alyson does too. It's still too early to tell now. But yeah, my big eyes are one of my body parts which I'm proud of.

So there you go... the above lists are some of the things I can think of now that I love about myself!