Upcycle bib

This is my third upcycle bib. I made two from old jeans and gave them to my nephew without taking pictures.

When Tim was here, he left me his old broken jeans. Here is a bib made for his son from that jeans and scraps leftover when I made A1's school bag.

It is not perfect but I find it cute. I shall make a few more for friends with babies.

How we travel with the kids

In France, car seats for children are mandatory and the law is strictly abided. I rarely see young children not buckled in one.

However, in my short visits in Singapore each time, I saw on many occasions mothers who held their kids on their laps sitting in the front passenger seat. Or even kids not buckled up playing at the back of the car. This is disturbing for me. I had experienced minor car collisions twice in my life and the impact was strong even if there was no big damage done to the cars. Having a seat belt helped. If a child is not properly buckled on, in the event of an accident, he can be seriously injured. I questioned my friends and they said 'Oh, it's just a short distance.' Still, if you don't bang other cars, these other cars might bang yours. We never know.

Recently, a friend put on facebook a video of her 2 year old singing in the car. The father was driving, the mother was in the front taking video of her daughter who was standing in the middle and holding onto the two front headrests as support. I can't imagine how they could allow that.

OK, critics aside. If I had to travel in a car without a car seat (taking a taxi or my mum's car in Sg), I would sit at the back of the car, put my kid on my lap and buckle him with me. That won't replace the car seat but I was doing my best.

The photos below were taken during our trip in Lyon. Toddler A1 was in his comfy car seat. As usual, he did not want his photos to be taken. Toddler A2 was in his baby coque. He used this since birth. Soon, he will be upgraded to a road facing car seat as he is getting too big. We will be getting a bigger car seat for A1 and as usual, A2 will use the hand me down of his brother's.

Shoes for A2

Baby A2 has been cruising around the appartment since a few weeks. It was time to get him a pair of walking shoes. For his first walking shoes, I was told to buy him new shoes. Making him walk with used shoes from his brother might caused him feet problems later. He had to form his own prints on his shoes.

Since baby A2 had many hand-me-downs from his brother, we felt that he deserved new shoes. We went shopping at Jardin de Luxembourg area and got him a pair of mid-season shoes. We both liked the shoes very much. The sales assistant told us that size 20 was just right and size 21 would be more comfortable for baby A2.
However, when we returned home, I realised that the shoes were too big. Baby A2 kept dropping his shoes.

This weekend, when Seb was back from his work trip, we went to buy another pair of shoes for baby A2. Ended up at the usual shop at Usine Center near the airport and got baby A2 a pair of Kickers size 20.

The soles of the shoes were pretty unique. The design was different from that of toddler's A1 first walking shoes.

I really like Kickers shoes for babies and toddlers. Think I will stick to this brand for the moment.

The circus room

As you might have read earlier, we put our two boys in the same bedroom. But it was not working out. Each night/early morning, either one would wake up the other. Baby A2 cried at times in the middle of the night and woke up toddler A1. Toddler A1 woke up around 5.30am and started calling for his papa and woke up baby A2.

We decided to put toddler A1 in the 'playroom'. After all, it was easier to just move his bed to the other room. We got rid of the old computer and the computer table to make room for a play tent. The only one I found at Toys 'R Us was a circus tent. Once his bed was moved over and the tent put up, we invited toddler A1 to see the surprise. He took a look and did not even want to go into the tent. He then went back to watch his cartoons on the IPad. Seb and I looked at each other and shook our heads. We were anticipating his excitements at our efforts but I guessed we held too much hopes. Funny parents.
For his afternoon nap, toddler A1 went to bed without any problem in his new room. He checked out his tent and loved it so much that each night, we (toddler A1 and I) read stories in it. He invited his papa to join him but Seb declined. He told his son in french: 'If papa goes in, there won't be any tent left.' Interesting, baby A2 is not allowed into tent by his brother. Each time baby A2 tried to crawl in, his brother would be upset and said 'No, no no!' It is not easy to explain to toddler A1 that he has to share with his brother.

For the bare wall, I looked up internet for some stickers and got a set of circus themed stickers from Berceaumagique. I received them really fast and we as a family had a good time pasting them on the wall. Toddler A1 was all excited and I can tell he likes his room with the funny stickers.
And now, the boys do not wake up each other. Goal achieved. Next up, I will try to take photos of Baby A2's room and do a post for memory sake.

Sleeping arrangement

A few months before the arrival of little brother, we bought a junior bed from Ikea for the big brother. Though he was only 16months old, we decided to make him sleep in the junior bed instead of buying another baby bed for the little brother. The little brother would instead be sleeping in the existing baby bed.

We installed the junior bed but big brother did not want to sleep in it. It took him a month before he slowly accepted sleeping in it. Now, he had no problem sleeping in it. I think he knew the advantage of sleeping in the big bed. He could get out of the bed early in the morning and came looking for us in our room. In the baby bed, he would have to wait for us to come get him. We no longer needed to set the alarm clock as we could hear big brother getting off his bed and walking along the corridor at 6.30am or sometimes earlier.

For little brother, I decided not to put him in the baby bed yet. The 2 boys would be sharing a room and since little brother cried so often as all new borns do, I did not want him to disturb his older brother’s sleep. I rented a maternity baby bed for a month. We could easily move the baby anywhere we want. Furthermore, we could see the baby through the transparent cot.

Another week and little brother would be a month old. I'm hoping that the 2 boys would sleep well when they are both in the same bedroom.

Summer sales is here

The summer sales is here. What are the damages to my wallet so far. . . . . .
I bought some summer maternity clothes from H&M Maman but all of them except for a 3/4 length pants were new collection. Thus, no discount.

Also got 2 Longchamps Pliage bags at half prices. A document bag and a big travelling bag. Of course there were not much choice of colors.
That's about it for me.
For Baby A, I bought some bodies from Petit Bateau, clothes from Absorba and Vertbaudet. I got some pyjamas and day wear for baby A from Vertbaudet and was surprised when paying that an extra 20% discount was given for more than 4 items bought. It was really a bargain.

As baby A was starting to walk and everyone stressed on the importance of having a good pair of walking shoes, I bought 2 pairs of Kickers for baby A. One for autumn and one for winter. Seb paid for them and though there were 30% discount, he was shocked by the price of such small shoes.
I really like the soles of these little shoes. They are cute, aren't they?
I think I am done with this sale. I am looking forward to the winter sales where I hope to get some bargains on clothes for myself and for the second baby.

Diapers bin

If you ask Seb what is the essential baby stuff that he could not live without, he will tell you this: the 'used diaper' bin. I do not know about you but when my neighbour told me that this is one thing we should have on top of the babycook, I was skeptical. Seb however insisted we get it, just like me insisting on the babycook.

I was convinced about the usefulness of the used diaper bin when we run out of recharge (the scented plastic bag). We had to find plastic bags to store the used diapers and they stinked in the rubbish bin. Unlike the old appartments in Singapore, there is no rubbish chute in our appartment. We had to put out our rubbish bags in a common rubbish collection area in the residence and I tend to throw my rubbish once every few days.

The used diaper bin is very easy to use and can store many diapers without leaking the smell. Just open the cover, push the used diaper into the bin, turn the grey ring to isolate the diaper in the plastic and close the bin. It makes diaper changing a step easier and faster.

Once the bin is fulled, throw away the string of sausage look alike diaper bags. There is no bad smell. To better understand the concept, check out the Sangenic website. For me, this bin is a bonus. However, Seb finds diaper changing a lot easier with it. So of course, I am more than happy to have it.

Babycook

Baby A is increasing his intake of solids nowadays. I try to make home cooked food for him as often as I can. During the weekends, I prepare his purée and fruit compte with Babycook. It is real easy. Just cut up the vegetables or fruits and put them in the steaming basket. Pour water into the appliant. Turn the knob to steaming mode. Once the food is cooked, just pour the contents in the steaming basket into the blender and turn on the knob to the mixer mode. Voila!

Babycook really ease our lives. It is highly recommended by my neighbour and colleagues. Well, I do admit that it is really handy though at first, I was deterred by its cost. When I cooked porridge, I put the porridge into the Babycook and mix it up.

So far, Baby A enjoys what I make for him and is not fussy. Today, I added in 2 teaspoons of fish in his porridge with carrots. He finished them up. Tomorrow, I will make him try chicken with sweet peas and carrots.

Label label

Got this cloth from a UK website while shopping for bandana bibs. Baby A likes to chew on labels. Once he is handed a toy, he would nibble on the label. Somehow, babies prefer that than the toy itself.

With this cloth, he has lots of labels to choose from. Still, I saw him putting the real label to his mouth once. Coincidence?

Toy rental

Before coming to Singapore, I checked out the toy rental services available. I am surprised with the number of websites offering toys at affordable rent. Here is the list:
http://rent-a-toy.com/shop/
http://www.toys4rent.sg/
http://www.toyrentalclub.com/getting_here.html
http://www.littlefairyland.com/
http://rent-that-toy.com

I got a bumbo baby sitter and a bouncer from one of the above sites. Delivery was free for an order of $35 and above. It definitely beats having to lug items from France to keep baby A entertained for a month.

On Bumwear and Sock Ons

I will have to keep this post short. Being a new mom is more than a full time job. I hardly have time to myself despite having my mom around. But as the weeks pass, I am better organised and can squeeze some minutes to consecrate to my blog.


Baby A is growing well. I asked mom to bring some washable diapers and recently started to use these diapers on baby A. I ordered these diapers from Bumwear. It looks bulky and I waited until baby achieved 4kg before trying on him. I only use it on him during the day and when the weather is warm. It is not possible to put a body suit over the bumwear diaper during cold days. These diapers are a long term investments as they can last until baby A is toilet trained. I remembered when I asked Seb what color he preferred, he told me to get 10 of the same color - white. Huh? I got 10 of them in different colors. It would be so boring to only have one color.

In the photo above, baby A is wearing a Bumwear and also Sock Ons. Sock Ons is the little thing that helps to keep baby A's socks on. He is not able to kick out his socks thanks to my neighbour who ordered it from UK.

There are so many innovative baby products out there. So far, I am satisfied with my purchases. I am trying to be reasonable. Tomorrow, we will have to shop for a new pram. The hand-me-down pram is 9 year old and showing signs of wear and tear. Maybe my next post will be on the pram. If you are expecting subjects apart from baby stuff, at the moment, I have nothing else to offer you. I do hope very much to write a post about travels and vacations soon. But that is in my KIV tray......