1) Sit upright by herself
I started training her neck muscles to hold her head up ever since she was just a few weeks old. I have watched medical videos of premature babies who were underdeveloped but yet were able to hold their heads up for a few seconds at a time. That convinced me that babies were able to do so if we allow their core muscles to develop. Hence, I often carried her in an upright position and supported only her back, not her neck (can look very scary to some people but rest assured I know what I'm doing).
This training led to her being able to hold her head up without support at 2 months old. This also later culminated in her ability to sit without support at 4 months old.
 |
| On musical cars just outside Vivocity |
 |
| 1st horse ride on merry-go-round |
People often ask me if I wished she would hurry up and walk but my response will always be 'no'. She has the rest of her life to walk, but only a few months of her life where she is just lying there and happy to do so. I do however, wish for her to sit on her own asap so that I don't have to keep carrying her whenever I want to eat. The earlier she can sit in a baby chair, the better for my arms.
Which brings us to #2..
2) Eat at the dinner table
 |
| Baby highchair from Ikea (S$69) |
As she is eating porridge on top of her regular milk, she joins us at the dinner table where I feed her and eat my own food as well. She likes to copy our every move from putting the spoon in our mouth to drinking from a cup.
She can sometimes get really cranky at the dinner table, being bored and all and this is where highchair toys come in.
 |
| High chair toy from TOYS'R'US (S$16.90) |
I particularly like this one from TOYS'R'US as it has music, twirly things and even a mirror. The suction rubber is also large enough such that it will stick well to the table. This is important as it prevents babies from yanking it off and accidentally hitting themselves with it, which was what happened when baby J was playing with the Fisher-Price high chair toy that my mum got for her for Christmas. It only costs S$16.90 but can be very bulky and heavy to lug around as compared to the one from Fisher-Price.
Dinnertime is now slightly better whenever she is well-behaved, which I heard will not last so better enjoy it while it lasts I suppose.
3) Drink from a cup with straw
My baby is kind of weird. She only drinks milk from the milk bottle. Refuses to drink anything else that drips from it, including barley and water. So the only way to feed her water is with a spoon, which is really slow. Thank goodness she still gets enough water from breastmilk or she will be severely dehydrated.
Then one day I tried letting her drink from a straw, half expecting that she couldn't. To my surprise, she was able to slurp up the water, albeit with lots of coughs since she still hasn't really mastered it yet.
 |
| Cup from Pigeon (S$13.90) |
So I bought her this cup from Pigeon (which they sell at various stores) and she has been drinking water from this ever since. Although it's relatively more expensive but definitely worth the money. It is extremely light, colourful and doesn't leak. Best of all, its round handles can spin 360 degrees to allow you to tuck the handles in when not in use so that it doesn't take up space in your bag. Perfect!
4) Pull to stand
 |
| Training her to walk... |
Recently I realised that whenever I held her hands when she was sitting down, she instinctively pushes her hands into mine, leans body forward and tries to stand up. As you know there are generally three kinds of babies: crawlers, rollers and those that skip straight to walking. Mine is the third type. So might as well start training her to walk, which she loves to try since she gets this overwhelming applause from spectators nearby. Guess we all instinctively thrive on the approval of others.
Anyway, very soon baby J will be baby no more and I will definitely miss this quiet and obedient side of her.
It's such a cliche but it's so true, my baby grows up way too fast!
