Life of a Mom

The husband has work this morning, so it is solo parenting again after breakfast.

10am the hub dropped us off at Nylon

1035am walk the elder boy to his make up class at Berries (and pushing the lil one in his stroller)

1045am walk back with the lil one and hoping that he will sleep. He DID NOT sleep 😭 and I have to entertain the terror and I forced him to sleep, ignoring his cries

1145pm PEACE

12pm decided to pen it all down and I'm going to walk over to Berries again in 5min
........................................................................
the hub is still at work.

Of car seats & strollers.

I was tasked to research for car seats and strollers while I was pregnant with Isaac. It was quite an uphill task considering how NOT technical a person I am.

Comparing specifications is something that I loathed doing, I love it when I am told what to get and what not to get, save my brain cells please!

Then, I was in love with the Bugaboo Bee but I couldn't convince the hub of its functionality vs the price and he knew I chose that purely for aesthetics pleasure. Oh well, things did not go my way of course.

Choosing a car seat and stroller was a totally new category of search and even my best friend Google was confused as I could not narrow my search. So, I was given some key words from the hub, one action closing, light weight, iso-fixed(what is that?!?), weight limit for baby, safety - eh so helpful right? Shrugs.

Thinking back, my old neighbours turned girlfriends did recommend me the Combi strollers but they just don't look good to me and there were so many different models to look at, so it was a no-go.

Somehow and with luck, I chanced upon the Britax B-Agile online and fell in love with the red, the 3-wheels outlook and it even comes with the car seat/bassinet (travel system)! That's when I also discover the Baby Jogger City as they look really similar! The deciding factor was the travel system/ bassinet - the Britax stroller is conveniently build with their bassinet and all the adapters are included but it was not the case for the baby jogger back in 2014 haha. Updates: I see that they have the travel system now too!

When I introduced the Britax to the hub, he further discovered more technical stuffs like the impressive safety standards (which was really important) and Mercedes car seats are Britax seats too, so of course, britax for the baby!

Some key considerations for a stroller will be
1. light weight - though a baby sounds really light and almost weightless, they weigh a ton as they grow, imagine carrying a 10kg stroller (one bag of rice) and another 5kg baby (another bag of rice), that's a whopping 15kg!

2. easy to manoeuvre around - with a child, shit always happen and the stroller is supposed to help and not get in the way!

3. one action closing - in case our hands are full and you need to also carry the baby (ie. Shit happens)

4. mummy friendly - means the mum can handle both stroller and baby by herself when the hub is not around to help. I once see a mum rolling down with the stroller on a carpark down slope as the stroller with the baby is too heavy for her to handle

5. additional accessories like cup holders will be a plus but we did without for many years so it is not an issue for us.

Looking back, will I still have gotten a Britax? Maybe yes, maybe no because I have discovered the goodness of a Babyzen Yoyo! It is super lightweight and more manageable than a britax and it is cabin friendly for travelling too. The only thing I have got to find is the car seat for infant, haha.

Anyway, both my boys have unlocked a new milestone and we have ditched the infant bassinet, YAYS! One to a toddler child seat and the other to a children seat. 🎉

the 7-hours experience at solo-parenting

happy children's day! #1 had no sch today but unfortunately, the hub had a day packed with meetings. hence, i had a chance at solo-parenting the 2 boys and yes, i survived.

it was a great deal to me; handling a needy 8 weeks old infant and an equally needy 32 months old toddler (read terrible 2 going 3) ALONE was NO easy-peasy.

the first thoughts were:
1. activity
2. meals
3. naps

if only i can execute them smoothly, it should not be too tough right?

activity
right, so what activity should i do with #1? i have many options; playdoh, stickers play, colouring, painting, craft works, glass deco sets, etc. i have all the above materials at home. BUT i also have a needy infant who is still adjusting to this new world and fixing his daily routine, SO playdoh, crafts, painting and activities requiring my full or at least 95%, attention are out.

who am i kidding? my first task was to make sure he finished his breakfast!

in the end, disney junior saved my life. he finished his breakfast and started his 'activity' of watching lion guard. of cos, i did not manage to stop at lion guard, #1 went on to some random time filler cartoons before Blaze and Paw Patrol.

All because #2 could not sleep. 
check out his stomach, i bet he's already very full and still didnt want to sleep.

my headaches boys.

meals
i was prepared to call for delivery but gave up after checking out ubereats and honest bee. i quickly head to the freezer and grab 2 pcs of salmon fillet while thinking about what other things to cook so that #1 and myself can have a nutritious meal.

when #2 finally slept, i made use of the little pockets of time that i had to marinate the salmon with salt & pepper, sliced the onion, boiled 2 eggs & threw the brown rice into the cooker.

and checking on the 2 boys when things get quiet.

thankful that i had baby spinach in the fridge, yays we have veg! 

so, i cooked lunch, super proud! 

#2 was still sleeping when lunch was ready, that gave #1 and me some bonding and feeding time! 

naps
i must be crazy to even think of this. i thought i could put both boys in the same room so that i could attend to #1 while feeding #2 and patting him to sleep. it didnt work, not at all.

in the end, the rationale thing was to make #2 sleep first then tend to #1! failed the first attempt and succeeded at the second round, and it was PEACE at 1440hrs.

and the next thing was to pack up the house, clean up the kitchen and such.

not too shabby isnt it? ha

the view when i needed a breather, a break, a rest, my sanity.

while i hope that i had some help, the fact that i did parenting ALONE boost my confidence to handle and deal with both a toddler and infant at the same time. 

the hub got back at 3ish in the afternoon and i finally had time to wash my face and change out of my pyjamas...