Gymboree at Bangsar Village

When Ayden turned 7 months, I decided to sign him up at Gymboree. Simply because, Ayden needs to get out more and socialize with other babies. As with mummy too!

Because I'm a working mum, Ayden does not go out much. And because he is the first of his generation, he does not have any cousins to play with either! He is constantly surrounded by adults and not children. As a result, the very rare occasion he meets other babies, he SCREAMS!

I don't want to be wondering around shopping malls aimlessly just so I can take Ayden out. I don't exactly want Ayden to become a shopping mall baby! So I thought, Gymboree is a good idea.

Gymboree is basically a play class, although they have music classes for babies too. They limit per group to a maximum of 15 babies. Each baby has to be accompanied by an adult. Classes are categorized according to age groups, and Ayden is in the 6-10 months age group.

His class particularly has around 10 babies. All at different developmental stages, although they are in the same age group. Some can crawl, some can't, some are wanting to stand already. Although the each baby is to be accompanied by an adult, they seem to allow both mums and dads, or basically 2 adults. Which is a great idea because it is rather tiring for just one adult!

The class begins with the Gymboree welcome song. It really gets the babies (and parents) excited and hyped up for the class. Then followed up singing while playing with baby and a short 5 minute parent sharing session (they talk about something different every week and they encourage each parent to speak and give some inputs/ ideas). After that we go to the gym equipment and play for about 10 minutes. All babies spread out and play at the 5 or 6 different equipment around the room, where they change the layout every 2 weeks. All activities at the class is changed every 2 weeks too so it does not get boring. Then there is bubble time, where the instructor will blow soap bubbles and this is when the babies gawk and stare at the bubbles in fascination lol! Finally we wrap up with a dance with Gymbo the class mascot.

The class is around 45 minutes and it is packed full with games and singing. So much so both parents and babies are tired out after the class. I usually give Ayden his bottle and he falls asleep immediately after his class.

I signed up for a package of 6 classes, which is the smallest package. You have to pay a membership fee and you can't go for individual classes. You must sign up for one of their packages. It works out to be RM48 per class for the package of 6 but gets cheaper for larger packages. For minimum package also you must go for consecutive weeks. They will not replace any classes you've missed. They also have their flexi package where the lady at the counter will only push for the largest package which cost RM1700 for 54 classes! This package you are able to mix with other classes eg the music class with the play class and go at any time you want provided you finish all 54 classes within one year.

So there you go. Gymboree is not the cheapest developmental class for babies but I am happy with the classes and both Ayden and I have lots of fun!

Annabel Karmel recipes for babies

I finally got my copy of this! It has been out of stock in so many bookstores in Petaling Jaya and I finally found one at MPH Great Eastern Mall, Kuala Lumpur.

All this while I've been getting her basic recipes from her website, but her book of course has more! Her website has simple and no brainer recipes such as baby's first foods eg apple puree, carrot puree etc. Sounds simple enough to puree apples and carrots but for a first time mum, this dumb dumb was going to puree RAW apples. OK, carrots I know you need to cook it somehow, but I had no clue that you had to cook the fruits first. Luckily a caring friend called me to check if I what I was doing with his purees! Thank god for great girl friends! She also has more interesting ones like purees with fish, chicken and pastas, but I have not tried these yet.

I get so excited giving Ayden nutritious food, knowing that he will grow and develop well with all those good vitamins and minerals he's getting.

For fruits, right now Ayden is getting: Apple, pears, mango, papaya, banana, strawberries. I puree and freeze them in ice cube trays and then mix 2 or 3 of these when I am about to feed him. He usually gets fruits mixed with milk and cereal for breakfast, or just fruits.

For veg, Ayden's been getting: Carrots, sweet potato (the Japanese ones are so YUMMY!) spinach, butternut pumpkin (in Malaysia we call it butternut pumpkin where else elsewhere in the world I believe its butternut squash), broccoli, cauliflower and potatoes. I steam or poach them with very small amounts of water and puree them until smooth. I store them individually in ice-cube trays and mixed them when we are about to feed him. I'd combine 2 or three of the above for variety. In general Ayden (or most babies I guess) does not like green veg, so I would hide them in tastier veg like sweet potatoes. After the pureed fruit or veg are frozen, I transfer them into a Lock and Lock container.

Annabel's recipes would recommend pureeing 2 or more fruit or veg together but I choose to puree them individually and mix them later so I get the flexibility of having more varieties of different food mixes.

I make Ayden's purees about once every 2 or 3 weeks. I avoid having too much stocks and make sure he finish what I've frozen within 3 weeks, although frozen purees apparently lasts a month in the freezer.

As Ayden is turning 8 months soon, I look forward to introducing lumpier foods. Rice is our staple food in Malaysia so I've only recently started Ayden on rice porridge. Typically we make them with anchovy stock and add fish as the porridge is about to be cooked. I add the pureed veg and mix the different vegs for variety. He seem to like it! No objections so far. I make the porridge from organic rice, which is still far cheaper than the organic cereal I buy!

Most of Ayden's veg are organic, which costs an arm and a leg in Malaysian supermarkets. There are not many choices for organic fruits, so I get non organic but I make sure I peel off the skins before cooking and pureeing.

I don't really enjoy cooking for myself, I never thought that cooking for Ayden would be so much fun!

In his 7th month

Another month filled with joy and new discoveries… both for Ayden AND mummy!

Ayden eats 3 solid meals a day now. We've also introduced rice porridge made with anchovy stock and fish. He seems ok with it. I've also tried giving him steamed salmon mixed with veg but he did not like that at all! Got to look at omega 3 alternatives. We tried giving him avocados again and this time he takes it easily… thank god! Am not giving up on the super foods!

He's almost CRAWLING! Right now he mops the floor with his chest when he "pushes" himself around. It is hilarious to watch. He turns around really quickly on his tummy too! But slowly he is working out that he should be using his knees and legs so he gets into the "plank" position but comes down onto his tummy again when he wants to move forward. Because he discovered that he could get around on his own, its hard to keep him seated on my lap for very long. He insists on getting on the floor instead. He is constantly moving non-stop!

He babbles a lot. There is no sign of any legible words yet…not even mummy, or mama.... ok sometimes there is dada.... but I'm trying to be in denial and pass it off as a meaningless bable haha!

He is a very happy baby. He smiles a lot more and laughs a lot more now. He smiles at anybody who looks at him and just about anything makes him laugh. Making funny faces at him or tickling his tummy sends him into peels of laughter. I love my bunny.

We've not seen our paed for over a month now so I have no idea how much he weights or how he is going health wise. Our pead has been away all month and he is not helpful with new mummy questions anyway. I find that he rushes through the appointment and is not very accommodating when I have something to ask. I think its time to change to a different pead perhaps.

We finally went out for an outdoor photoshoot! Again, better late than never. Really happy with the shots.

This month I signed Ayden up to classes at Gymboree. It is a package of 6 and we have to go for 6 consecutive weeks. So far Ayden's enjoying the classes and so have I! He does not cry when he sees other babies, infact he is socializing very well now!

We finally did his Aqiqah and potong jambul at 7.5 months. Better late than never! My poor boy is still afraid of loud noises and during the marhaban is screamed like he was being abused! Poor thing. I could only watch helplessly.

This month, I am starting to wean off Ayden from feeding directly from me and I am also gradually reducing my milk supply by expressing less. Its been about 3 weeks now since I've reduced the number of times I express a day and my milk supply is noticeably less. I feel so sad but I have to stop some time. Ayden gets formula in his night feeds but expressed BM during the day. The amount of BM I express although less, is still enough for Ayden's day time feed. I hope to maintain a low supply and not completely stop.

Ayden is able to wave good bye to people leaving, but don't understand that he should be waving good bye when HE is leaving. Its hilarious!


He turns 8 months tomorrow and I am excited what other new things he will be doing.