Grubbs n Critters

May 2, 2013

The one with pumped milk…

…has now officially retired.

DONE.

FINITO.

NO MORE, NO MORE, NO MORE, NO MORE. (singing to the tune of Ray Charles’ Hit the Road Jack)

So, yeah! As of mid-April 2013, almost 10.5 months since Squirt was born, I hit the road. I did my very last 3-minute pumping session and I packed away the pump. This time, for good. My pumping career is now officially and truly over.

And with that, a massively shrunken pair of boobs. (something which I am not particularly happy about. Pout. Pout.) Plus, accompanied by the pesky monthly menstruation 2 week later! (something which I am sure I am happy to do without!)

I introduced Stage 2 formula into pumped breast milk rather unwillingly before Squirt turned 10 months old with much chagrin. He seemed OK when his milk was mixed with formula, but did not quite like it if was given a 100% formula milk. Well…at least initially. Eventually, he took it all without complains.

Pumping has been a daunting task since day 1, but I am absofuckinlutely proud of myself for being able to exclusively feed Squirt with pumped breast milk for almost 8 solid months (just about 1.5 months longer than I had done it with Spud) and 10 full months of exclusive breast milk since Day 1 despite being a busy working mom. (ahem! If I may say so…)

TEN. Ten freaking months of pumping ritual, day in-day-out, several times a day. It was tough, it was hard work, it was relentless and above all, a pain-in-the-butt.

Nevertheless, I am glad that I stuck to my guns, and ploughed along. I got used to the routine pretty quickly that I did not even bat an eye-lid when I had to pump (and that included pumping away at my desk with just a breastfeeding cover!)

When I stopped pumping for Spud 2 years ago, I remember having a mixed feeling about it – sad, but liberated. Now that I’m truly done, I am feeling a little nostalgic about it. I remember feeling a little ache in my heart when I saw the last batch of frozen milk started to diminish.

Breastfeeding and pumping is a journey I would never ever go back to ever again, but for what it’s worth, I am glad I did what I did. Looking back, it was sheer determination to want to make it work. There were many highs and lows, and I still cannot believe that I managed such a feat. If you were to ask me if I’d do breastfeeding and pumping full-time again in my next life if I have to, I likely would say yes!

It was all a very humbling experience, and I am glad that I was able to do it and experience it all. This has been bittersweet.

11 months

Category: Squirt: Stories and Updates

With only one month short of his first birthday, Squirt is now no longer that helpless little infant, and his growing independence have become more apparent by the day. He has mastered the art of stand, stoop and squat, and has even started to toddle along confidently with only one hand gripping our index fingers. In fact, our not-so-little Squirt took his very first, unassisted, few steps at just about 2 weeks before his 11^thmonth birthday while we were still in Holland.

The look on his face when he realised that he could actually walk …. priceless! He was so pleased with himself after every successful attempt towards unassisted walking that that could not stop smiling and laughing – clearly happy at his accomplishments. (I have been trying to shoot a decent video of him taking several steps, but so far have only managed a really, really short video)

Since then, has been busy toddling around and trying his darnest to perfect the art of walking. He is still a tad unstable, and often, tend to fall backwards like a tree being chopped, but I reckon, all he needs is practice, practice, practice. Like Spud, I guess he would know and learn when to let go when he is ready to.

So.

At 11 months, Squirt is more mobile than ever, babbles non-stop (even more than Spud ever did at that age!), enjoying gumming on biscuits, and yet, despite several bad nights and some other signs which may have pointed to him teething (drooling, bright red cheeks and chins, big and smelly poo, days that he did not really want to eat, as well as crankier than usual…), Squirt, to date still has not cut any teeth! I know I shouldn’t be worried and there is no reason to, but I cannot help wonder what the hell is taking those little teeth so long to cut through. I mean, come on already! Just pop – especially when he has been showing a lot of interest on the food we have on our plates.

Squirt is also learning to wave goodbye and, each time he successfully “waves” (he does it in a stiff, weird sort of way), he usually laughs heartily. It has been a pleasing sight to see a chuckling baby do simple things.

Apart from that, Squirt has been pretty apt in saying no by shaking his head vigorously. It has been a few times already that I thought I heard him say “Nee” (means “No” in Dutch and pronounced as “Nay”) as he shook his head from side to side (But, I could also have been imagining it).

In exactly 31 more days, Squirt turns 1. And what a major milestone that would be!

Related post(s):
Spud’s 11 months update

Family vacation

Category: Travels

Once upon a recent-time, I loudly and boldly declared that there was no way in hell I would ever want to travel with our two young kids.

(Round about 3 months ago, I had “that phase feeling” brewing and felt that it was necessary for us get out of Thailand for a little bit, especially since I haven’t been out of the country in more than a year. Around that time, we contemplated on the possibility of traveling out of Thailand as we did not quite want to be in Bangkok again for another Songkran. With more than 2 weeks of vacation-time available in our hands, it would only make sense to travel to somewhere further rather than Asia. And, with us now having to travel on a budget, going back to the Netherlands seemed like the ideal thing with free accommodation as an option. Still, the sheer thought of a plane journey with 2 little ones, be it short or long-haul, sent shivers down my spine.)

19 days ago, I have officially stuffed up both my feet in my mouth and shoved them into my throat. We took the plunge by hauling Spud (2 years, 8 months) and Squirt (only 10 months old) on an 11 hour flight journey to the Netherlands over the long Songkran holidays for our family vacation.

If anything, that explained the lack of posts on my blog.

For 17 days, we busied ourselves by being full-time parents. The plane ride was exhaustively tiring. We have had our share of bad flights before and this time round, with double the potential chaos, we had hoped for the best and were mentally prepared for the worst. Forget about being able to do “big stuff” like watching one movie in full or even attempt to read the in-flight magazines, let alone a book…but thankfully, the bumps were nothing which we could not handle. Both flights, if anything were uneventful; in fact, it was even better than those flights we have had with Spud before.

Spud even made friends with an older kid who was only too willing to indulge her antics. She even made conversations with 2 other ladies that were seating almost next to her.

We did not get much sleep both ways with only 10 minutes to almost none on the way there and only a couple of hours on the way back. While Spud managed to get a few hours of shut-eye camping out in her own seat as deemed what being comfortable means by her standard, Squirt has proven to be a lousy sleeper if he doesn’t get a bed. He refused to use the bassinet, cried bloody murder each time he was being put down that we took turns to carry him in our arms while he slept, or dunk him in the wrap after many, many attempts in trying to get him to sleep. He was so distracted by everything that it was almost impossible to get him to sleep. He was over-tired.

Other times when not sleeping, Squirt was just busy crawling and toddling on the floor – much to the chagrin of a few flight attendants and several fellow passengers.

For most part, both kids behaved surprisingly well throughout the entire trip. They both had their moments (of crankiness), but there certainly had been no major meltdowns. Both kids seem to travel well. They adapted and adjusted pretty quickly, with minimal crying and temper tantrums. I even dare say that we had a splendid and an enjoyable holiday!

After more than 2 weeks away being in different places and strange beds, the kids (especially Spud) were showing signs that they were ready to be home. I am still a bit jet-lagged and feeling extremely bothered by the hot weather in Bangkok. I can’t even think coherently to write one proper sentence but I promise to cover the places we ventured out as soon as I can.

Watch this space. Meantime, here are a few shots from Spud snoozing in the plane – try spotting her in the first few pictures.