These two months have seen some major milestones for baby Olivia, and perhaps, some of the most hectic ones. Her daytime naps are better, but her bedtime remains a total mess - largely due to our habits of latching her to sleep when she wakes. I wouldn't say it's a bad habit because that's just natural for the mother to nurse her child, yet with this sleep association, it isn't exactly healthy for both the parents' and the baby's sleep, as she wakes up approximately 8-10 times from 7am to 7pm.
For those who are stalking me on Instagram, yes, we went for a one-week trip to Japan. Although we have received our fair share of subtle shaming (how can you leave your baby alone?), I thought we really needed this break, for both me and Lady M. And that's why three months ago we planned this. We still video-called her twice or thrice daily, but it wasn't easy leaving the baby behind, especially for Mummy who worried (to the extent of crying) for a couple of evenings.
Anyway, we decided to break this nipple-sleep association during our one week's trip to Japan, so far it's working well for the past few days we have been back. Waking up in the night-times have slightly reduced, so thank God. I will be posting updates (hopefully positive ones) here and then.
Milestone 1: Olivia started to flip by herself.
At her fifth month, she learnt how to flip from her back to belly. In fact, it happened just like this. One day, Lady M and I were just talking and Olivia just flipped. We celebrated and praised her, and when we started to whip out our phones to video her, she just didn't want to flip no more. It was funny. You know what's funnier? Learning how to flip, but not knowing how to flip back. So for a period of two to three weeks, she would flip and make a fuss because she can't flip back. Just as she turned sixth months, she managed to flip back by herself. And now, we got a baby who can't stop rolling around.
Milestone 2: Olivia started on her solids (and teething?)
It's amazing how babies love to put everything in their mouths, and perhaps it's a sign that she's ready for solids. You should see her looking at us eating with her mouth wide open. We started introducing foods like apples, pumpkins, bananas, millet porridge: first by letting her lick for the taste of it at the start of her fifth month, then slowly adding it into her diet, teaspoon by teaspoon. We also noticed that she started drooling more, so we got her some teethers to chew on. Our research work has led us to believe that she might be fussier in weeks to come as her cute little teeth start emerging from her gums.
