Separation Anxiety Part 2

Sorry for the recent M.I.A (missing in action) as I was busy studying for the licensing exams and of course, my nanny has to quit on me during this crunch time.

Ugh.

To cut the story short, the nanny could not take Beanie's incessant cryings anymore and told me to bring Beanie home, for good. I was panicking for the past few days because I'm supposed to start work soon and yet I do not have a nanny for Beanie!

Out of desperation, I surfed the net and came across this little advert posted on gumtree and by a stroke of sheer luck, I found another nanny within my vicinity! I called the new nanny up and arranged for a meeting on the same day. The new nanny is in her early 40s, has 2 children aged 7 and 9, and seems really nice. I have goooood vibes!

But Beanie thought otherwise. The moment I passed Beanie over to the new nanny to carry, she started to cry. Geez, I was just standing next to her but she wasn't having any of it. Huge tears swelled in her eyes and she kept reaching out her arms for me. The new nanny was like "Woah... she is sooo sticky to mommy!"

"Oei Beanie, please don't scare the new nanny away... " I was thinking secretly to myself. Anyway I told the new nanny that we really gotta work together to allow a stress-free transition. Or else, Beanie will be a difficult baby to handle.

Sigh. She is usually such a happy baby. Bringing her out for meals is usually fuss-free and very enjoyable. We just had a wonderful lunch at Itacho Sushi (Ion) this afternoon with a girlfriend of mine. Beanie was very well behaved, happily munching on her baby biscuits, blowing cute raspberries at strangers and chewing on her fav toy, Sophie the giraffe.

I really hope that this new nanny will work out. I have read up on some materials on how to lessen stranger anxiety in babies, so hopefully those tips will work!

Separation Anxiety

Little Beanie is not taking to the nanny well. Sigh.

Since early this month, I have started to drop Beanie at the nanny's place for half a day, usually from 1 pm to about 530 pm. We started by going over to the nanny's place in the morning and I stayed with her for the whole of 4 hours for 5 consecutive days. On the following week, I followed the new routine and when I said my good byes to a oblivious Beanie, I thought I had skipped the whole separation anxiety episode, until 2mins later Beanie realized that "hey, mommy isn't here anymore" and then she started screaming. And screamed she did. She screamed and screamed and refused to drink milk or water. She kicked away her toys and became inconsolable. My nanny was totally stunned. What happened to the happy baby???

It has already been 2 weeks but Beanie is still refusing milk, water and nap at the nanny's place. And she will cry so pitifully when I leave that it's breaking my heart.

And when she is back home, she will then wallop down a big bowl of porridge, drinks her milk like she has been starved for days and then K.O by 730 pm.

According to my nanny, Beanie will still cry and be cranky for hours. Only to be bribed for a few mins of silence by her favorite snacks or biscuits. But a baby cannot snack for 4 hrs right? She refuses to nap or nap for only 20-30 mins whereas her usually afternoon nap is about 1-1.5 hrs.

My nanny, who is this kind granny in her late 60s is also getting tired of Beanie's incessant cries. She told me subtly that if Beanie con't to be this difficult. she might not want to babysit Beanie anymore.

;( I really hope that Beanie will get used to the nanny soon. Sigh...

Another little yellow bird saved

Almost 10 months ago, I saved a little yellow bird and I called him "little yellow". As I have mentioned before, as much as I love animals, I simply do not have the same love for birds. Even pretty little parrot with rosy cheeks did not melt my heart, so I gave Little Yellow away to a friend and end of story. Or so, I thought...

A few weeks ago, while I was hanging out my laundry to dry, I saw a big, bad and hungry crow trying to peck a small little yellow bird to death at the ground floor car park. Poor little fellow was no match for the crow, which was easily almost 4 times its size. Although I have no love for birds, I could not bring myself to witness Little Little Yellow being pecked to death.

Luckily father-in-law was at home that day, so I gave him a yell that I need to run out to do something and he stayed at home to watch over Beanie, while Mommy ran out like a mad woman to save a little yellow bird.

I shooed the crow away and tried to catch Little Little Yellow, but the little fellow was so traumatized that it tried to fly away too. To cut the story short, 3 Banglah workers saw me trying to catch a bird and I roped them in to help me.

So there we were, 1 chinese woman and 3 Banglah workers chasing after a yellow bird in the car park at 1 pm, under the hot sun.

Thankfully 1 of the workers caught the bird and there, I saved another little yellow bird.

Geez, at this rate, I can run a Bishan Bird Park already! Anyway, I passed Little Little Yellow to the same friend who have adopted Little Yellow. So there, now he has a pair.

After all the trouble, I hope these little birds are happy to be alive!

Flowers, flowers, flowers!

Finally a post NOT about Beanie!

My frangipani is flowering! Hurray! For a period of time, I thought the plant was dying. It was a sick plant as most of its leaves were infested with mealy bugs. I sprayed so much white neem oil that all the leaves dropped and I had a completely botah tree for a few weeks.

So much so that I actually started shopping for a new tree until I noticed that there were new shoots sprouting out and before I knew it, I see bunches of flowers!

Such beautiful blooms... makes my day, everyday. ;)

Beanie at Bistro du Vin

We brought little Beanie to Bistro Du Vin for lunch 2 weeks ago and there she was, happily nibbling on a tiny piece of bread.

So far, Beanie has been very well behaved whenever we bring her out for lunch. She enjoys sitting at the table with us, either happily chewing on a piece of bread or watching us eat while she swallows her saliva furiously! I will usually bring her lunch along with us, and then feed her at the table so that all of us will eat together. This is also to introduce to her the concept of dinning together and that meal times are also social events.

So here are some tips on how to bring your little one out for a meal in a chi-chi restaurant (or any restaurant lah):

1) Bring baby out in her "awake" window. Ie: if baby's usual nap time is 11 am, do let baby nap before bringing her out. You do not want a cranky baby in a restaurant.

2) Bring along her favorite biscuit or finger food. That should keep her busy or happy for at least 15 mins.

3) Allow baby to eat at the table with everyone, she will enjoy the company and will most probably finish her portion because everyone else is eating too. Monkeys see, monkeys do.

4) Allow baby to feed herself with a spoon, yes, it will be very messy but she will be so engross in getting food into her mouth that she will leave you alone for at least another 15 mins. Just bring along a really BIG bib.

5) Dress your baby in her cutest. If all things fail and baby is making a racket, at least it is a cute baby and people will tend to be more forgiving! ;)