Babe on wheels

I can’t believe how fast time flies. Sophie is almost 7months old now. Yesterday she had her first experience on her little wheels, all on her own. Another milestone for Sophie – I call this phase, babe on wheels. Here she is sitting confidently on her little bike all by herself.

Luckily I didn’t give away Ariana’s little bike. Being the second daughter actually has some disadvantages, Sophie gets plenty of hand me down stuffs from her sister.

When we first had Ariana, we were so overwhelmed by the fact that we’re finally blessed with a little girl after 2 boys. I went crazy shopping for girl’s stuff immediately after doctor confirmed that it was a girl. Everything was in pink. After she passed a stage, I had to gave away lots of stuffs coz we had problem storing them. When we were moving to our new home in end of 2007, I sent a full 3-tones lorry load of stuffs back to Alor Setar (of course the load comprised other items as well). Luckily I was in my right mind to keep some valuable items like her Little Tike bike, development toys, her playpen (although we ended up buying a new one) and a few other stuffs. But we gave away the baby cot that I used for my 3 kids because I wanted to buy a new one this time. I also kept 2 pretty baby gowns which Ariana wore only once. Sophie also wore each one once and has outgrown them since. We kept her stroller too, but we bought a new one for Sophie regardless. My hubby got so excited shopping for a baby stroller last year - it was like shopping for a car to him. That was the first baby stuff he bought – I was barely into my 7th month then. We visited about 8 shops before we, or rather he, found a perfect stroller for Sophie.

I read a funny article in a complimentary parenting magazine recently about the evolution of mom – how mothers change as they have more kids. I couldn’t agree more with the writer. When I had my first child, I followed every rules and tips that I read in baby books, from feeding time to everything that you could imagine, religiously. When I had my second baby, I was a bit relaxed on the routine. Third kid, no need to sterilize the bottles frequently, a quick rinse with hot water will do. Burping is optional. Fourth kid, well my maid can handle it. I’ll check on her later. I’m sure you get the idea…

My OBGYN, Dr. Gunasegaran, whom I miss so much (in a doctor-patient way yah!), was trying to be funny when I was about 7 months pregnant with Sophie. He had earlier confirmed that I was having a girl. I have indeed begun shopping for girls stuff after he told us the happy news. However, when I asked him to re-confirm the baby gender for the 3rd time (I did that during each pregnancy just to be sure), he told me that I was having a boy instead! I was so shocked at hearing the news (I forgot what I said to him though). He laughed and quickly said that he just wanted to see how I’d react to that, hmmm.

On a different subject, an update on ‘the biggest loser’ contest between my husband and Danny. Daniel won the first round. He lost 2kg vs my hubby who lost merely 1.1kg. Not bad hah. For winning this round, he’ll get RM20 from papa. I guess the daily cycling to school does help very much, but on the downside he is getting very tan these days.

I say raising children in this internet age is an expensive task. Even encouraging your kids to lose weight can be costly. Don’t you agree?