Sleep Training Day 3

I put her down after feeding. It was 10 minutes past 10pm. Way past her bedtime. She didn't budge but when she realized that I was leaving she started crying. I didn't look back. I went straight to our room and laid down my bed. I looked at the clock and took note of the time. The crying stopped after 3 minutes. Wow. Did it finally work?

You are just teaching her a good sleeping habit. Don't cry again. She's not hurt. She's just not used to being alone. You've done this before. I told myself.

Yes, I've done this before. She was 5 months. It was easier at that time because there was no separation anxiety yet. But all that training went to waste when we went for a 2 month vacation in the Philippines. Vacations changes routines. New environment. Different bed arrangement. Yada yada...

After 10 minutes, I couldn't wait any longer. I had to check her. I found her kneeling on her crib. Asleep. She was waiting for me again just like last night. I carried her immediately. After cradling her briefly, I laid her down back to the crib. No crying. Eyes still closed. She's finally sleeping.

Maia 9 months 

Sleep Training Day 2

Her first nap went smoothly earlier at lunch time. I put her down after eating lunch and some comfort feeding. There was no resistance nor crying. Sigh.

Fast forward to night time, she looked at me as I laid her down to her bed. No resistance but she didn't close her eyes either. She was watching me, waiting for my next move. Will she leave again or will she stay.

I slowly closed the door. The damn thing squeaked. Then crying started again. It stopped after 5 minutes but I didn't checked her immediately. I decided to wait for the husband. This time, I wanted him to open the door. 

After 10 minutes, he slowly went inside the room. Oh! he said. What? what happened? I said as I followed inside. She fell asleep waiting for you. And then I looked. My baby was sitting standing, holding the bars of her crib. Asleep.

Another poke in my wounded heart.

The husband immediately got her and cradled and kissed and hugged. And then I hugged both of them while Maia was deeply sleeping on her Dada's arms.

The husband laid her on the adjacent bed. She was deeply sleeping. I decided to dream nurse her for comfort. Probably more for my wounded heart than her. 

What happened during dinner...

She skipped her second nap so we had to start dinner earlier than usual. The jar of vegetable soup porridge was almost empty after the last spoonful. She must have liked it. I purposely left some room for dessert which was mandarin oranges. She almost devoured the whole thing. Someone's going to have a good sleep tonight. I excitedly thought.

I felt something mushy under her bum as I got her from her chair. Must be the oranges.

As we got nearer to the bathroom, I realized that it wasn't oranges that I felt.

Poop explosion! I shouted. Husband came to the rescue and we both started laughing while giving her a bath.

After bath time, we went straight to her room. In the great green room, there was a telephone... as I was feeding her. 

Breakfast

Morning started rough today. Halfway through feeding her banana oatmeal and feeding myself, she refused to open her mouth for the next spoon. Shook her head side to side. She can't be done.

Can you bring out the yogurt and blueberries from the fridge please? I asked the husband. Maybe she just doesn't like oatmeal today.

I started mushing the banana with the yogurt and blabbered "I hope you'll like this. You haven't eaten that much".

She had 3 spoonfuls then started shaking her head again. Mouth close.
 -Maia 9.3 months

Sleep Training

Tonight I broke my heart. I'm crying. My heart is bleeding. Whenever I close my eyes, all I can see is her sad face.

She's been crying for 15 minutes, maybe more. I was too. Then I heard silence. She's finally asleep, I said to myself.  I went straight to my husband's office and embraced him. Then cried some more. This is hard but I think she's finally asleep I told him. I stood up and went to her room. Twisted the door knob ever so slowly and opened the door. There she was standing on her crib. Waiting and looking down. When she realized I was there, she looked straight at me then started crying again. I quickly carried her. Embraced her hard and kissed her. Sorry, I'm really sorry I whispered. I love you, I love you I whispered some more.

-Maia 9.3 months

Lactation Oatmeal Champorado

1/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup water
1 cup lowfat milk
2 tablespoon flaxseed meal
2 teaspoons cocoa powder or 1 tablea

Combine rolled oats and water in a small pot. Let it simmer over a low heat until oats are half cooked.

Add milk, cocoa powder and flaxseed. Continue stirring until oats are cooked and cocoa is completely dissolved. If the mixture becomes very thick, just add water.

Remove from heat. Add honey or sugar if desired.

Hokkaido: The Five Lakes

Being busy with adult stuffs like buying and renovating a house kept us from travelling last year. We're not done yet with decorating part up until now. Our house looks descent and all basic furnitures are there but for me it's still bare. But enough of the house stuff. This post is actually about our recent long trip to Hokkaido, Japan.

This photo was taken in Utoro which was the first of the many towns we visited. We were actually looking for Yuuhidai Sunset Point but ended up here.

It's a small park nestled  atop a cliff and it took us a thousand steps to get here.  We could barely catch our breath when we got to the top but I guess the 360 view of the town surrounded by snowy mountains makes it all worth it.

On our second day, we went to see the 5 lakes of Shiretoko Goko. It was only 30 minutes drive from the town but the weather was COMPLETELY different. It was so cold and foggy. We could barely see anything.

Probably one of the five lakes. I stared at this for  a good 5 minutes then felt scared and lonely. I did imagine myself being stuck here ALONE. Wild bears live here. Knowing that probably heightened my emotions. 

Before we started the hike, we went through a short orientation on how to avoid the animals--making noise was one of it. Apparently, if the bears hear you nearby they will go to the opposite direction and avoid any sort of confrontation. And so we sang Let It Go (hahahaha) and clapped our hands to protect ourselves (impressive, i know).

We hiked through the icy trail for about an hour until we reached the elevated board walk. It was the safest area to see the lakes.

Again, probably one of the five lakes.

Despite the cold and fear of bears, we enjoyed the park. It was nothing we've seen or experienced before. It was beautiful and calming at the same time. 

Accidental Salt-Free Pandesal

Tonight i reached a milestone in my baking life. I made pandesal from scratch. Without a bread machine. I would have pat myself on the back if remembered to put salt on it (facepalm!!!!).

Making the dough wasn't the hardest part. It's the waiting game that irks me. Total waiting time for the dough to rise? 2 hours!

And of course baking time requires another 30-40 minutes.

and a minute or two for it to cool

Voila! Serve it with a laughing cow. (I deserve it, I know)

Reposting the recipe from this site. It turned out great even without the salt hehehe.

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
• ¼ cup warm water
• 1 cup lukewarm milk << i used low fat evaporated milk
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
• ½ cup sugar << i used brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt  << please do not forget this!!
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 ½ cups all purpose flour or more as necessary << i used bread flour
• Breadcrumbs << i used pulverised panko bread crumbs

Instructions

1. Dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup warm water in a big bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes, and then stir well.
2. In a bowl, combine milk, butter, eggs, sugar and salt.
3. Add milk mixture and 2 cups flour into the yeast mixture. Beat with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until smooth. Gradually stir in remaining flour, adding more if necessary.
4. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Knead dough, adding flour as necessary, until dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky (around 10 minutes).
5. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour or until double in size.
6. Transfer dough to a lightly floured board. Divide dough into 24 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, roll in breadcrumbs and place in a baking pan lined with wax paper.
7. Cover with a cloth and let rise for at least one hour or until almost double in size.
8. Bake in 225 degree F oven for 20 minutes and then increase the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Serve and enjoy!