DIY: Easy Baby Soft Busy Block (Free Patterns)

Few years back when my nephew was 4 months old my sister bought him a Fisher Price sensory block that I found it very interesting and I thought when I have a baby I will get him/her one! Unfortunately, Fisher Price is not selling it anymore. I have been searching online for it and I decided to make one myself and put my long forgotten sewing skill to a test. 

I don't have a complete pattern but I will put in details how I design my cube. It took me 2 weeks to complete the design.

What you need to do before creating the design:

1. Understand your baby. 
Each baby has different liking like the colours and they are developing so fast each month they explore different things. BabyE is all about yellow, he loves yellow and he screams every time he sees yellow. He loves this block so much he could scream and play with it for a good 20 minutes all by himself.

2. Know what you want.
Is your block focusing on texture or colours? Are you planing to put a little bell into your block? Think about it.

3. Understand the material.
Are you looking for a super soft block? If you are focusing on texture, what kind of fabric will you be including in your block?

How to create a soft block?

First of all, you need to know your block has 6 faces. Refer to the image above about what I say. You can choose to have 6 different designs or some duplicate designs or whatever you like.

The guide attached is for my block which has very limited design. I focused on yellow but you can make it colorful or other colour that your baby loves.

Materials:
a. Felt
b. Fleece
c. Cotton Fabric
d. Ribbons

Instruction is together with the pattern file.

You can download the 
pattern and instruction HERE.

The Ultimate Baby Food Guide for 4-6 months old

Do you think your little one is ready to start solid? If yes, this will be ultimate guide for you to look at. I started feeding Baby E solid when he hits 4 months because I loves cooking and I just can't help but to start it. Doctor advised us to start at 5 months but I decided to start at 4 months, 3 meals a week.

An easy guideline for you is to start feeding your little one solid when they can hold heads up and sit up straight or when you realised they aren't full yet after breastfeeding. Baby E is a foodie, he always seems to be very excited when he sees us having our meals at the dining table. Thus, I decided to start at 4 months. If you are worry about digestive problem, please consult your medical advisor.

In this article, I will share about the list of food that is suitable for your little one and a different way to prepare baby puree without a blender.

List of food you can start your little one with:

1. Avacado
2. Apple
3. Pear
4. Potato
5. Sweet Potato
6. Carrot
7. Peaches
8. Pumpkin
9. Peas
10. Rice Cereal


Baby E is a big lover of sweet potato and I bought the purple ones because the colour is nice and I find it easier to prepare.

Something you should know before you start:

1.  I would advise you to do a single portion for new food to ensure your baby takes the food. I prepared a big batches of pear puree the other day and Baby E refuse to take it. Ended up, I forced my hubby to finished it.

2.  Please sterilised all the cooking equipment before preparing your baby food.

3. For a start, you might want to start with 1 teaspoon of solid and slowly increase it.

4. I am also against freezing baby food, I prefer fresh food for such a young age.

5. Your baby might have constipation after their first food so don't panic. Wait for a day or 2 if your little one still constipate, go to the doctor.

How to prepare in small portion?

1. Peel the skin and dice the fruit or veggie. The smaller you diced the quicker it cooks. 

2. Steam it for 30 minutes or until soft. (fruits will not require steaming, you can skip this step if you are preparing fruits for your little one)

3. Mash it with a potato mashes and you might want to mix in a little of rice cereal. (Any ratio of the rice and veggie/ fruits is fine, depends on your liking)

4. Strain the mixture with a sieve to make it smooth and easy to digest. I would advise to add some water when straining it to avoid cobsitipation.

** Do not make it too watery, as it will gets more watery. As long os the puree is smooth, is good.

Why didn't I choose the blending option?

1. The Cleaning Up 
Washing/ cleaning the blender is horrible. I would rather do it the manual way for now as I only prepare very small batches.

2. Colic Problem
Chinese believes that blending will cause colic problem. Colic cause indigestion then will lead to tons and tons of other problem. Thus, I do not recommend blending for baby below 1 year old.

3. Portion Too Small
There is no point and almost impossible to use the blender when I am preparing such a small portion.


I hope your little will love the food you prepare as much as Baby E love mine!
Good luck!

7 Easy Steps To Purchase Your Customised Ikea Kitchen Cabinet: From Planing to Installing!

Image Source: Ikea Malaysia

Are you giving your kitchen a facelift or simply moving in a new place? Ikea Kitchen cabinet is one of the most affordable choice of all but to most people it can be really troublesome because you don't have a contractor coming to your house and putting all the available catalogs on your face for you to choose from.

I have going back and forth for more than 5 times (Both Cheras and Damansara outlets) just to get the right design that can fit into my kitchen perfectly which I can actually get everything done in just 1 visit. I am going to simplified process by providing you a simple step to step guide. 

1. Measure your kitchen space

Get a measuring tape and start measuring. Do not leave out the windows and the pipe area. You will need this to decide on where should your sink be at and the position of the wall cabinet. 

2. Design it (roughly)

Use a piece of paper if you are not tech savvy. If you are good at computers, jump into the Ikea Kitchen Planner section and start designing it. 

3. Budget it (roughly)

Go to the Ikea website and look at the table top choices, door choices and etc. 

4. Make an appointment

Make an appointment at the ikea website and be on time because the there are a lot of people in line.

5. Talk to the consultant

Finally, visiting Ikea. Tell them what you need and who them your plan (on a paper or simply the file you made at ikea website). Have a look at the material you choose and have a feel of it, make any changes you need if you don't feel right.

6. Purchase it

The consultant will print a bill for you to make the purchase at the counter. After purchasing, collect it at the collection area!

7. Install it

Installation can be DIY or by paying a certain amount to Ikea for their contractor to install it!

Yes, it is this simple! I hope this article helps you on saving time!

5 Quick Tips on Baby Vaccine: Things you need to be aware before bringing your baby for vaccine

There are things you will need to be aware of before bringing your baby to vaccine to avoid panicking after the vaccine. Vaccine usually comes with side effects and for new parents it will be very terrifying. Sometimes, your baby might not have any difference after vaccine, sometimes your baby might be unwell.

1. Speak to your child specialist 

First you will need to understand what vaccine will your child be taking. Google it up and check on the side effects. Ask around if you could how did other baby react to the vaccine. Know more, if anything occurs you know it is normal.

2. Get a Thermometer 

Most vaccine causes fever, you need a thermometer to monitor your baby’s temperature. Anything above 37.5 is not normal. Baby E’s doctor advise us to get the ear thermometer as it will be more accurate.

3. Stock up some baby paracetamol at home 

Talk to your child specialist do he suggest to give your baby paracetamol if your baby got fever after the vaccine.

4. Stock up some baby Probiotic 

Some vaccine will cause diarrhea. Again speak to the doctor if it happens can you give your baby some probiotic. Baby E is using the Met Gala probiotic which is working just fine for him. Baby E’s doctor actually told me is totally fine to give Baby E probiotic daily.

5. Get your child specialist email or phone number 

Baby E’s doctor gave us his email address. He always email me before a vaccine to get prepared and understand what Baby E’s will be getting. After that he will also send me article on how to handle if the side effects happens.

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5 Easy Smoothie Recipe for Working Moms

Are you on the smoothies game? Lately smoothie bowls has became a trend and almost every single instagrammers and youtubbers are showing you how to make the colourful nutritious yet delicious smoothie bowl. There was a secret you weren’t being told thou, to make it looks pretty requires a lot of hard work. I do not have the luxury to do so, thus I dump everything into my blender and I have my to go smoothie every morning and enjoy it during my morning traffic.


First, how to speed up your smoothie routine and making sure none of the fruits or vegetables gone bad before you even using them? FREEZE EM! You got to believe me sweetheart, Freeze em all! Prepare a few ziplock bags and put all the cut fruits into the bag. Place all the bags into the freezer and easily blend it every morning! I usually go with low fat milk when it comes to my smoothie as I love the thickness of the milk but it is not as fattening as the usual fresh or full cream milk . However, for all the recipes you are welcome to replace the liquid with any kind of products you like such as almond milk, fresh milk, soy milk or others.

I would advise to stay away from store-bought juices as it really sweet and why do you need that when you are blending a whole lots of fruits/ vegetables already. Below are my favourite combination and hope you will give it a try too!

1. Power Green Monday 

A handful of Baby Spinach
Half of a Cucumber
Half of a Red Apple Oatmeal (soak it with Low Fat Milk overnight)
Low Fat Milk

I am not going to lie, this doesn’t taste as good as it suppose to be. However, it is packed with all nutrition I need in the morning and enough to keep me full until lunch. You can replace the red apple with Honey if you wish too. I just added some red apple for the sweetness.

2. Berry Tuesday 

Half a cup of Blueberries
Half a cup of Strawberry
Half of a Banana
Chia Seeds
Low Fat Milk

This will be champion as the best taste smoothie of all, it is sweet and the banana just made it all. Don’t you agree? Berries are very nutritious and jam packed with antioxidant . This smoothie is in a beautiful hue of purple as well which makes me extra happy when drinking it!

3. Fiber Power Wednesday 

A slice of Papaya
Half of a Green Apple
Half of a Red Apple
Half of a Carrot
Half of a Banana
Oatmeal (soak it with Low Fat Milk overnight)
Low Fat Milk

This is a super formula is packed with fiber and it is one of the best solution for anyone suffering from constipation. The taste might be a little weird or some told me the banana has covered up all the taste of it. However, it is really a great source of fiber and a great break up formula with constipation!

4. Happy Melon Thursday 

2-3 Slices of Honeydew
Soy Milk
Oatmeal (soak it with Soy Milk overnight)

This simple smoothie does has a touch of Asian taste in it. Perhaps was due to the Soymilk? It is pleasant to drink and the kids will love it too! Honeydew is a great source of vitamin C, vitamin C actually plays an important role on producing Collagen!

5. Super C Friday

Half of a Cucumber
Half of a Celery
Half of a Carrot
Chia Seeds
Water

Calery is famous for improving blood pressure and cholesterol levels. I can prevent heart disease too! Carrot is a great source of fiber and it is rich in antioxidant!

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