Lego Table

If you are a fan of IKEA Hackers, you would have seen a few Lego Table hacks by now. 

This is ours. A simple Lack, 2 Bygel rails and some colourful Bygel buckets. We had the Grundtal stainless steel containers and cutlery stands at first but they felt heavy (and noisy when Lego pieces were being thrown back inside). 

Before:

After:

This hack has given Bean unlimited new play angles, and he explored new possibilities like never before. The Little Girl loves how accessible the "special pieces" are in plastic buckets without having to rummage through our Samla big box of bricks. Special pieces in her definition means non-brick pieces. 

The Samla transparent box tucks neatly under the Lack table when not in play, which is just awesome! Being transparent, Bean can also easily spot the Lego pieces he wants and aims for them.

We have not screwed down the Bygel rails as The Other Half is worried about damaging the fragile Lack table. He used 3M double-sided tapes instead and those strong tapes have held the weight so far. There are various weight hold grades, be sure to select 3 kg and above. 

We did not choose the Grundtal rails due to the sharper corners, preferring the smoother and rounded finish of the Bygel rails. Babyproofing!

We have not taped down the Lego green play base because we wanted some flexibility and not restrict ourselves to just Lego. After the kids have gone to school, we parents may just want a coffee table to serve the purpose it was designed for - have a hot cup of java on it!

Happy hacking and playing, my lovelies!

Floor Mat Safety

Late last year, I learnt of a sad incident where a child ran, slipped, knocked the back of her head really hard and went into a coma. She eventually died without gaining consciousness. She was 5.

Al-fatihah.

When an unfortunate incident such as the above happens, it prompts me to look into the health and safety issues we have at The Flat.

One way I thought we can prevent injuries is to stow away clean floor mats away from curious little ones who will play magic carpet rides etc with them. Very good for imagination, not so good in terms of slipping risk. (Please keep those little Aladdins and Princesses Jasmine under watchful eyes).

Another way I thought we can prevent slippy floor mats is to add the grip tape to the underside of our floor mats so that they stay, well, gripped. 

The grip tape we are currently using was bought from Lakeland in York, but I have been informed that similar ones are available at Home-Fix around Klang Valley.

Take a minute of your next floor mat change, please tape on each corner just about 2" of grip tape on the underside. 

Better safe than sorry. 

Keep safe, my lovelies!

11 teeth

Bean sprouted a couple of canines and a lower left pramolar over Shawal. We have been expecting the canines but the pramolar took me by surprise.

He had some extra dribbles, and slept mostly in my arms. No fever, syukur alhamdulillah, as we were away in York when it happened.

Fiddlesticks, fruit bars, biscotti bars and stone fruits cut into little sticks/bars are his favourite snacks at the moment. 

Self-feeds blueberries, broccoli, carrot sticks and little cubes of cooked chicken. We love how he likes exploring with taste and textures at the dinner table. Arugula, lettuce, corals, kale and countless other vegetables have passed his experiment. He loves some of those, and would ask for more. Those he dislikes, get thrown down onto the floor from his Stokke.

Today, he fell in love with taste and texture of an orange, after a few failed attempts earlier. I strongly believe in letting his try a new type of fruit and food generally, presented differently for at least a dozen times before quitting. 

What an interesting milestone for Bean! Well, at least I think so, for obvious reasons.

Bye Bye Babyhood

Bean is officially a toddler by age and by skill now.

The changing table, baby cot, extra stroller, baby carrier all seem so outgrown and outdated. 

Time to bundle them up and pass those preloved items on to my girlfriends who are expecting their respective nos. 2 and 3. 

Time flies, I am feeling all nostalgic (PMS, much?).

Goodnight, peeps.

The Crawling Baby

Bean is crawling everywhere at home now. Such a cute sight! I really cherish this milestone and try to remember these wonderful moments forever (resulting in not taking much photos, sadly).

 

How do I even begin to baby-proof the playroom full of toys suitable for above 3 years old for a 8 month old?

 

When The Little Girl is away at Playschool, it is just Bean and we can scan the room, put away small/sharp toys and organise the play somewhat. However, when The Little Girl is home and is playing, it is havoc! The playroom sometimes look like a storm just passed. With everything strewn all over in an evidently happy mess, it may be a hazard to the little crawler who also likes to explore texture and taste by putting the toys into his mouth.

 

Oh, the supplication of this mother just went a tad longer for Allah s.w.t. to keep the two little ones safe from harm, safe from each other. Amin!

Bouncing Baby Boy

Holding Bean under his arms is sure to invite a round of bounce from this joyful soul! Well, if it tickles, he rewards me with a hearty laugh every single time. 

Looks like he is really prepping up for crawling. He has been pivoting on his tummy to turn and scoots in his tummy to get places.

Note to Mummy: babyproofing, safe proofing here we come (again!) have to find creative ideas on how to keep those little doll house toys away from he who scoots, grabs and samples...

How do you babyproof your play area that is shared with an older sibling? Please share!

The Bag Lady

Who does the packing of luggage when the family goes for vacation in your household?

I always do.

I start with the itinerary, so that I can zero in on the packing list for each member of the family. The big luggage that we use is then divided into imaginary quadrants for space budgeting.

Once everything is packed into its respective boxes/ziplock/towel wrap/nappy lined rolls/long rectangle Tupperware/LockLock (for keeping the awning of my slip on headscarf/tudung express in shape), I would line the entire luggage with unsewn kain sarung before bundling everything in. That is to keep the luggage lining clean. Anal, but preserves the cleanliness!

If any items were outstanding, a post-it note is placed on top so that I can easily place said missing item in once ready. When the packing is completed, and after zipping up, I always lock the luggage with a sigh of relief with a silent prayer of the luggage not going missing in transit.

Once we arrive, I always unpack and put away the luggage until the time comes for packing up to go home.

If travelling overseas, I split everything down the middle to be filled into two luggages. In the unfortunate event that one of the luggage goes  missing, we can survive for at least a day or two until the missing luggage is located/rerouted to us/have sufficient time to shop for new clothes after claiming insurance.

Please, please, please share with me your packing tips. Mine is tedious, I know. Bows head in shame.

Second Pregnancy: Recliner

The most expensive seat in our living room comfortable recliner for my pregnant body.

 

We bought ours at Harvey Norman, IPC, Malaysia a few months ago (as a present to me) to sit comfortably whilst being pregnant and soon to be breastfeeding again, in sha Allah. We saw many other models from many other shops but found this to be "the one".

No regrets! This is now my "go to sleep solution" when the cramps and aches get in the way of a restful slumber, especially at night.

 

Comfort: Buttery soft leather with the right lumbar and neck support. High back to suit relatively tall people in this household.

 

Recline Angle: Follows body contour and weight. Love how simply this works with your own body weight (increasing, in my pregnant case) and has no buttons or pedals (easy for handling when breastfeeding).

 

Childproof: No sharp bits, no sharp angles. No loose hanging bits. We have a 3 year old at home, remember? Soon to be born Bean who will eventually be crawling and exploring too, remember?

 

Care: Easy to maintain with soft wipe and full range of leather care products.

 

Price: Very reasonable since you cannot measure comfort, sleep and safety in terms of $$$!