Happy 30th birthday, Philips Avent! #tinythings

We were invited to the Philip Avent 30th birthday celebration at the lovely Il Giardino at 44 on Stanley on Saturday. I took Little Miss and The Student along.

I have a small anecdote to tell about Philips Avent. 21 years back when my eldest had to go on the bottle, we did not know anything about BPA-free bottles, and I bought the cheapest on the shelve.
The second time around, 15 years later (6 years ago), I knew something about bottles that should be BPA-free. I also wanted to try harder at the breastfeeding thing, and searched for breast pumps. I found the whole set of Philips Avent breast pump and bottles on the shelve at the nearest Dischem, which was also the most cost-effective. It could also claim it back from my medical aid, which really helped! We used them exclusively for the duration of her bottle drinking while she was at day care. I also carried the breast pump to work with me, and expressed twice until she was nine months old.

The following is a quote by Philips Avent:

"We believe that the smallest things can make the biggest difference. A picture capturing your child’s firsts can cement a lifetime of beautiful memories that you will always hold dear.
Having shared three decades of memoirs with moms and their precious babies, Philips AVENT is celebrating its 30th Birthday this April."

Il Giardino venue

Yummy food!

Philips Avent Baby of the Year Bokamosa Moloi with family

Little Miss had a great time with cupcake decorating, colouring, face-painting and making hand-prints.

Disclaimer: I was not asked to write anything. 

We got our hand prints in a frame and a photo-mobile, and of course the lovely breakfast and entertainment!

Stuff you would think that should not be around by age 3

Don’t we all smile to ourselves when we realize that our preconceived ideas about time-spans and our children does not comply with the books?

And why should it?

Things I thought that would not be around by age three:

-    Breastfeeding. I wished to get past the first six weeks, and here I am at nearly three...
I still wish to continue, but it seems that it is sadly going to come to an end because of the cholesterol issue. (I feel very sad about this! How am I going to tell the face it is finished?)

-    The bottle is also a firm favourite when she wants her Nido milk. We have about one working bottle left at his stage.

-    The donut. For playing, sleeping, eating, drinking, watching television and doing acrobatics... It gets used for everything. (One of the must-have items when buying for baby!)

-    The potty – it only go dumped two weeks back, but we still use it as a stepping stool for the toilet and for washing hands.

What have you used for much longer?

Wordless Wednesday #66 - Toddler do not want to let go of bottle at day care

Morning's first photo at day care #8 - Toddler fending for self already

The toddler with her own sports bottle that she now has to keep at the day care. It is the end of the baby bottles! (I know, I know! She should have been off them long ago... But we still give them to her at home! Guilty!)
I can only send one milk bottle on a day with her bag, and yesterday they did not even use it.

She also now has to eat with the bigger children in the hall. They have to eat all by themselves!

My poor Baby Toddler! She has to fend for self! She looks so small when walking on her own in the play ground! They have to grow up so very quickly when we, working mothers, have to leave them! Maybe it is a good thing! Yes, it's a good thing! (Powerwoman says it definitely is a good thing!)

And then I read MamaPoekie's post at Authentic Parenting about The paradox of individualism, and I totally agree with her. We push our children away from us as soon as possible, giving them bottles, sleeping in their own rooms as soon as possible... Having to fend for self at day care instititutions! The Guilt!

Sometimes, I wish I could have kept her for longer in my arms...

Day care woes and first report card

The working mother has a daily nightmare. Worrying about the day care and leaving your child in the care of somebody else is a daily niggle at the back of your mind. Especially if you leave a crying child, or a very sad face, in the hands of somebody else.

Even more so when you pick your baby up from school (last Thursday), and see that she has not had anything to drink for the whole day. When you taste the “milk” bottle, you find that they have mixed the milk powder with the fruit juice. (Horrors!)

I have spoken to the people before about giving Mieka all her bottles during the day, and it really bugs me when I see that she as only offered the one bottle during the day. Apparently it is also problem to not heat up the bottle in the microwave... (One of my pet peeves - I do not heat food or anything else for Mieka in the microwave.)

I wrote a long letter to the school again on Friday, to ensure that there is no misunderstanding. I do hope it is the last time I have to ask them. Next time: Powerwoman to the rescue! (Determined face!) I will take it to the head of the school, or else! (You know what! Mothers do not keep quiet when their children are involved.)

Mieka got her first report card back from the day care:

• It states that she is a “pleasure in class.” (That’s our little girl! Big smile by Mom!)


• “She is too young for certain activities.” (Is she in the right class?)


• Also that she has adapted well! (Big smile again!)


• She apparently also has a problem with putting stuff away – she has to be “encouraged”. (We are working on that! Wink smile!)

I like getting feedback in the form of report cards. It helps us to focus on the areas where there is still a developmental need. I will focus more on teaching Mieka about the identification of her body. She could only identify a few of her body parts. (Does she need to know all of them by now? She is 17 and a half months old.)

Expression and lactations

I am still breastfeeding at seven and a half months. Great! I think so! I think so?
From the beginning I said I would see for how long I could carry on. Arnia (the 16-year old) did not want anything to do with a bottle while she was breastfeeding, and at 4 months I had to put her on bottle only. That was extremely traumatic (for me mostly) at the time.
When I went back to work in May this year (2009), I took my breast pump with me, and closed my studio twice during the day to express milk. I am still doing it, and sending two bottles with Mieka to the daycare.
(One of my biggest fears still is that I will walk out of my studio with my boobs still hanging out.)
The rest of the time she is still breastfeeding – at night, during the night (red eye syndrome for me), and in the mornings before I drop her off at daycare.
At seven months I am still trying to get used to the breastfeeding thing. In the beginning it felt like she was hanging on my breasts 24/7. I could not do anything else. And it was extremely sore. They tell you it is not supposed to be sore, because you are doing something wrong. Like latching… When I was hospital, I tried to ask for somebody to help me with the latching, but nobody ever pitched up. Is it worth it to complain now? And when I complained to the doctor that she latches very strongly, and I can’t get her off, he just shrugged and said that I must time her… Yeah, right!
Luckily we are past the extremely trying first few weeks. Dries, my husband, said he was not used to seeing boobs all the time. And he did not say it as if it was a good thing, or a treat to him.
And my boobs are still not my boobs. I miss my B-boobies which could fit into any top. I hope I hope I get them back.
I still don’t know when I am going to stop. When Mieka is one years, or two years? It is stated on the Purity baby food jars that it is good to continue breastfeeding until they are two years of age. (A very long time…)
The other thing that is sometimes very trying is when you are expressing at work, and the milk does not “come in”, or you don’t get the letdown reflex. I give myself 15 minutes in the morning, and again in the afternoon. Maybe it is stress, but sometimes I can sit with the electric pump running, and nothing is happening. I have also noticed that when I do not stick to a precise time-frame with regards to the expression of the milk, I do not get the desired amount. Mostly I do not get more than 100ml of milk at a time. I know it is supposed to be more, but I have decided that it is still better to give that, than nothing at all.
But all in all, it is a wonderful feeling to have the little one drinking from you. They are so completely dependent, and there is nothing that makes her go to sleep as putting her on the breast. Maybe that is why I am still doing the nightly rounds?
I have asked Dries to stand in for me. We are going to arm him with bottles tonight, and I am going to SLEEP! He always says that he is also not sleeping, but I bet you that it is much better to stay just where you are, than to get up every hour, or on a two-hourly basis. I can’t wait to hit the cushion tonight!

Photo by Patrick Pretorius.