Birkenkopf

Salam guys,

Sorry for little update these days.Thing is I am a bit busy decorating our little crib.Being a housewife is sometimes not easy.There are times when you feel bored to death,not knowing what to do(only in my past before Alayna was born) or you just have 1001 ideas in your mind but you don't know how or what you shall start.

Right now I am in the process of decorating Alayna's room as we planned to move her into her own room soon.She'll be half a year soon and she shall be educated to be separated from the parents at night :)

Once ready,I will share some pictures here :)

Last Sunday we went climbing up a small hill only 10 minutes drive from our house.It was a nice walking up the hill although the road going up and down was slippery and icy due to the snow melting down.

From up the hill we can top off the scenery of Stuttgart covered in snow.

Looking forward to nice weekend like this again

Till then people.

She decided to not ride the stroller that day,so I had to carry her around half the way to the top of the hill -___-

This hill was actually formed from many pieces of materials from the houses and buildings destroyed in 2nd world war,and later this place become the commemoration site to remember the loss in the war

Stuttgart from on top of Birkenkopf

A Walk in The Forest

I didn't expect for snow anymore since the last heavy one we had in December last year.Looks like this year the winter really plays its role compared to last year.

Today we did a 5kms plus walk around the lake in the forest not far from our house.I haven't done walking for quite some time since coming back from Cologne last time,mainly because it gets a lot colder these days and because of the gloomy weather,and well, running our small crib and entertaining our little one at home everyday is already quite tiring for me :P

Plan to go hiking up the hill also not far from our place tomorrow.

Till then people.

Have a nice weekend!

Tips on travelling with babies by car

Salam guys,

Other than travelling by plane,we also spend a lot of time travelling by car.Starting with our cuti-cuti Malaysia few months back to the road trip in several places in Europe.So our travel on road normally takes up to 6, 7 hours.

So I'd like to reckon some tips on how to travel with babies by car.

1.Car Seat

In Germany,for parents travelling with babies in car ,they must put the babies in the car seat at any condition.Meaning,there is no time that the baby can sit with one of the parents.I found this as a good regulation,mainly for the safety reason of the babies.

And that's how we did it in Malaysia.Alayna was trained since the first day she went home from the hospital to be seated in the carseat,although there are times when she was being 'baby' and started 'begging' to be seated on our laps.

So,yeah,although carseat is not a cheap stuff,but investing some money on it is none other than for your own kid's safety.

2.Prepare hot water and cold water for the milk preparation

Bring at least 5 to 6 diapers for 5-6 hours of driving period.

Prepare the soft toys and the music toys

Prepare extra clothes

Prepare baby powder,lotion and minyak telon for the baby's comfort

Prepare milk in each compartments in the on-go storage

and so on...

(This all prepared in a baby travel bag)

 3.We make sure that we will stop at RnR for few times in order to change Alayna's diapers because baby won't feel comfortable when the diapers are full.Either they will start being cranky in the car or crying non-stop.

On one hand,we don't have problem in most places we've been in Europe because baby room is always available everywhere.

4.For travelling around in the destination,we also make sure that we bring both stroller and babycarrier.So,load your car with these two items.

And in Malaysia many people opt for light and small-framed stroller as it's easier to be loaded in the car.

On the opposite,people in Germany prefer the bulky stroller as stroller is considered as a main transport for the babies.Many people here will bring their babies in the city,in the forest,in the park or even pushing the baby stroller while doing some sport or marathon.So,yeah,you can imagine how people here load everything in the babies' strollers.

Our quite bulky stroller,which ended up we used baby sling all the time in Paris because there is not bulky stroller friendly.

We also prefer bulky stroller as in our spare time,we'd like to push Alayna around in the city or even in the park and forest.

5.We only start preparing bottle on demand.Meaning when Alayna started crying for milk,then I will prepare the bottle immeditely in the car,not beforehand.This to ensure that the milk is still warm especially in winter season here,when the milk quickly gets colder,and I will try to feed her with one go so that there's no cold milk left.

 Now that our baby girl has reached 5 and half months old,we started to train her to sit on herself at the back without me accompanying her.Meaning I have started moving to seat at the front.Before, I always sat next to her and we tried to train her to be more independent by leaving her alone at the back seat.

Guess that's all from me.Next I will write some tips on how to travel with babies in the city or in any places we travel.Till next time :)

München/Munich

A day in Munich.Munich is such a beautiful city and the fact that this city is foreigner-friendly and many halal restaurant availability make me fall in love with it.

Till then people,enjoy the pictures.

Schloss Nymphenburg

The forest surrounding the castle

We had Indian food for lunch

Christmas market

Rathaus/city hall

Snow in Stuttgart

Salam guys,

Towards the end of 2014,Stuttgart and many parts of Germany were covered in snow.It was fun playing with it although it was freaking cold.But well,time like this doesn't come too often,last year was even no snow in Stuttgart.

Till then.Bye  :)

At solitude,an old castle not far from our home

Little missy experiencing her first snow

The frozen lake in a forest

Well,cleaning the car covered in heavy snow is not an easy job

Tips on Travelling with babies

Salam guys,

How are you guys doing?Now everything is back to normal.Husband is back in the office,leaving the two of us at home and sometimes,I forgot how to handle my baby alone :P

I guess,in this post I'll write a lil bit about how we handle a baby when we went travelling.

Alayna started her first travel by flying back to Malaysia at 7 weeks old.She was the youngest in the flight,but to be honest,we didn't experience it quite nicely.It was our first time ever travelling far with an infant and for that matter,we had done some study on how to handle a baby during our travel in the future :P

Ok,some tips we did in the flight to keep baby entertained because babies,like adults also easily get bored especially when they're on long flight.

 On the way to Germany from KLIA

1.For breastfeeding mommies,you can choose whether you want to nurse your baby directly or pump the milk into the bottle and feed the babies out of the bottle.

I chose the later.Because,apparently I was a lil bit hesitant to direct breastfeed.So,what I did was,I pumped the milk for at least 3 sessions in 12-13 hour-flight.So make sure you have at least 3 bottles with you in the cabin and bring your pumping machine with you on board.

2.Make sure the baby's ears are fully covered during take off or landing.For that matter,it depends on the babies,if the baby is asleep,try to cover his/her ears with fingers but if he/she is awake,make sure that they drink from the bottle of breastfed by the mother.This is to make sure that the air pressure in their ears are balanced because babies apparently are too small to balance themselves.

3.As for us,we also prepare the milk powder in the special storage so that we can easily pour the powder into the bottle without having to scoop out from the packaging.We got the special milk storage at Mydin for RM10.It's very beneficial.

 The on-go milk storage with 3 small compartments to ease parents to store the powdered milk for their journey

Also don't forget to bring a thermos and a bottle to store hot and normal water which we can ask from the flight attendant.

P/S:Milk(EBM or powdered are permitted to go through the immigration scanning,so no worries :) )

4.Bring some toys and music toys for your babies.These to ensure your baby is entertained at any time during the flight.

5.Bring enough diapers for your baby.We bring at least 10 pieces along.And don't forget to prepare at least a piece of cloth and a pair of pants in case if your baby dirts himself/herself.

6.Also bring a changing mat because normally in the flight it is not provided.The airlines might provide only the changing board.

7.Bring the baby cream,baby powder and some oil for the comfort of the baby.

 These 3 items that we always bring around for our baby's comfort

8.The parents should also prepare themselves on how to comfort their baby when the baby is being cranky and times when the baby wants extra attention from their parents.Well,every baby is unique,and only their parents know best on how to give them their comfort on board.

 I guess that's all from me.Next time I will write some tips on travelling by car and when one's travelling in their destination. 

So,good luck guys!

Paris Last Day

Assalam guys,

It's our final day in Paris.Fuh,I just have little time to update,but guess what,one of my new resolutions for this year is I wanna write more posts in this blog.I don't mind if there are less readers these days,but I find it a good way to record of our activities,and at the same time,to look back of what we have done in the previous.

Ok,so on the last day in Paris,the luck was on our side as the sun decided to come out,and we planned to visit more places this day by foot.

We started by going to the Grand Mosque.It was a big and quite old mosque,taking after the Moroccan architecture and we were greeted so nicely by the people there.

 From inside the Grand Mosque

Later,we went to Center George Pompidou,a famous building with its own Architecture.This building is mainly famous if its 'rare' architecture,which the visitors can basically see that the building has no 'real' wall.Just imagine a body system without skin,so you can see what lies inside it.

 Travel is our passion,but travelling with a baby is a total new experience.Maybe I shall write some tips on travelling with babies?

 Center George Pompidou

Next we went to Printemps,the shopping mall next to Gallerie Lafayette to top off the nice scenery of Paris.As recommended by many visitors,from up there,you can see the whole city with Eiffel Tower,and from the other side,you can see the Sacre Coeur.It was majestic!

 Overlooking Paris from on top of Printemps

 The upside down Christmas Tree in Gallerie Lafayette

And then we went to Gallerie Lafayette,only to see the upside down christmas tree in the mall itself.

Wanted to check on some collections of Longchamps,but the queue and the heat didn't permit me to do so.

We went Pont Alexandre III and from there to the Hotel des Invalides,where the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte lies at.

 At the back is the Pont Alexandre III/Bridge famous of its decorations

 Hotel des Invalides

We ended our day by walking towards the Eiffel again for the last time and by the time we arrived there,it was the sun setting down.Ah,so lovely.

I am always in love with Paris.Will never get tired of this city.

InsyaAllah,I hope to come back here again someday.