On Tuesday, Gavin woke up late (by late, I mean 11am), so to help him expend some of that infamous toddler energy, I took him to Kizsports in 1Utama since we’ve never been there.  It is much bigger than the one in Bangsar Village 2 with more space and more activities.  For instance, you can play futsal, you can shoot hoops, and you can boulder (rock climbing).  Yup, they have a mini rock climbing wall for kids!  They also have a cafe so you can have a meal there as well without having to leave the premises, unlike Kizsports at BV2 which only sells drinks over the counter.  However, now that Fit For 2 has opened opposite Kizsports in BV2, I suppose this isn’t really an issue any more.

On first impressions, I think the jungle gym in BV2 is bigger (albeit more compact), however, 1U Kizsports makes up for it with height.  It looked really interesting and I was all for exploring it, except that Gavin decided that this was the day he was going to be afraid of heights and refused to go up.  Dang!  There goes my excuse for crawling through the tunnels and sliding down the big slides.  Ah well, looks like I’ll have to bring Gavin back there again - preferably with one of his godsisters to encourage him to take on the heights.

Kizsports 1U also has a designated “under 3 year old” area that is sealed off from the other areas which I thought was good for parents with young children who didn’t want the big ruffians colliding into their infants as they attempt to negotiate the slides.  According to PL, they also police the play areas quite seriously and will redirect children they observe attempting to climb up slides or engaged in any potentially dangerous activities (to themselves or others).

Although I like the setup at 1Utama, due to proximity, BV2 is just a lot more convenient to get to. 

Sorry there aren’t any photos, I forgot to bring the camera.  But here’s a shot of Gavin and his godsister Emilie on their way to Kizsports one Sunday a couple of weekends back (although we didn’t end up going in because they were having a birthday party and the place was really crowded):

Kizsports 1Utama is located in the old wing near Jusco Department store.  It’s on Level two above Toys ‘R’ Us and Marks and Spencer.

Kizsports Bangsar Village 2 is located on Level 3 (same level as Celebrity Gym) above MPH Bookshop.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I first attended Fit For 2 back when I was in my fifth month of pregnancy and I found it an excellent place not only for keeping fit during the pregnancy, but also for meeting other Mums-to-be, socialising and networking.  Located along Jalan Bangkung among a strip of shops in Bangsar, it was great place to visit.  After my delivery, I did go back a few more times to do the post-partum classes but had to stop when Gavin got to a point of being difficult in the car. 

One of my biggest difficulties taking Gavin to Fit For 2 on Jalan Bangkung was that there isn’t much else to see there except for Fit For 2.  Sometimes, after class and a meal, Gavin wouldn’t want to get back into the car and I would be stuck trying to figure out how to manage him for the car ride home.  If Fit For 2 had been located in a shopping mall, then I would have been able to carry him around window shopping until he was content to go or until he fell asleep.  As a result, I hadn’t been back there for a long time.

During one of my visits to Kizsports in Bangsar Village 2, I discovered that Fit For 2 was opening next door.  As of Monday this week, Fit For 2 in BV2 has officially opened.  They offer the same facilities and classes as they did on Jalan Bangkung - pregnancy exercise classes, post-partum classes, classes for early childhood learning, and the cafe.  Now we’ll have one more place we can visit for lunch at BV2.

Fit For 2 in Bangsar Village 2 is located on Level 3 (same level as Celebrity Gym) above MPH Bookstore.  They have officially moved to BV2, so the venue on Jalan Bangkung is no longer open.

Popularity: 4% [?]

On Thursday, I took Gavin back to Gymboree for a play date with his friend A.  The last time he was there was A’s birthday party, which has been a rather bad experience for him.  Not to be discouraged, I figured a bit of time away from the place would mellow his memory and once he discovered how fun it really was, he would start to enjoy going there.

We arrived at Bangsar Village early so I took him past Gymboree and said, “Gavin, we’re going there to play later, ok?”  To my surprise, he shook his head vehemently and said, “No! No!”  Then he pointed towards Toys ‘R’ Us and indicated he wanted to go there instead.  Thinking that perhaps he just wanted to go to Toys ‘R’ Us first, I took him there and let him run around for a bit.

Incidentally, I discovered they are now selling the Thomas the Tank Engine Musical Toy which I was sorely tempted to buy except that I discovered Toys ‘R’ Us are selling a lot of the Thomas toys at a premium.  For instance, the Thomas and Friends set that I saw selling at Isetan for RM69.90 was going for RM79.90 at Toys ‘R’ Us.

I digress…  After our visit to Toys ‘R’ Us, I took him back to Gymboree and asked him again if he wanted to go in.  Again I received a firm “no”.  When A and C arrived, I tried again to take Gavin into Gymboree and he started crying.  I tried to cajole him and pointed out the giant ball and the slide - two objects I knew he would love to play with - to no avail.  I couldn’t believe how strongly he was reacting against Gymboree.

My friend C told me that Kizsports had a new branch that had recently opened in Bangsar Village 2 just above MPH Bookstore so we went to check it out.  They have already have two branches - one in 1Utama and the other in Great Eastern Mall.

Although some are not listed on their website, Kizsports runs the following activities:

• Playland - which is just a large jungle gym for kids to run around and play at their own leisure
• Early Fitness Academy - which is the same as Gymboree’s gym classes - (they have different programs for kids from 6mths - 13 years)
• Shito-Ryu Karate-Do (5yrs+) - not available at Gymboree
• Tae-Kwando (4yrs+) - not available at Gymboree
• Kindermusik (0-3.5yrs) - according to C, who took her son A for a trial class, Kindermusik at Kizsports is more structured than the one at Gymboree
• Wushudao (4yrs+) - not available at Gymboree
• Craft (3yrs+) - Gymboree offers art classes for kids 18mths and up
• Baby Signs (6mths to 2yrs) - not available at Gymboree
• Speech and Drama (4-12yrs) - not available at Gymboree
• Early Learning Academy - which is basically Kindergarten style classes

However, Gymboree has Yoga classes, which Kizsports does not.

Basically, I’m only interested in the Playland, the Early Fitness Academy and Kindermusik.  At 18 months and already having learned quite a bit from his Signing Time DVDs, I’m not sure he will learn much from the Baby Signs classes.

We took a tour around the place and it is much larger than Gymboree.  When I asked Gavin if he would like to play there, he nodded his head, so that’s a plus.  He even made himself at home in the music room during our tour and I had to forcibly drag him out.

Although Gymboree is no longer an option since Gavin refuses even to set foot inside their premises, I thought it worth while comparing the prices of the two venues.

At Gymboree, there is an annual family membership of RM150 per family which I believe is on top of the other costs.  The yearly package costs RM1780 for 48 weeks for one child under age 3 (it costs more if your child is over 3 years).  It includes:

• 24 gym sessions, 12 music sessions, 12 arts sessions
• 10 vouchers to play on the gym equipment
• 6 additional classes of your choice
• Gymboree t-shirt (which I really couldn’t care for)
• RM150 off the birthday party package

If you wanted to pay for classes individually, it would be:

• Family Annual Membership - RM150
• Gym sessions - RM395 for 12 weeks
• Music sessions - RM395 for 12 weeks
• Playgym - RM12 per hour for members

Total = RM1084 (assuming you take 10 playgym passes)

At Kizsports, there’s no package.  The individual classes would cost:

• Gym sessions (EFA) - RM40+160/mth (also gives your child unlimited play on the playgym)
• Kindermusik - RM40+450 (for 15 weeks semester)

Total = RM1010 (which gives you unlimited play at the playgym and 3 extra music classes)

So Kizsports is slightly cheaper.

I’ve also heard of another play gym called Tumble Tots, but I haven’t been there.  The venues are The Curve, 1Utama and Great Eastern Mall - not exactly places I want to go to on a regular basis, so it looks like it’s Kizsports for Gavin…

Popularity: 7% [?]

When an infant becomes a toddler, one of a parent’s biggest growing pains is finding ways to wear out an energetic child who fights sleep because he wants to play all day.  With a new sense of freedom of movement, a toddler suddenly realises that there is a big world out there and not enough hours in the day to explore it.  Hence the reluctance to sleep and the boundless energy powered by adrenaline.

The Discipline Book by Sears also states that one of the reasons why a child plays up is because he hasn’t had enough “play time”.  Simply taking a child out to the park so he can run about and let loose all that pent up energy can help a child behave more appropriately at home.

For these two reasons, I started taking Gavin out on a regular basis to play.  I find that on the days he goes out, he usually naps earlier and he seems more agreeable in general. 

Ideally, I would prefer to take him to the park on a regular basis, but the weather being what it is means that it is usually too hot by the time Gavin wakes up.  Aside from that, the smog and pollution, the security issues and finding a suitable time to go also make it rather unconducive.

The next best thing is to take him shopping - which usually works a treat in wearing him down sufficiently so that he doesn’t fight me so vigorously when it is time for him to take his afternoon nap.  One of my favourite shopping malls to take him to is Midvalley Megamall because the Toys ‘R’ Us has a little play area outside consisting of their demo cubby houses. 

When he gets bored of that, there are the slides in Robinson’s children’s section in The Gardens.  Aside from these, some of Gavin’s favourite shops are there - namely “Brickboy”, the Lego shop in The Gardens; MPH bookshop; Toys ‘R’ Us; and ELC, the Early Learning Center.  By the time we get through those, Gavin is usually half asleep in my arms.

Taking Gavin out on a regular basis has several benefits:

1. We get lots of practice getting him to sit in his carseat.
2. It also means he spends less time in front of the TV (since he would inevitably be watching TV if he remained at home all day).
3. He gets to interact with other people (okay, so it is mostly the shop assistants and strangers that he chooses to wave at).
4. He gets exercise from running around.
5. All his senses are stimulated by an engaging environment which is good for his development.
6. He falls asleep more easily so we don’t have to do battle when it comes to nap time.
7. I don’t go mad trying to keep him out of the cupboards and drawers at home since he has an appropriate outlet for his curiosity.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Ever since I started trying to do Yoga and Pilates as a means of rehabilitating an old injury to my ankle, Gavin has discovered a new-found passion.  He likes to take my Yoga mat and lie on it.  If I’ve rolled it up and put it away, he’ll take it out and repeat his moves.  He does this several times during the course of his nightly “winding down” sessions.  I guess I should have figured I had a Yoga baby when he started pulling Yoga moves during his nursing sessions. 

Anyone for Yoga instruction?  I believe Master Gavin is in the house…

Popularity: 4% [?]

Here’s another cool wordpress plugin that allows you to easily import photos from your flickr account into wordpress.  No more messing with code or painfully having to upload individual photos - you can access your flickr photo stream and just click on the thumbnails of the photos you want.  Cool, huh?

I was about to use slide to import a slideshow of the photos from Gavin’s recent trip to the swimming pool at my MIL’s club, but this is such a terrific tool, I couldn’t resist.  Wordpress plugins are cool!  (Yeah, base, I know what you’re thinking - geek!)

So here’s Gavin on his way to the pool, being the busy bee that he is, he’s issuing his usual orders on his mobile phone.  We notice that he only babbles into the phone when there isn’t anyone on the other side.  If there is a voice on the other side, he usually stays really quiet because he’s too busy listening to talk.

We tried using arm floats on him since he didn’t like the life jacket we bought him but it was no go.  Gavin likes being free in the water.  Unfortunately, that means I have to stay close to make sure he doesn’t try to drink the pool water.  Occasionally, he’ll sneak his tongue out when I’m not looking, though…

Waving at Ah Mah and Aunty Kate (who so graciously agreed to be camera woman for us on this fine day - thanks!)

And here’s a two-handed flying kiss for Ah Mah…

At the Pool’s bar - “Let’s take a break and have some long island teas…”

“Alright, let’s get back to my laps.”

“Mummy, catch me!”

“Let’s go that way!”

In the middle of our private pool…  Well, it almost seems that way since no one else was there.

“Okay, Gavin, time to go home.”

“What?  No way!  I’m not going anywhere.”

Gavin allowed us to take him out of the pool and walk towards the changing rooms without much of a fight this time, but as we turned away from the swimming pool, he realised we were walking away from the pool.  One hand holding Ah Mah, the other holding mine, he twisted on the spot in confusion, almost as if to say, “Hey, wait a minute, there aren’t any more swimming pools down here!  I think you’re going the wrong way!”

After a recent trip to The Curve where Gavin attempted to walk into the water fountain, I think Gavin’s got a rapidly developing passion for water sports.  And from the way he’s been protesting whenever we try to stop him from doing something he enjoys, I think we’re in for tougher times ahead when try to leave the pool in future.

Popularity: 10% [?]

That is indeed the question. 

What is a Jolly Jumper? 

It’s basically an inverse trampoline for babies.  The baby is suspended in a harness attached to a spring that allows them to jump up and down without toppling over.  See picture below.

These are the benefits of jumpers as claimed by the manufacturers:

• It’s good exercise for babies
• Strengthens baby’s leg muscles
• Promotes earlier walking (by virtue of the fact that it strengthens their leg muscles) and motor coordination

According to “What to Expect, the First Year”, the added benefit is that the Jolly Jumper offers baby a means of mobility where the lack of it may frustrate a more active baby.

From personal experience, the Jolly Jumper has a couple of benefits for Mummy too:

• helps Mummy strengthen her pelvic floor muscles when she jumps alongside baby (I soon discovered how weak mine were when I starting jumping up and down to give Gavin the idea of what he was supposed to do and nearly created a puddle on the floor)
• gives Mummy a good cardio workout (trust me, you don’t even have to jump as much or as hard as baby to get the heart going)

According to our paediatrician, Dr Lam, jolly jumpers may well help babies to learn to walk at an earlier age.  In his opinion it isn’t necessary as all babies will learn to walk eventually of their own accord.

Another type of jumper is the exosaucer activity center jumper:

These provide baby other amusements as well as the ability to rock and bounce.  The down side of the exosaucer is that the toys attached to it are distracting for babies with their limited attention span and the limited range of vertical motion.  The exosaucer is also a lot more expensive than a regular Jolly Jumper costing as much as four to five times the price.

If you want a jumper with exercise value, I recommend the Jolly Jumper over the exosaucer. 

Popularity: 15% [?]

Here are five easy ways to lost that excess post-pregnancy bulk picked up during the pregnancy WITHOUT dieting.

1. According to the doctor, 15kgs of weight gained during pregnancy can be attributed to the baby.  After delivery, this weight will be lost fairly easily - and I concur, I lost 3-4kgs in one week even though I was busy stuffing my face with anything and everything I could get my hands on. 

2. Breastfeed, breastfeed, breastfeed.  Exclusively, if you can.  A breastfeeding Mum needs 300-500 extra calories above her regular intake pre-pregnancy in order to maintain her pre-pregnant weight.  A number of friends were surprised to note how quickly I lost my post-pregnant weight.

3. Throw out the personal trainer.  From now on, you new personal trainer is your baby.  If your baby wants to be rocked to sleep, don’t hand him over to the nanny or the hubby or your MIL, do it yourself.  If your baby wants to be carried - ditto.  Whatever your baby wants is what your baby gets.  Remember babies can’t be spoilt so take advantage of this fact and foster a closer bond with your baby while you’re at it.

4. Ditch the stroller and get a baby carrier (like the Bjorn - doesn’t necessarily have to be this brand, it just happens to be the one that I use).  Take your baby out and go window shopping or take a walk in the park.  The new scenery is good for your baby’s development and the walk is great for your figure.  If you want to work out those arms, ditch the carrier and carry baby in your arms.  The carrier is helpful if you needs to be hands-free.  The walk and the weight of your baby make a dynamic duo for weightloss.

5. If you can afford it, be a stay-home Mum.  Looking after the baby and a household is definitely a lot more physical than an office job (unless you were a fitness instructor, or you were working at a construction site or you had any other job that required physical exertion).

For that extra bit of weightloss:

When your baby becomes a mobile toddler, your daily energy expenditure is about to increase exponentially.  You’ll get a pretty good cardio workout just chasing after your little one and making sure he doesn’t land himself in any trouble.  Scooping up a wriggling toddler is also great for asymmetrical weight training.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Above: Gavin in his Maxi Cosi car seat cum baby carrier laughing as I played a game of “Boo Bah Gah!” with him.

Last Friday I went back to Fit for 2 for the first time since I was pregnant with Gavin. I took Gavin with me to try out Joanne’s “Mommy and baby” pilates class since I had one more pass left over from the twelve visit pass I bought for the pregnancy exercise classes. D told me about it when I bumped into her and her gorgeous little baby girl at Bangsar Village while I was shopping one fine afternoon with HL.

D gave birth to S a few weeks after me. She had had a c-section after a failed induction because S was too high and her dilated remained stuck at 3 to 4 cm. For someone who had just had an operation, she was looking nothing short of splendid. HL had said if she could look as good after she has her first child she would be happy. We parted company and I promised to catch up with D at Fit for 2.

So last Friday while I was dressing him for our little outing together, Gavin was in an exceptionally good mood. He was smiling and laughing at a private little joke only he knew about while he stared at nothing in particular. I left the house early to accommodate Gavin unlike my usual “fly out the door running ten minutes late” style like I used to back while I was still pregnant.

When we arrived, I decided to park my car in a proper parking spot which meant I had to walk some distance to the center. Gavin was sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb his sleep so I left him in the car seat and carried him and the Maxi Cosi down the road and up one flight of stairs to get to the class. 8.5kg plus whatever the Maxi Cosi weighed was no light task. By the time I got up to reception, I was ready to call it a day. My quads were burning from the stair climb and my arms were ready to fall out of their sockets.

While waiting for the class to start, I finally met C in person for the first time. She recognised Gavin from the photos I had posted on my Multiply. She was looking rather radiant despite being ready to to pop in about a month and a bit. We chatted for a bit until it was time for me to go in for the class.

The Mommy and baby pilates class is quite relaxed - you can pick up your baby or breastfeed at any time during the class. We start with our babies lying down next to us and later incorporate baby into the routine towards the end when baby starts to get fidgety. With Gavin weighing 8.5kg and my muscles completely unprepared, I found it quite a task to complete the Mommy and baby moves at the end. Whenever I felt out of my league, I just lay there and entertained Gavin by pulling faces and making popping noises.

It felt great to be exercising again and even better to be able to bring Gavin with me. Part of the reason why I haven’t done any exercise until now is because I have been reluctant to leave Gavin behind while I headed out to the gym.

Despite the fact that I didn’t complete half the class (because I was either breastfeeding Gavin or I didn’t have the strength to do the moves), I was still aching for two whole days afterwards. Yep - we have a long way to go to get back into some semblance of fitness…

Popularity: 4% [?]

I have never been a snorer - or at least, so I’m told. The hubby has also confirmed that to be the case as he has never heard me snoring during the times he has been awake while I slept. I think at the most, the worst I’ve done is the “Darth Vader” breathing in my sleep.

A couple of weeks ago, I added snoring to my list - and it wasn’t the usual heavy breathing. I was amazed. I thought people only snored when they lay on their back. Since a pregnant woman past 4 months is not supposed to sleep on her back, I thought I had escape the snoring. Isn’t it lovely that I not only look like a hippo but now I also sound like one, too?

Since I started back on my pilates classes at Fitfor2, I’ve noticed that my CTS seems to have eased up at night. I don’t know if there’s any correlation between the exercise, but I’ve also been sleeping a little better. For a while there, I was almost thinking of stopping my exercises altogether, but now I think perhaps I should continue to attend class after all.

Much against my body’s protest this morning, I attended another class and I’m glad to say that I do feel somewhat more energised after the workout. I think I will continue to observe my progress this week and reassess whether to continue after Friday’s class.

I was thinking of stopping Yoga, though. As much as I’d like to think I still have it, I really think I’m kidding myself to think I’m up for one of Melissa’s class. Once again, I’ll see how I feel on Friday and decide then if I feel up for next Monday’s yoga class. It’s a pity that pilates is only running once a week. Today’s class was an exception because there were no yoga instructors to conduct the session so Joanne gave a pilates class instead.

Lately, my belly button has been hurting a little and I’ve finally discovered why. I keep brushing my belly against objects whenever I make the mistake of thinking I’m small enough to squeeze through half open doorways and little passages. Since my bellybutton is the highest point on my belly, it’s naturally the part that gets injured the most. Note to self: you’re not as svelt as you used to be - stop kidding yourself and make the effort to open the door properly.

Although it’s hard to imagine, I think my belly has grown since last Friday. It was brushing against the floor when I went into “child’s pose” in pilates this morning. I had to shift my position a little to accommodate the bump…

Popularity: 4% [?]