This morning as I was tossing some stuff into my bag, it occurred to me that my bag seems less packed with two children compared to two years ago when I just had the one baby. I think at that time as a new mum, I was prone to over-packing in wanting to be prepared for anything and everything. But over the past two years, I've learnt dial-down on the over-preparedness so I can travel light since I now have two little ones in tow. Here's a peek into what I carry around in my bag these days...   Two cloth nappies (I like to include at least one Bitti Tutto or Ecobumba nappy which can be adjusted to use on either Grace or Nathan) Wet wipes (I use my cloth wipes at home) Wet bag for soiled nappies Spare 'sposie diaper for Grace Small box of biscuits/snacks Water bottle for Nathan Baby sling for carrying Grace Compact fold-up tote (as some retailers now have a plastic-bag-free policy, plus it folds up into a cute littl...

So after my parents left, I've been finding my feet to get into my own daily rhythm and routine with the kids. It took some trial and error, but I think we've all finally settled into a nice workable routine. Nathan goes to daycare two days a week and spends the remaining days at home with me. It's a little more challenging looking after two kids on my own on those days. But having a rough plan in mind definitely helps steer me through the day. Even if the day goes a little off every now and then, at least I have a general guideline to steer back towards. As I have a number of friends who are about to pop their second baby, I thought for their benefit I would share what my day looks like with the two kids at this point in time (bear in mind that Grace is now about two months old, so she's more settled compared to the early newborn days)...     7.00AM-8.00AM Kids start waking up. Morning drill: Change nappies and jammies, prepare breakfast for Nathan,...

Hi folks, today I'm guest posting at Mummy's Underserved Blessings as part of a series on 'Sharing Your Passion' hosted by the lovely  Lisa And for those of you who know me, almost nothing gets me more excited and passionate than talking about one of my favourite topics: Cloth Nappies! Do hop on over to Lisa's blog to read and support my post: Five reasons why cloth nappies are easier than you think

Just like my discovery of the secret weapon for helping Nathan settle down for his naps, I finally discovered my new secret weapon for baby #2 which turns out to be this old classic:     One of the biggest challenges I had in the early weeks with Grace was getting her to settle down for naps and bedtime. She needed a lot of help by rocking, patting, carrying and all. But the top absolutely full-proof method was simply: nursing.   I resorted to it as at that time everything was all mixed up with cluster feeds, growth spurts and wonder weeks. However eventually the habit got to the point that I often had to sleep next to her literally the whole night just so that she could sleep.   She is still too young to know how to find her own fingers and thumb to soothe herself, so we tried the pacififer on her several times. She struggled to accept it at first and really fought against it. It must have tasted so wrong compared to mummy. But then one day, ...