9 ingredients for a successful in-house training

I know many of you are thinking, agghhhh "get done with the baby topic already", and I can tell you now that although I intend to write on a wide variety of things, motherhood, Keyan and children will remain my absolute passion to write about. :) I know I have also been less active but this is only because our son is turning 1 this weekend and there is much preparation we are busy with. So hang 10 and bare with me. With a little patience, I will step by step share more about Keyan, about our lives, our travels and what the future might hold ;)

But today, I want to tell you about learning, comfort zones and stages in which we find ourselves. Yes, our careers, or job as some of you might call it, takes up most of our day. We spend more and more time at work each day then with our family and loved ones at home. Thus it is vitally important that one is satisfied, happy and enjoys ones occupation. I am one of those people that is passionate about what I do. I love the airline industry, in actual fact, very often I think that I cannot imagine life without the ever changing industry, the buzz, the next strike or snowstorm, and in my case working with people; the next drama or crisis. You either hate it or love it. In my case, I have worked for the same company for 11 years, and have through hard work and perseverance been promoted over the years to various different leadership roles.

Through the years, I have attended many trainings and learned many theories on leadership and management. Yes, I believe I have attended sufficient courses to be an expert my field. So last week when I decided to join a soft skills training offered in our company, it was not to learn something new, but rather to observe what my team is learning. 

Can you remember the last time you learned something new? I could not and I was disappointed with that, as I have always been a firm believer that one should learn something new each day, even if it is just something small. My upfront expectations of the training was not great. Good trainers and content that is noteworthy is scarce. In my career, I can only ever remember two good trainings, of which one was at university and the other one so long ago, that I am not even sure if it was really that great or whether my memory just does not serve me right. In house training is not an easy topic, not only because the trainers know you, but it also automatically makes you uncomfortable as all participants around you know you too. There are usually formed perceptions, unrealistic expectations and faked participation that I do not enjoy.

But today was different. Both trainer and content were awesome and I thought it essential for me to share for all those people that might consider outsourcing training to reconsider. Why was this training so different from all the others?

1. The trainer is a confident extrovert
2. The trainer set a safe environment (what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!)
3. The trainer ensured that positions did not matter (very important!)
4. The trainer built confidence in everyone 
5. The trainer was truly passionate and motivational
6. The content was refreshed (A SMART target had an actual new and better meaning!)
7. The content was based on new theories
8. Everyone had to participate in role plays and feedback
9. The entire workshop was built on fun and participation

With all of the above ingredients checked, you can only have a successful experience and outcome of training within. 

I wish all of you an opportunity to get out of your comfort zone and explore a new environment. Embrace each day and aim to learn something new. Else your conscious competence might turn to unconscious incompetence.


Blog Photo Attribution: By Chris Thompson, ChrisIrmo
Blog Photo 2 Attribution: By Reto Fetz, swisscan

Blog Photo 3 Attribution: By Anne Davis
Blog Photo 4 Attribution: By Ian T Edwards, Ukenaut

Pregnancy - The second trimester Part II

The second trimester was an absolute roller coaster. I felt more energetic again and was ready to take on anything and everything. Since we now had passed the feared first 3 months, we started to become more relaxed and started planning and reading up on everything one needs, the so called "must have's", in order to be ready for your arrival soon. Here you can refer to my previous blog to save you some time. Must have's for newborns and things you do not need 4 things you do not need.

 

One thing was for sure, although our apartment/ flat did have 2 bedrooms, we had started using the second room for storage as we bought more and more things. You will still learn this later on in life, your dad struggles to let go of things and collects goodies and rather keeps all for that “in case situation” where one might need the item again. {{hehe}} To cut a long story short, we decided to sell our place and buy a house…..so that dad could have a garage to store more… Everyone whom we told our plans to sell and buy, thought we had gone crazy. Who sells a flat, buys a house and moves all while already pregnant? Of course WE, as with most things and life, DO what we want and just make work! :)

We started searching the market for houses and very quickly realized that we wanted to move to Pinehurst. This is a much sought after security estate that is manned 24 hours and with the high and ever rising stats on crime around us, thought this would be perfect. It offered space, a garden and security that we were looking for. So very quickly our flat went into the market, and you might not believe it, but also got sold within the same month. The buyer was from Namibia and was looking for a place to buy for his son. The son had come to Cape Town to study. The condition for the sale as set by the buyer, was that we had to move out within 5 days as he wanted to see to his son settling into his new home before returning back to Namibia!!!! {{Yip, here at week 12 all these exciting things were happening and we could not believe our blessings}}

Our household packed into the garage

Our new place and ALL those boxes

Speed packing is no joke I tell you, but we did it all. We took some boxes(most likely half our flats contents) to your Oma Nellie’s house and found a good temporary storage place for the rest since we would only be able to move into our place at the end of April. For the next 3 months, we lived with Oma Nellie. We settled into the new environment quickly and were extremely grateful for the help and place to stay. That being said there’s just no place like home, and as you will also learn one day {{and probably point out to me too -->  I just hope not too soon}}, once one reaches a certain age, you need your own space and privacy and so we were super excited when the time finally came around to move into our own house. At pregnancy week 26 (6.5 months pregnant) the exciting day had finally arrived and we moved into our new home. We took 2 weeks leave to sort everything out, unpack and settle in. 

Our Toffee Baby

But hang on, there was another big and very exciting thing that happened in the second trimester, in week 20 (month 5) to be exact. I felt you bump the surface for the first time with my hand and half an hour later, when your dad was holding my tummy, you moved again thrice, just to show him, yes Dad, this is me you are feeling!! In week 22 (5 ½ months), we found a little puppy for our family. Your dad had been dreaming of adding a furry fella to the family for a very long time and with a house and garden, this could now become a reality. We named him Toffee because of his unique and beautiful brown coat and he was planned to join us just after we moved in. 

The rest of the time was just unpacking of boxes, washing all clothes, and getting our place to look like something we could be proud to bring you home to. xxx

Settled in

Your Dad's drawing at home

 

Blog Photo Attribution: By Kristin Nador
Blog Photo 2 Attribution: By Nicolas Ortecho

Must have's for newborns

And here the list of things that you should get in preparation for your new family member :)

For self

1. 2 x Nursing Bra (if you plan on breastfeeding)
2. Nipple cream (if you plan on breastfeeding)
3. Maternity Pads
4. Nursing Pads
5. Sleep sense book - Meg Faure (I found this wonderful to learn about sleep patterns, cycles and how to ensure baby gets the rest that is needed)

         

For baby

Nursery

1. Baby Crib
2. Compactum (not a must but really nice to have)
3. Mattress with ventilation holes (in case baby does sleep on face to avoid suffocation)
4. 2 x fitted sheet
5. Comfy chair for feeding
6. Baby monitor (recommended Angel Care - I would recommend with video function)
7. Changing Sponge
8. Mobile
9. Nightlight (more for you to see when you go into room in the middle of night)
10. Mosquito net (we found our little one is allergic for mosquito's !!!) 
11. Camping cot/ portable crib (I had baby with me for the first few months and then sleep in our room until he was about 9 months) 
12. 5 x Blankets 
13. Memory box (this is really nice where you can keep all scan pictures, memento's etc)
14. Toy box (to create order in the chaos)

Keyan's portable crib

         


Bath time

1. Bath thermometer (important in beginning to learn the feeling for right temperature)
2. Baby Shampoo 
3. Liquid soap (here you get some with calming oils that aid sleep)
4. 2 x Hooded towels
5. Bath toys (will be great for once they can sit on their own and start playing; here ducks, water buckets, squirting toys are all great)
6. Non-slip bath mat (definitely for when they start walking ;))
7. 7 x Bibs (I did not use these for eating, only during teething when they drool so much, however know most people do)
8. Bath sponge

Medication/ Health/ General Care

1. Digital thermometer (best the one that measures temperature in ear)
2. Bulb syringe
3. Baby lotion (here you get some with calming oils that aid sleep)
4. Baby brush
5. First aid kit
6. Baby nail clipper
7. Panado/ Pain and Fever Meds 
8. Neurofen for Infants
9. Teething medication for gums (Teejel or Prodol)
10. A rub for coughing (Carvol in South Africa)
11. Coughing syrup (Prospan)
12. Saline drops for nasal congestion (Salex)
13. Sunscreen for babies (should include UVB and UVA protection) 
14. Vitamins (if you breastfeed you will need this from 4 months to boost the Iron intake)
15. Ear Buds
16. 4 x Pacifiers
17. 2 x Pacifier holder
18. 2 x Pacifier  
19. Surgical Spirit (for the cleaning of belly button/ umbilical cord)
20. Cotton wool pads
    

 
Breastfeeding/ Eating

Keyan in his bumbo chair

1. 6 bottles for rotation (I did not need more than 150ml bottles as Keyan never drank more than 130ml at a time)
2. Breast pump (if you plan on exclusively breastfeeding which is recommended by the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) and WHO (World Health Organisation)
   
3. Bottle Sterilizer (I used one for the microwave which work wonderful)
4. 6 x Baby spoons
5. 2 x Baby bowel (plastic)
6. 2 x Baby plate (plastic)
7. 2 x Sippy cups
8. Steamer (this is a nice to have, I never had one, but will definitely buy one with out next angel) 
9. Blender/ Blender stick (I have a stick and this is sufficient, just make sure it can reduce to soup level then stick is enough)
10. 7 Washcloths (once they start with solids this is simplest way to clean up the mess)
11. Bumbo chair (great for feeding before they can sit)
12. Bumbo playtray 
13. Highchair 
14. 7 x Burping cloths
    

Product wise I am a big fan of Medela pumps and NUK bottles, sterilizer and pacifiers. If you do research the different brands, you will soon find pro's and con's for each. Medela is a Swiss brand and NUK a German one. I am adding links below for both websites for you to review.

Medela



NUK South Africa 




Toys

Meet "Dr Snuggles", Keyan's comfort toy

1. Baby gym
2. Bouncy Seat
3. Teethers
4. Rattles
5. Card board books
6. Stuffed animals
7. Choose a comfort toy (usually stuffed animal that he will have for his toddler hood too and buy this x 2) 
   

Nappies/ Diapers

1. 2 x size 1 nappies (Keyan was born 4.320 kg so we hardly used the number 1 nappies)
2. 4 x size 2 nappies
3. 4 x size 3 nappies
4. Wipes (many, many packets :))
5. Bum cream (also as many as you can get)
6. Diaper rash cream (I found Sudocrem the best)
7. Waterproof pad in case you want to change baby on your bed
8. Nappy bag for traveling (a bag where all can fit in, bum cream, nappies, wipes and nappy bags) 



Keyan playing with the baby gym

9. Nappy bags (to throw away nappies in - this is very efficient, no need to get an extra bin) 

Out and about  

1. Stroller (a fancy one is not needed)
2. Car seat rear facing
3. Baby carrier/ wrap (Mei Tei or other, not a must but a nice to have)
4. Car window shades

Safety/ Baby proofing

1. Cabinet Locks
2. Power point plugs
3. Toilet locks

Clothes

1. 4 x Pajama with feet
2. 7 x Onesies
3. 1 x Hat that covers ears
4. 7 x Socks
5. 5 x Jackets/ Jerseys/ Zip up top
6. 5 x T-shirts
7. 4 x Leggins
8. 5 x Sweatpants (especially for when they start crawling)
9. 5 x Long sleeve thin tops
10. 1 x Sunhat

In South Africa, depending on which hospital you have your birth, you will receive a welcome bag with most essentials. Give the hospital a call before the time and find out if any essentials are provided and what is in the bag. We had to bring clothes to the hospital, extra blankets and the nappies that were provided did not last. Babies pee and poop a lot in the beginning. ;)

Please do remember that although this is an extensive list, there are grandparents, godparents and a baby shower that could possibly assist you in preparing for this. A new thing that I was never aware of and that I wish I had known about is the "Dadchelor Party". Here all male friends would get together to braai, as you call it in South Africa, (grill or barbeque) and each friend would bring one packet of nappies/ diapers. Don't forget to send out an invite to the friends specifying which size and brand you still need. 

That's all on this topic. Happy shopping, and remember, the list is extensive and once pregnant you will get tired and exhausted quickly, so plan enough time to find all the above.

Blog Photo Attribution: By Sean MacEntee
Blog Photo 2 Attribution: By Its Absolutely Jenny

4 things on newborn "must have lists" that one DOES NOT need

The second trimester is a good time to start shopping and preparing for your baby's arrival. There is tons of advise out there on what you should buy and what is needed and I guess each mother will have her own opinion. But I can confirm I bought some things and also received some goodies that I actually did not need at the end of the day. 

I started by writing this blog with the intention to give a list of what you do need, but it is firstly more important to explain why you DO NOT need some things. I encourage you to go ahead and then continue your research on these topics so as to expand your knowledge.

• Shoes - babies do not need shoes until they can walk (which is between 9 - 18 months) and if you research the topic, pediatricians and baby/ toddler development specialists recommend babies learn to walk without shoes. Why? It has been proven that shoes can hamper with walking and cerebral development. Babies walking without shoes keep their heads lifted, develops better balance, develops muscles and ligaments in the foot, increases the foot's arch strength, have a better improved posture and are more aware of where they are in relation to the space around us. And yes, putting babies into shoes too early can actually damage their feet as their bones are still strengthening and forming.
  

• Pillows -  I am sure many of you have already heard of the term SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and if not, this is a big and important topic to research. It is the one point that I was so scared about, especially since I know of people where this has happened. This is also the one reason I will purchase a baby monitor with video camera function the next time around. In the meantime, here the Wiki link: SIDS Wiki. Babies do not need a pillow and it is actually dangerous for them to sleep on one. A recent article I have read recommends only considering the use of pillows from the age of 2 years old.

• Special Swaddling blankets - Keyan did not like being swaddled and restricted but for those babies that do like it, a normal blanket can be used for swaddling too.
  
  
  
  
• Bath chair - I had one of these but never used it. Initially, the little one is so small that we bought a plastic small bath for on top of a counter. This worked wonderful for some months. Thereafter, I bathed with him and this is perfect until the could sit. I found the first bath chair that we bought was not securing him well enough and he would slide the entire time. We then saw a nice bath ring that he could sit in and this was also not ideal.  

That's all from me today folks. Have a good one

Blog Photo Attribution: By freelight046
Blog Photo 2 Attribution: By Chin, Singapore
Blog Photo 3 Attribution: By Geoffrey Wiseman, diathesis
Blog Photo 4 Attribution: By US CPSC

Pregnancy - The second trimester Part I

No one ever talks about being pregnant for 10 months and everyone always refers to 9 months. So it came as a surprise when our Gynie referred to carrying you to full term, to 40 weeks. Not sure why that is, but when you are expecting and so eagerly want to meet your little one, each week can seem like forever. Right from the beginning, we were measuring your growth with the aid of a fruit and vegetables chart and this made it fun to know how big you were getting. 

Scans were now becoming a regular thing and while this is a controversial topic and some believe that this can be damaging to the fetus, we chose to believe it is not and fully trust in our doctor. We quickly became used to seeing you every 6 weeks and were anxiously awaiting each check up. My cravings now included Rollmops, Sauerkraut cold out of the fridge, hot chakalaka, {{am sure people start shuddering now, but at least I didn't combine sweet, hot and sour all onto one sandwich}} actually anything hot and sweet and I started drinking hot lemon water (squeezed fresh lemon juice with hot water and sugar like a tea) every day to ensure you get enough Vitamin C. We also experienced our first cold and got to know how horrible it is without any medication.{{cannot count Panado Medisip as medication}} Ugh. That was also the only time I stayed home sick for 2 days. Else the entire rest of the pregnancy went great.

Coming back to scans, the second trimester also holds the very important scan that checks whether the baby is healthy; can determine cleft lip and down syndrome and the sex of the baby. And yes, while our Gynie previously called you a Mexican as with each scan you had been 'lying under a tree for siesta", we were determined to find out whether we would have a boy or a girl. So here the Specialist {{can't remember her name but she was emotionless and cold, perhaps robotic is the right term compared to Mimpie, our usual Gynie}} was poking, shaking and twisting at our little button trying to get a good look and finally after a long while, gave up. She said she can confirm 90% it is a boy, but we should not start decorating his room or go out and buy all in blue yet. Now what kind of a statement is that? And what were we meant to do with that? The whole world was waiting to find out whether we would have a princess or a little munchkin join our family. Oh well, it was there and then that we decided to go ahead and were convinced it is now a boy. And yes, the next scan did reveal you were a boy. :)

To be continued...


Blog Photo Attribution: By Ginny, ginnerobot

Pregnancy - The first trimester

I believe that pregnancy is just what you make of it, and here probably is where the first people disagree with me. {{hiehie :)}} There are those people that take "full advantage" of pregnancy, wanting to be served, taking additional off and sick time, and ensuring others know just how tough it is to carry a baby. And then you get those women that are strong and act like nothing is any different and carry on like usual. Yes, this is a decision each woman makes, unless of course the pregnancy is complicated which renders my above thoughts null and void. And yes one does feel extremely tired, boobs and tummy are growing, uterus expanding and "growing pains" ongoing. And of course I was always hungry! But I would do it a million times over if I look at you today.

On the 22nd of November 2011 we first learned that we were pregnant and although many signs were present and a woman does know before any test can show, it was such an awesome feeling to see the positive result and we were both over the moon excited. The doctor told us we would expect your arrival on the 30th of July 2012. That seemed SOOO long to go and at the same time it seemed so little time to prepare for all, research and learn about babies, raising them and being ready for what was to come.

I am one of those lucky people that showed few symptoms of discomfort. Maybe this was due to my decision that pregnancy is not an illness, but an absolute blessing and privilege. I hardly suffered from morning sickness, I think I threw up twice during the whole pregnancy, once with a sandwich and I cannot even remember the second time. I could not stand the smell of coffee, and loved tomato, fruit, eat some more biscuits, milk and chocolate :)

Of course we did not want to wait 3 months before telling the important people in our lives, so by week 5 our parents, uncle Rudi and aunty Natascha, our bosses and your uncle Francois knew about you. All were so excited and could not wait to meet you. On the 2nd of December 2011 we had our first scan and everything became real. There was a heartbeat fluttering on the screen, we met our very own little angel. We named you "button" and this name remained with you throughout the pregnancy and was the theme of my baby shower later on. Button, because you were tiny and it seemed so fitting.

At month 3, we took our first plane trip together to Johannesburg to visit my parents and you will soon learn that we love to travel. A bit later on we will share our travel stories with you and you have already been part of our USA vacation.

It is while 3 months pregnant that we realized that we want to provide you with the absolute best and nothing less and we decide to sell our flat and buy a house with a nice garden and a doggie or two that can grow up with you. And so the fixing up of the flat begins, all in the meantime while we are reading up, learning, googling and searching to learn about a topic so new...

Coming up: Part II - the next 3 months


Blog Photo Attribution: By Rachel Ford James 
Blog Photo Attribution: By Rennett Stowe

About me

Now before I start going into more details on the pregnancy and other topics, I need to tell everyone just briefly about me. I am opinionated and while I know this can irritate some at one stage or another, I feel it is important to believe in something and stand by this. Ever so  often in today's day and age, people have become fence sitters or pleasers, people that just follow others and I am certainly not that.

The reason I am sharing this with you is that you might at some time or other feel offended or upset by my point of view and this does not need to be the case. My husband often tells me I go by the belief:"It's your way or no way." and yes often he is right, and sometimes not. :) And there is nothing wrong with strongly believing in your point and I can say that I am proud of that and I hope this is one characteristic our son does learn.

So, if you do not agree with me or feel my point is not valid, leave a comment or skip and close my post and read the next one. It will be worth it ;)