Dark rhymes

As I began to recall my childhood nursery rhymes, I realized with some amusement that most are dark & morbid :D Well, here's the proof. The Rock-a-bye baby fell, Jack broke his head, Jill rolled down the hill (and probably broke hers as well), Little Miss Muffet got spooked by a spider, Humpty Dumpty is a runny mess and the 3 blind mice became '3 blind tail-less mice'.

If Disney was to have his way, the Rock-a-bye baby would dream about milk-land, Jack & Jill would have gotten their pail of water and ice cream at the bottom of that hill, Little Miss Muffet would have enjoyed her curd & whey without any creepy crawlies, Humpty Dumpty would have been a stuntman and survived the great fall and the 3 blind mice would have been pets of the farmer's wife ;) And they would all live happily ever after.

minibeanie is 3 months, 4 weeks & 1 day old

ps. just in case anyone is out of touch with their inner child...

Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the cradle rocks, the baby will fall
Down come the baby, cradle and all!

Jack & Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down & broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the King's men and all the King's horses,
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating her curd & whey
Along came a spider & sat down beside her
And scared Little Miss Muffet away!

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run
They all run after the farmer's wife
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife
Have you ever seen such a thing in all your life?
Such as the three blind mice, three blind mice

A date at the movies

It felt like a family vacation yesterday even though it was just a movie & lunch. Probably because it was a Thursday afternoon & DH had taken the day off - it felt so... indulgent & decadent! :P The movie was My Blueberry Nights, the 'Baby movie' of the month but that wasn't really all that important.

Upon reaching the cinema, we were greeted by the sight of the atrium having been taken over by huge prams & their chubby masters. They sat or reclined in their 'mobile chaise lounges' sucking their pacifiers ferociously and once in a while, let their wishes be known by a wail.

The screening was held in the largest theatre - 648 seats in all. On the eve of the movie, about 100 tickets were sold. Yet, it felt as if there were a lot more. Entering the theatre was a surreal experience. Yes, it had the familiar feel of a movie theatre - dim lights, rows of seats, huge screen, plush red carpet..but wait, there were toddlers totting about, babies crying and mums queueing for the microwave ovens! The first row was entirely taken for an obvious reason. Mums have created little away-from-home nurseries for their little sultans there with mats, toys & even a castle-tent! :D


Over the 'ping' of the microwave ovens & cries of the babies, we still managed to catch the banter between Norah Jones & Jude Law. As for minibeanie, he was a good boy. He sat captured by the large screen for half an hour before deciding he had enough and wanted to be fed. Then after, he fretted in the pram's cot and finally fell asleep in my arms.

It was a really nice afternoon diversion, not least because it was our first movie in... more than 4 months. The organizers had even put changing tables and brought in the popcorn man with snacks & drinks. And only 3% of the audience were big boys above the age of 18, popcorn man included. They should organize this is Singapore, I think it would be a big hit :)

minibeanie is 3 months & 4 weeks old

Feeding solids

I've been toying with the idea of feeding minibeanie his first spoonful but after some thought, perhaps I'll revisit the issue in a month or so. Reasons being: he can't really sit upright yet & there's a higher risk of allergies. However, our midwife had said it was ok to feed solids by 4 months so I suppose like so many questions on childcare, there are as many opinions as there are issues :)

Thus, I'm conducting a poll on all of you mummies/daddies out there, when do you first stick a spoon of goob into your baby's mouth? What food do you start with? rice cereal, potato? And what are some of the mashy recipes up to a year old? potato & carrot? broccoli? Leave your comments by clicking on the "comment" link below, will love to hear what you say!

More on the topic:
AskDrSears.com
BabyCenter.com

minibeanie is 3 months, 3 weeks & 3 days old

Get a grip!

It still amazes me the rate at which babies grow & how they are different 1 week from the next. And so it was exactly a week ago that minibeanie discovered the use of those 2 appendages - arms & hands. From passively looking at the dangly toys above him to grabbing and pulling; this seems to happen overnight. I fear for the fate of the monkey. ouch.


One funny development is how minibeanie always seems to hold his 2 feet up in the air over the past few days. We're still scratching our heads why he's doing that....nothing seems to be achieved by his doing so. I mean, they are just pointing skywards when he's supine :D Probably this is a precursor to him discovering the other 2 limbs?

Oh yes, razzing (making a wet razz sound or raspberries), he has gotten that down to a pat. ahhh-airr-pffffzzt... At which point, a burp cloth or paper towel is usually necessary & bless you if you happen to be playing the flying game at that precise moment and you're annointed by dripping drool.


minibeanie is 3 months, 2 weeks & 5 days old

Feeding problem

minibeanie hasn't been eating well over the last 3 days :( Over the weekend, he averaged 550ml when the long term average is over 700ml (the advantage of a spreadsheet). He will feed for a while and when he stops for a burp, he wails his head off and refuses to take the bottle again. Gas also seems to be a huge problem - lots of flatulence (since we're in polite society here ;). Yesterday, in a desperate measure, we massaged his tummy with a Chinese traditional oil - 'Ru yi you'. I'm not sure if it worked but the lingering smell is awful. Today, he continued with his drink-a-little-&-wail routine but it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps his teat is too small! After all, this has been the same teat used since he was a newborn. Maybe. The next sized teats were dug out of the cupboard, sterilized in a jiffy and refitted into the bottle. It's still too early to tell if that solves the problem.... we can only sit, hold the bottle & hope :)

minibeanie is 3 months, 2 weeks & 4 days old

Fathers' Day

It's DH's first Fathers' Day today! Since minibeanie's a little small for cards, the celebration largely falls on me then. I grilled a pork knuckle german style and roasted some potatoes. For dessert, it was a semolina cake (Mannakakku) with almonds and vanilla cream. Not bad.

minibeanie is 3 months, 2 weeks & 3 days old

To the movies

One of the most common grouse from parents of young children is that they can't remember when was the last time they went to the movies. Without babysitters, it's mission impossible. Then, we heard that twice a month, the movie theatre here holds a special screening for parents with babies! Wow whee, here we come!! :D For the regular price of an afternoon movie ticket, the theatre comes equipped with changing tables, microwave oven & hot water for milk. No need to feel guilty when minibeanie fusses for his feed or have the need to grope in the dark if he spits his pacifier flying out in an arc because the lights will be half dimmed. And to top it all off, a goodie bag is given to each baby. How cool is this??

Yeah, so I thought we'd be watching Finding Nemo (again!) or Lion King (argh..), then I found out it was My Blueberry Nights. Blueberry what? To my great relief, the imdb search was a lot more promising than having a name that closely resembles Strawberry Shortcake. No offence to movie buffs here.

surprise #1: It's a Wong Kar Wai movie!
surprise #2: It stars Norah Jones, probably my fav R&B singer
And the icing on the cake? (even though I'd get pinched for this)


It co-stars Jude Law!

And here's what the theatre looks like today when DH was on his way for lunch. To our friends in Singapore, the size of the prams here probably comes as a bit of a shock :P


Going totally off-tangent, feeling the need to get out of the house, I met DH today in the city after his work for some real chocolate :)

minibeanie is 3 months, 1 week & 6 days old

One red bean

Winter is unofficially here. It was -1.6C when we went for a long walk last weekend. But the coldest minibeanie experienced was -3.4C on Monday when I brought him for his monthly check-up. And here's the irony, minibeanie has heat rash.

Took me awhile to figure out that those little red bumps on his chest were not hives or something nasty. Yes, he had been cocooned in too many layers in his pram when he was outdoors. A onesie, pants, full-body padded overalls, fleece bonnet INSIDE a sleeping bag and COVERED by the pram's cover. I now realized it's an overkill. The poor boy. He must have become a steamed dou sar pau (red bean bun). And to make matters worse, 2 nights later, he was dressed in a thick long-sleeved onesie beneath a thick overall and slept under a quilt. The poor little thing.....

The bottomline? It isn't easy gauging how much is too much. I have a MIL who insinuates that minibeanie is not dressed enough by buying him whole-body padded overalls, padded mittens & booties and a woollen balaclava. That's another story though; don't get me started.

For now, a light cotton onesie plus pants is enough at home. Afterall, it's always a toasty 23C at home regardless if it's a howling blizzard or hail storm outside.


minibeanie is 3 months, 1 week & 5 days old

Games

People play games all the time. Mind games. Political games. But the games that we love most involve lots of drool. Here are 2 of our favourite games with minibeanie.

The Flying Game

Up, up & away! It involves having the baby on your shin and you bring your legs towards your chest as you lie on the floor. Good for the pilot's abs too ;) see the drool stain on DH's pants? and that's why a burp cloth is provided inflight.

Sitting Up

Who would have thought sitting up is a skill to be learnt? Apparently, even babies who have mastered the art of sitting could still topple over if they lose interest in sitting :D In this game, the baby lies on his back while he is being pulled up from his hands. Here, minibeanie promptly puts daddy's hands into his mouth.

minibeanie is 3 months, 1 week & 3 days old