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We are extremely proud (& relieved) that minibeanie has been receptive of new food. He had his first sushi a few days ago at Sushi Tei when I met up with grandma for lunch. I had packed his usual lunch along - pork & beef porridge with french beans, sweet potato, spiced with loads of garlic & coriander. Honestly, I thought it was really tasty (don't all mums out there?) but I suppose since it was:
1) salt-less and
2) it's still porridge however disguised,
minibeanie wasn't too hot about it. Nonetheless because of the late hour at 2 in the afternoon, he ate most of it. Then I placed a piece of rolled sushi with unagi (bbq eel) on a plate in front of him. He grabbed it like he would any new curio and put it into his mouth. And that was it. I couldn't pry his hands away from his mouth even when I'd to put on his catch-all Baby Björn bib.
For the next 15 min or so, he happily ate 1 piece of sushi after another. By the 4th piece, he started picking out grains of rice in his bib to give to me. All right then, when he starts playing with his food, that's a cue that he's full. And as expected, I'd to turn him upside down to brush off the sticky Japanese rice that speckled his pants and entire high chair ;D (Someone should invent a machine that sucks rice/crumbs/mushy-half-chewed-on biscuit... mash/sand/cereal from toddlers!)
We also had success with grilled fish & rice when we had our dinner at Manhattan Fish Market. Granted, it was fried garlic rice. It was no wonder then he has turned his nose up at the boring, bland & mushy fare I'd been been offering. In some way, this is a milestone for me - as a provider & gatekeeper to what goes into his tummy. He's not so much a little baby now but a little boy curious about new flavours & textures. Oh, and those 8 front teeth he has so far are not to be underestimated.
minibeanie is 1 year, 2 months & 4 days old
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We stumbled upon a great toy shop on the upper floor of Ngee Ann City aptly called The Better Toy Shop. Tons of great quality toys that would tickle even the heart of a jaded adult. None of those silly TMNT or Mattel's anorexic Barbies, what a nice change!
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minibeanie was bubbling over with ecstatic excitement that only a toddler could express. Here was a full set of Brio train tracks, there was that humongous stuffed bunny that was twice his height & another huge doggie perched high on the shelf... ooh, and those carts and cars that just beg to be driven! And so, he busied himself with getting in & out of the cars in the 'showroom' while I was busy clearing up the trail of destruction he left behind :D
You know you've stayed at home too long with your baby when you feel weird closing your door to the toilet.
minibeanie is 1 year & 2 months old
I'm officially gripped by the F1 fever :) I know I was looking forward to the race on Sunday but I'd no idea by how much. It became apparent today when there was a remote chance of seeing Kimi Räikkonen. He was to make a public appearance at a Tag Heure media event at a mall. As expected, there were throngs of people with cameras packed shoulder to shoulder waiting & hoping to catch a glimpse of the reigning Formula One world champion.... blond blue-eyed cutie... I've become a groupie!
Kimi on söpöliini!!! If I could just get his attention to sign my flag, kato täällä! Kiiiiiiimmmiiiiii! :D
ps. a chap standing beside me kept his promise & sent me a great pic of Kimi ...I'd forgotten to bring our camera :P
minibeanie is 1 year, 1 month, 4 weeks & 2 days old
[This is a gripe about the #!%@^! things that went wrong today. Please click here if you want something happy ;) ]
I should have touched down in SG but instead, I'm back at home. The reason for this was that minibeanie needed a paper ticket to board while his mummy dearest had an e-ticket. And since a)these tickets had been issued 6 freaking months ago, b) DH did not bring home any paper ticket recently, c) his secretary who had helped to change our return date last week did not mention anything about a paper-ticket until 2 hours before my departure time (which by then is way too late) & d) a call to Silkair in the morning confirmed that "oh, no other documents beside passport is necessary"... Then what did I find in the airport?? no paper ticket, no boarding pass. Nevermind that it's in the system or the fact that he's a baby - who doesn't even need a seat JUST a box on the wall.
Ok, so I finally decided to buy a ticket for him only to remember that I only had RMB200 with me and no credit card (lost my wallet a few days ago). Freaking hell.Got the airport staff to pull out my luggage from the cargo hull to check if a wad of Singapore related cards in my luggage contained a credit card and someone from DH's office to come down with some slush funds. Nada from my luggage. And by the time, DH's colleague arrived, the immigration counter had CLOSED. Yes, this is the first time I've heard of immigration/customs closing - don't they stay open all the time? Well, ok, this is China. Just like someone would actually put toxic substances into milk, there are different rules and mindsets here.
minibeanie having a field day with my open luggage. Oh nevermind....
Tomorrow, I'm going to raise a ruckus at the Silkair office again for their f*-ing bureaucracy and the inept staff who gave out erroneous information. Tonight, it calls for a greasy pizza.
We'd be heading to Singapore tomorrow! Miraculously, DH got a working trip that coincided with the Formula 1 Grand Prix giving us a roof over our heads :>
More to come...
minibeanie is 1 year, 1 month, 3 weeks & 6 days old
Our visitors left on Monday. I've to admit it was rather nice having them around especially my MIL. She had been a great help with minibeanie - feeding, talking & playing with him and even did the morning shift giving his dead-as-logs parents much needed sleep at 7 in the morning.
And for the first time ever, I left minibeanie to the care of someone else other than DH. No one has seemed competent before :P In spite of the pangs of guilt I felt when I stepped out of the house in my gym gear, I've to admit it was nice having some "me-time". That's one drawback of being a SAHM, it's so easy losing oneself. And I always remember what my favourite shrink, Dr. Phil, say, "if you don't take care of mom, no-one's going to take care of the little kids & big kid (alright, not exactly in those words)... you can't run on empty." Ok, I only slip out when he's napping and only for 1.5 hours tops but it's a start. Thus, a couple of days ago, I asked my Ayi if she could come an additional half a day - hopefully, that would enable me to hit the gym twice a week or run the odd errand :)
The weather is also getting cooler. Most days do not feel summery anymore. In fact, it was rather chilly yesterday even in the afternoon! We were invited to a friend's place for what was probably the end-of-season BBQ last Saturday. Hmm, nothing like some char-grilled meat & sausages!
minibeanie is 1 year, 1 month, 3 weeks & 1 day old
On the feeding front, I'm hugely relieved to say that after the first day, minibeanie has now gotten used to eating from his high chair sans Elmo & co. Yes overall, he may eat a little bit less than he may have eaten with Sesame Street on tv but that's ok. My motto right now is, if he's hungry he'll eat. Better to cultivate a good eating habit right now.
And lately, he has gotten the hang of stacking things. (I didn't know it was such a milestone BMb*!) For a long time, his primary joy is in knocking down towers - the higher the better! Now, his little fingers are tentatively clasping the block and clumsily putting it on top of another. Apparently, fine motor skills still have some way to go ;) This afternoon, he even placed his shoe on top of the other. Encouraged by his success, he moved on to his dada's shoes - arrrgh, no!!
* BMb = Before minibeanie
minibeanie is 1 year, 1 month, 2 weeks & 5 days old
Mealtimes are such adventures for parents and toddlers. If only toddlers can be reasoned or bribed! Lately, I realized I've gotten minibeanie into a really bad habit - he NEEDS Sesame Street to stay sitted in his rocker in order to finish his bowl of food. I'm not sure that's a good thing because firstly, toddlers shouldn't be watching much tv to begin with, even if it's educational. Then, what really made me take issue with it is when I read that when kids go into that 'video mode' with transfixed eyes glazed over, they are not really consciously eating. This 'unconscious' eating may lead to over-eating in the future and I don't wish minibeanie to be a broad bean. So then, it was cold turkey on 2 fronts today. First, no Sesame Street and second, we migrated to the high chair which had been used only occasionally before.
As expected, today's lunch & dinner were torturous. I couldn't get him to take more than 5 spoons before he'd squirm, turn his head away and cry to be let out of his prison. No point feeding him then, so down he went. Not long later, he would realize that he was hungry so up he went into the chair again. This would happen for 3-4 times - up, down, up, down, up, down.... until we were both exhausted. Finally, I decided that lunch/dinner was over. A friend with 2 boys once said, children won't starve themselves to death ;)
The little angel despite everything
It's been a week since MIL's arrival. She came with DH's cousin who also acted as a translator. So far, things have turned out better than expected - they haven't been too shocked culturally and neither have we killed each other :D
In the past week, we've probably exhausted all our usual restaurant haunts (which also goes to show how many we know). Hotpot, Sichuan, Cantonese/Sichuan, Japanese Tonkatsu, American, more Sichuan.... I've even ordered home delivery from the down-to-earth local eatery just round the block which they seemed to like. And to my delight, they have even taken to dumplings (饺子) eaten with vinegar & soy sauce. This is evidenced by them actually buying a pack of frozen dumplings from the corner convenience shop for lunch on their accord!
Nonetheless, a fix of Western food is always a nice reprive. Last night, I made roast beef & roasted vegetables a la Italiano for dinner and judging by the mood & second helpings, it was a welcomed change.
Last Saturday, we decided to do some touristy stuff so we rented a car & driver who took us to the nearest panda facility in Chengdu. Despite a couple of marked enclosures on the map, there was basically only 1 enclosure within the entire park where those adorable bears were found. Sigh. That aside, the pandas were awfully cute. How can anyone think otherwise? Those pear-shaped lumbering frames especially when they are sitting are the epitome of huggable, squeezable cuteness. But what stole our hearts that afternoon were the tiny hapless cubs in the nursery and the dude who lounged in the 'jacuzzi' for ages while silly tourists gawked & clicked pictures.
Today, we went to the WangJiangLou (望江楼) park right across the river from where we stay. We call it the bamboo park because of its clusters of tall, willowy bamboo. [It is DH & minibeanie's fav haunt on weekend mornings, mainly because mummy usually (ok, make it always :D) decides to sleep in on weekends. Usually, DH parks themselves in 1 of the few tea gardens there, have his favourite 竹叶青 green tea and read his book if minibeanie allows it.] Anyway, so all of us went there today, had our teas in a tea garden by the river and altogether had a nice walk even though it got rather sweaty at the end.
minibeanie is 1 year, 1 month & 2 weeks old
For the next 15 min or so, he happily ate 1 piece of sushi after another. By the 4th piece, he started picking out grains of rice in his bib to give to me. All right then, when he starts playing with his food, that's a cue that he's full. And as expected, I'd to turn him upside down to brush off the sticky Japanese rice that speckled his pants and entire high chair ;D (Someone should invent a machine that sucks rice/crumbs/mushy-half-chewed-on biscuit... mash/sand/cereal from toddlers!)
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