::BABY:: Tasting Strawberries!

It's always nice to find ourselves in a baby-friendly restaurant whenever we have our little diner in tow. We make do with his pram otherwise, but it's always a bonus when he gets a high chair and be seated at the same level with us at the table.

 

DA PAOLO pizza bar is definitely very baby-friendly in this aspect!

D got himself a kids' menu, a colouring pencil and paper, a cup of cold water with straw - all of which he couldn't appreciate right now because he's too young for a kiddo sized meal (and I brought along his jar of Heinz food), cant hold a colour pencil yet and hasn't learnt how to drink from a straw (and who gives a baby icy cold water?)!

 

He also got A LOT of attention from the waitress, which he didn't reciprocate after a while and finally some free strawberries from the chef!

 

I figured the only thing my son could do to at least show his appreciation was to eat the strawberries! After all, that's something he is very adept in - EATING!

 

BUT. 

 

My little man didn't quite appreciate the strawberries too!

Excuse me while I go teach my son some manners ;p

::TRAVEL:: Bangkok for 3!

I'd never been the kind of girl who've had big dreams, specific dreams tagged on to a number in life - Like that of getting hitched by 2x and becoming a mother by 2x years. Nevertheless, I did have a secret wish to have a first child before 30. And some time along the way, I lusted after a datejust and also secretly hoped to own one before 30.

This year, I celebrated 3. And I might have just gotten what I asked for. :) Except for the weight part.

The Pullman team delivered a cake to our room right before I arrived in BKK to join hubs.

Here's where we spent each morning doing laps (for the great foodienanza day ahead) and soaking in the glorious morning sun. Treasuring the moments cos gotta hang around in a baby pool back in SG!

And this is one reason why we decided to leave baby at home...Sorrie D, mama needs to get the body aches (you gave) fixed. I am sure you ll understand! Oh.. that cracking was soooo SHIOK! Papa didnt quite enjoy the massage though.. and was watching his HK drama throughout the whole session -_-"

Highlights of the trip:

FIRST time on a TUKTUK! Too much food! FREE FLOW bar snacks and drinks from hotel 5-7pm! Very cheap Swensens and DairyCream icecream! Bought one too many treats for Murphy because it's cheaper there!

24 packs of snacks, 6kgs of kibbles and 3 packs of frontline plus for SGD 166 

Some tips for travelling around in bangkok:

1. Cabs are relatively cheaper than BTS is you are in a party of at least 2. They dont go beyond 100 baht by meter for most of our destinations.

2. After taking so many cabs in BKK, we found the blue cabs more reliable than the pink and orange ones. They dont haggle for price and will on the meter when you board. 

3. Dont fall for ANY tuk tuk scams! They usually quote an unbelievably low price, then will ask to bring you to 'one shop' and they will tell you they need the gift coupon to pump petrol or you 'no buy, just see'. Insist on getting only to your destination. They will then quote you a much higher price of at least 10x the original quote. We usually just get off the tuk tuk and find another one. 

4. Be patient when finding a cab/tuktuk. It may mean asking at least 10 cabs or tuk tuks before you get an honest one. We had a hard time trying to get out of Chatuchak on a Saturday evening. Most cabs quoted us around 300 baht for chatuchak to MBK or didnt want to go to MBK! We eventually found a blue cab who used meter and it only cost 82 baht!

5. Lastly, its good to read up on and be aware of tuktuk scams so you know what you are expecting. 

Epiphany. 312

Some time around March this year, we were looking around for a watch. We wanted one manufactured on D's birth day but there was none to be found in the market. Neither could we find an N series anymore.

 

So we settled for a 312.

 

We didn't realise until last night that this watch actually bears a symbolic meaning.

 

3.12

 

The date we got legally bound! :)

::BABY:: First Swim!

From a baby who hated his baths during the first month, D grew to love the waters.

These days, bath time takes a little longer because we will have to do the splash splash splash and the kick kick kick. His mood takes a change when we put him in a tub. He doesn't even mind when we pour water over his head. There was once papa accidentally let him slip under the water in the tub, and he frantically pulled the submerged baby up only to find a grinning smiley baby. ;p So hubs had a theory that babies know how to hold their breath under water! But of course I didn't allow him to test out the theory any further! grrr..

 

Anyway, so we thought D might be ready for the pool!

Babies can swim from the moment they are born. A lot of baby spas offer a clean and controlled environment for little babies to swim in. But we didn't want to pay that kind of money. So we waited until he was old enough to go to a public pool.

 

Here's our happy little man, decked in his BATMAN swimsuit!

My man's got a charming smile! :)

 

D practising his kicks and grabbing on to his favoritest bath ball.

 

The water was cold but he didn't mind at all.

So I think we have would be doing a lot of this on a regular basis! :D

::BABY MILESTONES:: At 10 months

D's development this month had been nothing short of amazing!

 



1. Sit up from a rest position

He started doing this occasionally a few weeks ago and must have mastered it perfectly while staying at the gramps place for a week (while we nursed and quarantined a case of adult HFMD at home). I had no idea when I collected back my baby until it was bedtime and I had a hard time pinning him down to sleep. The whole of last week, he slept at 10pm instead of the usual 830pm because bedtime routine now involves some sort of wrestling to pin the sleepy baby down. Repeatedly. Or until he's drained from all the struggling, flipping and sitting, which usually takes forever.

 

2. Pull up to standing position from sitting/stand holding to someone or something

This month, he started doing this more confidently. And he looks like he's going to start cruising soon! Uh oh! I smell trouble!

 

Which brings us back to the new bedtime routine mentioned in point #1.

"Hello Mummy! *waves bear bear* You thought I was sleeping??"

 

3. Clap hands
We found him clapping his hands spontaneously last week while he was in an extremely happy mood one evening. It's not on cue yet though. He only does it when he feels like it.

4. Stand momentarily
He loves it when he is able to do that. And gives us a proud toothy grin whenever we start praising him for that few seconds of 'performance'!

5. Babbling
His dictionary consists of only dadada, mamama and dehdeh at the moment and it is not directed at us. Sometimes we thought we caught him repeating certain word after us, like 'flower' but it happened so fast and only once, we can't be too sure.

6. Crawling
He still crawls with the backside, but we saw him once or twice doing the doggie crawl!

::BABY FOOD:: Salmon Pasta with Asparagus

From 8-11 months, babies should be able to eat mashy food.

We have been giving D mostly pureed food and porridges which are easy to swallow. Even the treats we give him are the melt-in-your-mouth kind which doesn't require much chewing.

 

Made him some mashy food which required him to work his jaws over the weekend.

 

The macaroni wasn't soft-cooked enough, so I put them into our blender and it achieved a desired semi-mashed form ie not pureed

 

Found him doing some gummy chew for the asparagus which was quite cute to watch! Buy me some time for my own dinner while feeding him that night ;p

 

With the same ingredients, I added cooking cream into our portion.

 

And made a thin-crust pizza from leftover ingredients we had in fridge!

 

The new-found trick for a thin crust scored big points in the household! 

 Baby Salmon Pasta with Asparagus
(Prep and cook under 30 minutes)

Steam salmon and asparagus for 15-20 mins. Use only the top part of the asparagus as the surrounding skin is thinner and easier to chew and swallow. Save the bottom 1.5" for the adults.
Boil macaroni for 8 minutes. Blend.
Serve

Adult Salmon Pasta with Asparagus
(Prep and cook under 30 minutes)

Blanch asparagus
Boil pasta for 6 minutes
Pan fry seasoned salmon - we used salt and pepper and salted butter instead of oil
Put everything together and stirfry. Add cooking cream and salt pepper to taste.

I like to give D fresh food daily so we don't do bulk cooking, pureeing and freezing unless absolutely necessary. I feed him from the jar occasionally to prep ourselves for travels. With the limited time on hand to handle D and make meals, this is a good quickie to settle a meal for both baby and parents! :D

::BABY:: Passport Photo!

This happens to be my favourite month of the year!

We have made some plans to spend my Big 3 out of town because N happens to have a biz trip right smack in the midst of my birthday!

 

It was a debate whether to spend my milestone birth year celebrating only ME. And the final plan was that I would fly in on the evening of my birthday to meet N while leaving D to the care of our parents. But there is this constant nagging guilt about leaving a big part of me back home while I go celebrate something important in my life.

 

And so, we had the craziest decision made this morning to bring D along for our trip in 2 weeks' time.

Even if it doesn't materialise, doesn't hurt to get his passport done first!

What crazy ideas my parents have in the morning! Now my first ever publicly available photo in the government database is that of a hair-standing, mucus stained, badly scratched and mouth wide-open unglamorous shot!

 

I look cuter in other normal circumstances