::ME:: Thursday's Threads

Coming to terms with my upsize, many pairs of pants this month!

 

In the slightly funkier one today (just got them last evening!) since its Mid Autumn and that calls for a celebration!

 

It goes better with pumps but this pair of Gabby wedge is fast becoming my favourite shoe to date of parenting. It has all aspects of what I find in a good shoe and it allows me to feel comfortable with a 10kg add on PLUS run in them!

 

We are gonna carry lanterns tonight!

 

What's with all the lanterns in the market these days?! They don't even play cute kiddie songs any more! D's minion (we weren't the ones who bought it) sings an irritating tune of techno song that got us very tickled and annoyed! So N went about disconnecting the audio connection. And yesterday, I overheard a lantern that sings 我从山中来, 带着兰花草。。。And a mama was paying for that lantern! o_O"

 

OMGWTF.

Made in China.

::QUICK FIX:: Thin Crust Pizza

We had some Gardenia Wraps lying around in the house one day. We have been using them to make wraps for dinners.. but we have had a wrap too many that week and the remaining ones were fast expiring...I read the packaging and saw that it could also be used as a pizza base!

 

So this has become our quick fix dinner solution for the working mum! And it's really yummy!

 

Base

Gardenia wraps (pack of 5 pieces)

 

Toppings

Minced meat, marinated with BBQ sauce

Capsicum

Prego tomato paste/pasta sauce

Cheese - we used cheese slices because those are readily stocked up in our fridge

 

Choice of toppings to suit your own tastes!

 

Preparation

1. Spread tomato paste/pasta sauce over wraps

2. Sprinkle toppings

3. Sprinkle cheese

4. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180 degree celcius

::BABY:: Milestone!

This week we celebrated D's birthday. I am talking about his first OFFICIAL birthday, not one of those half birthdays or quarter birthdays that papa and mommy threw on their whim and fancy just for the sake of celebrating. :D

 

I made these and sent them out through FB and whatsapp.

 

 

ONE

How did that happen so fast?!

We were just grasping around in our new roles and playing along with the parenting part. We've had our tears and laughter, agreements and disagreements, the good times and the bad times.

But each month, we look forward to the new surprises that unfold before us as D grows older. He keeps our endorphins level high with his new-found tricks!

So our days easily became months and those months just turned into a year!

 

Happy ONE YEAR OLD baby!

::KITCHEN GODDESS:: The Need to Bake

Once in a blue moon, the heart feels a dire need to let out something creative - to create love, bliss or beauty. I find these sudden bursts of needs being addressed best in the form of shopping or in the kitchen, and in the past it used to be on the nails.

This was my proudest creation Cake pops. I was actually planning to do another batch in minion forms this week, but didn't get down to buying all the ingredients. The last time we did this, we scouted many places in order to get them.

I was very inspired to do a pumpkin bread last week after tasting one some time back. Having a kiddo makes you appreciate and take note of all these healthy little treats! I googled for a recipe. However, a Japanese green pumpkin was hard to get in a neighbourhood supermarket. Since I was already in a baking mood that weekend, I found an easier recipe in the same blog Cosybake: Butter cakes! (Original recipe from Littleteochew ) Just nice! D didn't quite like the twiggies I bought for him earlier (cos I think they were too sweet!)

So using the recipe from there, I further cut the sugar to 150gm (and still found it too sweet! Will cut by half again next time).

Since I had some of these cupcake cases in stock, I decided to make them into cupcake sizes. Recipe makes about 15 cases.

 

I had D at my MIL for a few hours so I could make these in peace!

Imagine the amount of mummy-guilt laiden time off I need to take if I were to create + hit my classes every weekend! The woes of being mummy!

Sometimes, I wonder how the other mamas cope!

::CONFESSION:: Finding Time to Stay Active

I will come clean about this.

I have weight issues. Never expected myself to have to say this, since I am not one who puts on weight that easily. But the last bit of the pregnancy weight just refused to go off!

I attribute it to many factors post birth.

#1 was the highly nutritious and big meals I had consecutively for 30 days while I did my confinement. Each meal consisted of a fish, a meat, a veg, a soup (usually with meat too!) and rice. And each day, I take at least 2 naps because I was just sooooo tired and super in need of a recharge for milk production! I am pretty sure that continuous bingeing and laid-back lifestyle contributed to some stubborn excess deposits.

 

#2 was the lack of exercise I desperately needed to kick off some metabolism during the initial few months because I was nursing a bloody stitch somewhere O_o

 

#3 was the lack of exercise thereafter because I was the primary caregiver to D, plus I was still nursing and it felt odd to let my baby drink milk that might contain lactic acid. And it was a waste to throw away my very precious output!

 

#4 was the lack of time for exercise thereafter when D started to get really clingy, and as we try to settle ourselves into some sort of after work routine that leaves no time for an evening run. And plus some personal inertia la.

 

So basically, I didn't have many chance to GET ACTIVE! I never believed in dieting or diet pills. But as a last resort, I tried to get my doctor to give me some pills to kick start the whole weight loss process. Yet she refused and told me to give myself some time and try to do some exercise! So for a month after I went to her, I worked hard. I hit the gym 2x a week during lunchtime. Then we went BKK. And we hit the gym + pool daily. I went back to her a month later for fats analysis and was very happy that they went down by 5% point! BUT the weight still remained the same! :(

 

Sometime in August, girlfriends wanted to go on the trail. I felt a bit guilty about leaving D behind while I went out on my own. But I did it anyway. I need to manage these mummy-guilt if I want to start getting active! 

 Those extra 4kgs. Seen. Right. Here!

 

My gym membership is expiring this week.

And after much consideration, I think I will extend it again just so I can still get some workouts done during lunchtime. It doesn't work out economically now that I cant attend classes and am just using the machines for that hour slot. But at least it gets something going for the body. I am looking at some form of child deposit so I can attend a class or 2 over the weekend.

 

Here is that 4 kg in a more compact situation (posture la). It actually doesn't look so bad if I stand properly... But so far 3 colleagues have asked if I am expecting #2 -_-"

Please let my belly fats grow into the ass.

Let's hope I can show some transformation pics sooooooooooon!

MINIONS

With all that hype about the minions wave that hit SG a while ago, I really regret not stocking up on these banana items when we were in LA Universal Studio earlier this year!

And they had so many baby merchandise!!

I blame it that the wave didnt hit SG sooner and that nobody told me D looks like a minion (read - no hair) sooner.

Look at all the cute bananas behind us!

I really like this photo

D was playing peekaboo with the dining napkin over at a friend's wedding

::BABY MILESTONES:: Tamper tantrums

We didnt know what we signed up for when we went into a Joint Venture.

Each month, a surprise or surprises unfold themselves in front of us in the form of this little human being, which make us laugh and cry all at the same time. Oh! The wonders of parenting!  

Thankfully there's google on hand to equip ourselves with the latest information on what to expect during each month's developmental milestones! And hey! It is actually not so bad!!! Not so bad when you understand what you have just experienced, how long you are gonna experience it and that your baby's behavior falls under the the normal category according to general statistics!!

This month, we got the TEMPER TANTRUM!

Or maybe it was our little drama king at work -_-"

Nonetheless, we did get some form of ugly screaming, wailing, flailing, stiffening and kicking.

When that happened, we tried ignoring him and sitting farrrrrr farrrr away from all the drama. Ended up getting a baby who ended his drama..............and who then crawled over to our legs and begin his drama! lol! I didnt know to laugh or to cry! That's papa, sitting calmly in the background of all that drama, and mummy taking snapshots instead of pacifying him. I even got the act on face time to show the gramps! That's how we chose to deal with it - IGNORE. We want him to learn that throwing a tantrum doesnt get him anything!

 Here's what a parenting site has to say! 

Eleventh Month Baby Milestones: Communication

Eleven-month-olds realize that they’re unique people. They have a strong sense of their likes and dislikes, and they’ve learned to use their emotions to get what they want -- like throwing a temper tantrum when you try to take away a favorite toy. Your baby may already have discovered the word “no.” If so, you’ll probably be hearing it a lot.

Communication begins to take on a more mature rhythm at 11 months. Babies at this age can engage in a regular back-and-forth conversation. When you ask a question, you’ll get a response, although you probably won’t understand most of that response. When you name something -- like the family dog -- your baby can point at it. You’ll also probably notice that your baby has a longer attention span and can focus on you or a game for more than a few seconds at a time.

Source from: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/baby-development-11-month-old

That's exactly what we experienced during the 11th month! :)