Celebrating thirdmay

Can't believe how time flies, it's been a year since we basked in the Phuket sun while i was 6 months pregnant with Mountain boy.

This year we chose to spend our anniversary in Macau, the land of vices and everything Stanley Ho. It's my first visit here and i can't believe i never came here earlier. It's only my 3rd day and this city already ranks higher than Paris in my books. The streets are decked in gawdy buildings and ornate statues, yet somehow it feels right, it feels like there is an identity.

My first casino experience was a disappointment though. My beginner's luck pretty much ran out at the first hand. I won 50HKD at BIG SMALL and it was downhill after that. Gambling at casino is not my thing, i rather "throw away money" on a handbag or a pair of shoes. That's why i think Macau is the perfect place for couples because the men and women have different stuff to do.

Anyway, Mountain Boy has been a trooper. I am amazed at how adaptable he is. He has been eating, drinking, sleeping and pooing well. Getting him to sit long in his stroller is becoming a challenge though. We found out that empty water bottles are the best distraction.

On a crowded street in Macau.

Mountain Man and Boy taking a chill pill.

Getting some grub to go.

Mountain Boy waiting for Mountain Man outside the casino. "Win me some milk money Dad!"

Living to eat

Mountain boy is truly enjoying his solids experience. Before he started on solids 2 months ago he was at the 25th-50th percentile, now he has shot up to the 75th percentile!

Because he loves eating so much, i really enjoy cooking and preparing his meals daily. The freezer compartment that was used to keep my frozen milk has been replaced by cubes and cubes of multi-coloured frozen puree.

He is always cautious with the first bite, he'll never open his mouth too widely for that. If he likes what you're serving, he can wallop 3/4 cup in less than 10 minutes. But like any other kid, he constantly needs to be distracted especially towards the end of his meal.

So far he has tried the following in chronological order:

1. Carrot
2. Baby Rice
3. Pumpkin
4. Peas (which i have stopped because it gives him gas)
5. Sweet Potato
6. Apple
7. Pear
8. Oatmeal
9. Banana
10. Prunes (Organic and dried naturally)
11. Avocado
12. Potato
13. Wheat Flour
14. Cinnamon
15. Beetroot
16. Egg Yolk
17. Spinach (which gives him a rash, but don't know if it's a coincidence)
18. Millet
19. Papaya
20. Cauliflower
21. Brocoli
22. Butter
23. Beef loins
24. Rice
25. Tomato
26. Cheese (I use Chedder and made a yummy cheese sauce to drizzle over vegetables)

My SIL introduced the Rafferty's Garden series and we've been hooked ever since! The ingredients are MOSTLY organic, and the rice cereal has no added sucrose or sweetener. I've tried so many of their products and i think the packaging is great for travelling.

He is also in love with the vegetable puffs (top picture: far left) from Happy Baby. He gets crazy eyes when he sees the bottle. Only thing I don't quite like is the non-airtight packaging. I always have to transfer the puffs into another airtight container to preserve the shelf-life.

Anyway here's a video of a greedy Mountain Boy mastering his pincer grip (pinching things with fingers).

10 Tips i picked up from a recent baby nutrition course and some mommies:

1. Try to pick organic even though the books don't say so. Organic fruits have more absorbable nutrients. Especially apples and peaches because the skin is quite porous.
2. Carrots are more nutritous when cooked. Don't feed the water from steamed carrots because it contains nitrates (which apparently gives u the blue baby syndrome).
3. Iron is very important for baby after 6 months because the body only stores enough iron for 6 months. Beyond that it is necessary to supplement. Some common foods high in iron are egg yolk (only introduce if both sides of family don't have egg allergies), red meat and spinach (but vegetable iron needs to be supplemented with vitamin C).
4. Feed DHA as early as possible. It is very important from brain and nervous system growth. Reduced ADD.
5. Add 1tsp of vinegar to stock. It releases the calcium from the bones (i learnt this from the mommies).
6. When feeding your baby fish, try to select a different type of fish each time. Because fish are contaminated with different poisons, so by choosing a different type u are reducing the risk of over contamination with the same poison.
7. When feeding chicken choose the thighs because it is higher in iron. And also try to go for free-range chicken.
8. When feeding salmon, choose the tail because it is the most tender.
9. When feeding beef/pork, choose the smaller loins.
10. If your baby refuses to sit on the high chair, don't offer alternatives. They will eat if they are hungry.

Favourite moment

I really treasure the bedtime routine with Mountain Boy. It's the one time that i know i'll have him to myself and he will have my undivided attention. Usually at about 630pm after Mountain Boy's dinner, I tell the ayi that she doesn't have to worry about him for the next 12 hrs. Mountain Man and i will take turns to give him a bath, do his massage, feed his last milk for the day, tell him a story (the same Thomas the train story every night), say a prayer and then kiss him goodnight before turning off the lights and leaving the room.

But in this usual routine, there is always some slack time after massage and before milk. We'll put him in his cot and just hang out in his room and spend quality family time. And you can tell that he enjoys being the host!

Here's what you've missed.

Dear Mountain man,

While u're hard at work, Mountain boy has been a good kid. He took a glorious 2.5hr nap in the morning, and a 1 hr nap in the afternoon. He finished all his porridge (like you he likes anything with tomatoes in it) and he popped many more of that vegetable snack thingies. He played, and laughed and was lovable as ever.

I had lunch with the mommies today and i shared with them that i was afraid that Mountain Boy would become a cry baby. He always whines when he "doesn't get what he wants".




After more in-depth analysis of the reasons behind his cries (thanks to the wonderful mommies), I've come to realise that i've been tempting Mountain boy with the wrong things to make him crawl. I've been using camera, handphones and dirty slippers, the things tht i don't want him to play with. So when he does crawl to the item, he'll start wailing if i take it away. So terrible of me. I've told the ayi that we need to stop tempting Mountain Boy with forbidden fruits!

This is the picture u took of him yesterday. He does look kinda angelic after his bath...



Anyway, here's Mountain Boy pulling himself to a stand in his cot. He has been demanding to stand all day. He can do it over and over and over again, i wonder if his thigh muscles will ache tomorrow.



He stuck his tiny hand out to steal the bottle when i placed it there momentarily. Of course i had to make him reenact a few times to take a picture so he got quite fed up by the end of it.

Before he slept, we both prayed for you. I told him that you love him and that he is very lucky to have a you as his father! I am so sweet right...

Okay, see u soon. I am going to sleep now.

oo,

your wife.

he is mobile!

Time to childproof the house. Currently he crawls towards handphones, camera and slippers for some reason. He also pants and sticks out his tongue like a little puppy when he sees something exciting, super cute!

A cute baby is like a good handbag. They keep u wanting more!

Disco anyone?

The three of us along with some friends decided to attend the inaugural Baby Disco at Club Le Zazou this afternoon. Imagine going to a tea dance with ur tots in tow. Sounds nuts but it was completely wholesome, pukes were mostly milk induced, not alcohol. And the only thing that made us high was the bubble machine. Whoever came up with the great idea of giving parents the opportunity to go "clubbing" with their kids is a genius.

This brings me back to one of my favourite stories. When i was around 18, i asked my mom if i could go clubbing with my friends. Not that i never been before that but i wanted to make it official that i was then "old enough" to go out and come home at 4am smelling like pub toilet. So one fine evening, my mother called and in the background i heard loud thumping music, " ELLA I AM AT cheenoys cheenoys (i think she meant CHINOIS CHINOIS) WITH YOUR UNCLE, YOU WANNA COME?? " I was dumbfounded, lost for words. NO. FUDGING. WAY. It would have been social suicide.

Anyway, i now know what was going through my mother's head . It's actually makes u kinda cool to go clubbing with ur kids.

Here's some nice pictures from today, Mountain boy enjoyed himself tremendously. Rocking to "Beat It".

"Shhh, I won't tell mommy u gave me a sip."

Now let me go nurse my hangover. Good night!

Papercut!

All the magazine reading and ripping has led to Mountain boy's first injury. Huge drops of blood were oozing out of his tiny finger and the magazine pages were smeared red. Mountain man and i tried to downplay his injury but actually i was really dying inside (okay maybe not so drama).

It's gonna be the first of many, i know.

My 7th month old Mountain Boy

As of today, i have decided to rename Tamagotchi as Mountain Boy. This baby is really every bit a mini version of his Dad, riiiight down to the fingertips. Sometimes i get very freaked out when i see them together, i call them the big one and small one for convenience sake.

Anyway, Mountain boy has been picking up new tricks lately. He will look at the objects we ask him to identify. So clever!

In this video, he recognises "mama and papa" on the poster! Although it's not the real mama and papa, i'm still quite proud of him.

Sunday School

T attended his first sunday school last weekend. It was very exciting for mommy and daddy, especially when we learnt that we could just leave him behind with the teachers for 2 hrs free of charge. Something tells me we're gonna be more regular at church now, heck maybe even attend all the services! (Just KIDDING LA)

Anyway sunday school went well. Kids from 0-2 years can't sit through a 5 page bible story even, so T ended up playing with 2 other older kids. It's good also that these kids are not like him (black and white) so he gets a variety of "experiences".


Mountain man and i actually managed to leave the room for a good 15-20 minutes before he started crying. Well done dear!

Accumulating "stuff"

T's things are slowly taking over the entire apartment, every inch and every corner of it. He is barely 7 months and his toys are already more than my handbags.

Thanks to a friend, i received a wake-up call today. She shared this article on how parents can control this state of "stuff accumulation". Last thing i want is for T to feel a sense of entitlement and think that mom and dad can serve everything up on a silver platter. So from here on out, things are gonna be different in this household.

1. Be creative. How to make use of things that are already at home? How to make more out of the toys he already has?
2. Go out more often, experience new things.
3. Create an exchange program. Trade toys with other mommies.
4. Organise more play dates so he can play with other people's toys.
5. Hold back on buying new toys. Ask and ask again, DOES HE NEED THIS? WILL HE BE STUPID IF HE DOESN'T PLAY WITH IT?
6. Accept hand-me-downs. gimme gimme gimme!

It's not just money we'll be saving, this will also do good to the planet.

Farty fart

Besides squealing at the top of his voice, he has also learnt how to make "fart" sounds. I had alot of fun with him on this.

New Toys

T's into the "i wanna play what she's playing" phase. The laptop tops his list of favourites. He gets these crazy eyes when he bangs on the keyboard, he even waits for a reaction on the monitor. It's so funny to watch.

He also loves watching his own video clips.

Tearing up magazines is a close 2nd. He wants to rip out every page that is of interest to me. Tricky mommy now pretends to read books I want him to read. But he seems to know that i'm tricking him. Clever boy!

This ones just for laughs. He says... "GET ME OUTTA HERE!".

Passion for Shoes

I just recently bought 5 pairs of shoes for T and 1 for myself. What a colourful bunch! I love love love these new shoes.

Did i ever mention that my feet expanded since i gave birth? That's 50over pairs of shoes rendered unwearable. I've invested in a shoe-expanding device and i've managed to salvage less than 5 pairs so far.

So anyway, all the more reason to go shoe shopping.

Funky iPhone App

Over the weekend we had fun with the photo app on Mountain Man's iphone. Have a good laugh!

I laughed when i saw this. So corny.

I thot i looked hawt, but Mountain Man insists that it's the iphone special effects.

This one's funniest. 2 angmoh girls checking out my boys.

On the 6th day...

...God breathed life into living things... He made Adam and from his rib Eve was created. It was a wonderful day.

Not that this has any sort of parallel to what i'm about to say, but this particular 6th day was also a wonderful one for the Ng household. T finally pooped, after 6 agonising days.

I don't know how his little stomach probably the size of a tennis ball can hold 6 days worth of solids and milk.

Note to new parents: Banana is constipating for children. So is iron fortified rice cereal. A combination of both will result in a "poop-plug" hard enough to cut diamonds.

Poop-plug busters are peaches, prunes and pears (remember 3Ps). So when u start ur baby on solids, remember to try these foods early in case of potential constipation.

The 6th month milestones

• Sitting up (see video). I didn't know i could get him to do this trick until the new ayi showed me. Cool! But actually his physical milestones are getting in the way of a good night sleep, he'd wake up in weird positions and demand to be put back on his tummy. Now i'm weaning him off the tummy position. urgh...
• Eating solids. He has tried carrots, apples, sweet potatoes, peas (which gave him gas), pears, oatmeal and rice cereal. He doesn't always enjoy his mealtimes, he prefers to play with the cutlery.
• Saying "Maaa", "Gaaa"....
• Make strong(er) objections when i take something away.
• More manipulative. He'll cry really loud and sneers when he gets his way.

Sugar Coated Words

3rd March 2010

Me: So... It's your birthday today, what are your thoughts?
Mountain man: Well... I can be richer. But i cannot be happier....

I looked at him in awe.

Mountain man: that was a pretty good line wasn't it. Hehehehe...

12 March 2010, 7am.

Tamagotchi: Maaaa....

He wasn't looking at me when he said "maaa..." but i'll put it down on record that he called me first.

My little monkey

He gets very crazy in the afternoons before his naptime.

I'm not dead....

....just really really really spent. I haven't had a live-in nanny for close to 2 months now, so it's been non-stop night shifts, early morning wakes and on top of that i'm still expressing once at 3am.


For the sake of sanity (and our marriage) we've decided to convert back to a full-time-live-in nanny. Finding good help is not an easy process. I've interviewed close to 15 nannies in the last 1 week. I've been through 1 who quit on me after 3 hours (am i that bad?), and I finally found one today who is acceptable, SO FAR.


Despite my complaints and the so called "hardship" we've been going through, i'm grateful for quite a number of things.

1. I've gained more confidence in caring for T. The last nanny commented that I wasn't able to care for T on my own because whenever she went on leave something would happen to T (like he'll get a rash, or a red butt). I felt very angry that she dared to spew such nonsense, I knew she was trying to hurt me because our relationship had turned sour towards the end. But at the back of my mind, i knew I had relied on her so much that i never had the confidence to take a stand and do things my way.
2. Our mother-child bond is definitely stronger today than it was 2 months ago. I love our bedtime routine so much. I read him the same Thomas and Friends storybook every night, say a prayer, look into his eyes and hold his tiny hands before putting him to sleep on his tummy. He can now sleep without patting or holding or rocking, he just needs to hear my voice and know that i am there.
3. Routine routine routine. I am a believer of routine. T has never been more alert, happy and well-rested. On the contrary, me following T's routine strictly has allowed me more flexibility with my own time because i am not a slave to his unpredictability. I know when he sleeps and wakes so i plan my activities around it. I'm lucky that i discovered T needed a routine quite early so training him was quite easy.
4. Family time. It's so easy to become lazy when the nanny is around. Just leave T at home while we go out and spend "adult" time. But without the nanny, we're forced to bring T wherever we go, and it's so surprisingly enjoyable! I do feel like we're spending quality time as a family and it brings us so much joy and satisfaction when we see how happy T is.

All in all, I'm just really grateful for the way things are.

5.5 months

4th to 5th month is supposedly the most exciting period for a baby. There's an overall increase in alertness and a greater awareness of their own bodily functions. Whilst there is tremendous progression during the day, sleeptime suffers from an equal regression- a baby who normally sleeps through the night will now tend to get up in the wee hours to "practice" his newly acquired skills. You must think "wow, how cute is that!". In reality, not so cute. I've been waking up to roll T back into position, i was on the verge of duct taping him to his bed so i could have a bit more sleep.

Having said all that, we're very proud of T's recent developments. Even the part-time Ayi said that he "grew-up" after not seeing him over the weekend!

He recognises mommy and daddy! Today he reached out to me for the first time. Mountain Man and I have been taking turns to reach out to him so he's been ding-donging between us the whole day. hehe.

Who needs stacking blocks when cheap paper cups can achieve the same! T had fun squishing and chewing and destroying the paper cup pyramids i built.

He managed to find a cable taped behind the poster.

" I solemnly swear I am up to no good"

He also started his first taste of real food!! I let him try chewing on some steamed carrot sticks the other day, but it was rather uneventful because the sticks were very slippery so they fell on the floor in a matter of minutes. He couldn't bite off anything because i didn't dare to make the sticks too soft in case he chokes!

The steamed brocoli "trees" were abit more interesting. He happily gnawed on the branches and leaves in this video.

"look ma! I made a dent!"

He obviously didn't have enough so he moved on to his bib after that. hehe.

Can't wait for the actual 6th month mark. I am so ready to start him on solids!