Tuesday 19 January 2016

Foodie

This section will be dedicated to depict my Life's Simple Pleasures in all food that interests me.
It can be anything from anywhere as long as it is yummylicious or pretty enough to catch my eye. Thus, it can be anything from a simple hawker fare, a luxurious buffet spread, something from a fanciful eatery or even something from my home-made fare.
 


More on my Life's Simple Pleasures Coming up ...
 

Monday 18 January 2016

Larry is 2!

Just as I have promised, I baked Larry's 2nd birthday cake! You know you are a mom when you do things for your child unwaveringly no matter how tedious it gets. I am definitely not a baker by profession and I am pleased that it was completed. Most importantly, my little boy gets his mommy's special one of its kind birthday cake. It is a Thomas the train themed birthday cake, a smaller scale design compared to his 1st birthday cake but it took me quite a while to complete as well. It's the cake on the bottom left of the pic below.


This year, Larry had 3 cakes for his 2 year old birthday. One baked specially for him by me (bottom left in pic), another (bottom right cake) he brought to celebrate in his school and yet another (top right in pic) he had for his birthday bash with his peers.

Counting down... 7 more months to go before his next birthday. What birthday cake shall it be this time? Hahah we shall see!

Monday 28 December 2015

5 Essential Items for my Baby's Personal Hygiene

Babies: really cute, small, lovely beings with neurons in the brain that grows at a thunderous speed. They are learning new things about their environment, their fellow beings and themselves. In short almost everything is new to them and they have a brain that absorbs everything like a sponge to liquid. Larry always surprises me with something.

Now what has this got to do with hygiene? Oh well, with an inquisitive active baby in a stage of adopting a touch, kiss, taste and chew on everything that looks new to me behaviour, hygiene in the environment where the baby is in becomes upmost priority. Thus, for the sake of simplicity, I have compiled my top 5 most handy, useful and essential items to upkeep my baby's environment.

1) Mustela non-rinse
 
This is my must-have when we are on-the-go to keep my baby clean, rashes free and fresh after pooing or when he needs a dry-clean. This non-rinse formula is exceptionally useful when cleaning water is not easily found or when we are visiting places where water is scare. It gentle enough to be used anywhere on baby's sensitive skin (e.g face, neck, body, bum) and removes dirt very effectively, leaving a pleasant and refreshing after scent. Because it comes in a standard 500ml bottle with a pump, it is easy to use and dispense. However, I always transfer some to a small bottle just enough and all I need for the day for convienance as we usually travel light.



2) Dapple high chair and toy cleaner
 
Have you ever encountered situations where your playful baby just made a mess out of his highchair, table and surroundings after his mealtime with his food strewn everywhere? Or his toys or cot rails are so slimed with his saliva that they smell FISHY just like what they had eaten? 

As a parent with a rambunctious toddler, I am concerned with both cleaning his "mess", reinstating his environment to what it was before as well as ensuring that the chemicals used for cleaning is baby friendly as he loves to put things into his mouth. In short we need an environment that is CLEAN and HYGENIC and BABY SAFE.

In this aspect, Dapple's highchair and toy cleaner works well for us. The no-rinse formula gives it another star as we do not need to worry about rinsing.

3) ICM sanitizer
 
Another convenient non-rinse formula that saves the day. We use this very often e.g. to sanitize our hands before handling the baby, on the baby's changing mat after a change of poo diapers, to sanitize the baby's high chair and table where he touches when we are out for dinner, and the list goes on... 

A small bottle of sanitizer kept in the bag is exceptionally handy especially when tap water is no where in sight.




4) Pigeon Hands and mouth wipes
 
An essential for Larry who is learning to self-feed or any baby at the drooling stage. Saves us the hassle of washing or keeping the dirty used bib/ face cloth when we are on the move. We got one that is food-grade as he likes to snatch it sometimes and explore it in his mouth. The wet wipes cleans food mess on him easily and I have a peace of mind as it is food-grade, thick and just the right size for his little mouth. No worries even if he puts his fingers in his mouth after cleaning with the food-grade wet wipes. We use it to wipe his face, hands and back, freshening him up a bit after perspiring from playing at the playground too.

5) Bosom wet wipes
 
Larry has sensitive skin and prone to diaper rash if he uses wipes or diapers that don't agree with his delicate skin. These thick wet wipes has been working well as they are soft and gentle enough for his baby soft skin.

Sunday 1 November 2015

Sweet Potato Fa Gao !

HUAT AH!

Today after making odeh-odeh, I still had some sweet potato left and so I decided to try making sweet potato HUAT gao which blossomed beautifully. 

Sweet Potato Fa Gao
It has a natural yellow tint from the sweet potato. I would describe it as ALL NATURAL and HEALTHY. My favourite part about home-made food is you always know what goes into the food and can be rest assured about quality and health. CHEERS to home-made food!

Tuesday 31 March 2015

Little man Big surprises, Larry from birth to now (19 months)


Larry's Stages of Early Childhood Development:
NEWBORN => CURIOUS CRAWLER => RAMBUNCTIOUS WALKER => BUSY TODDLER aka

LITTLE RESEARCH FELLOW


Ever since Larry discovered that he can flip, the surprises he gave us came one after another sometimes back to back in consecutive days. It is a wonderful experience for me to be able to witness Larry reach his milestones and share the numerous joyous occasions with him. Every individual is unique and so is Larry. As a newborn, he does not like to be restricted and would wriggle out of his swaddle, pull off his mittens and kick away his socks.

Larry @ 13 Days Old
Larry in his Milk Drunken Kong Fu Stance
 
Larry @ 3 Days Old
As a result, we found ourselves putting on his mittens and socks for him countless times a day. Since 1 month old, he took a liking to blabbering and would smile happily at anyone who talks to him and listens to his blabber.

Larry @ 3 Months
Larry @ 8 Months
He LOVES talking so much that most of the time we find saliva all over his smiley face.

As he grew older, he became fascinated with his hands and fingers and would spend hours looking at them happily as though telling himself "I HAVE GOT HANDS!".
Larry @ 5 Months
Larry giving his hands a thorough analysis
The other pastime he had was kicking his legs high up in the air. Sometimes I really wonder where this little guy who takes only milk derive all his energy from.
 


Soon he was happily flipping away but his new found mobility only made him crave for more as he spent hours in his cot observing us walking around him. He was also very much attracted to the colourful, soothing mobile cot that had been his companion whenever he was awake since he came home as a new-born. Spending endless hours in his cot, his exploratory mind began devising ways to reach out and touch his mobile cot. To our astonishment, we found him lying on top of two of his pillows, shaking and pulling at his mobile cot!

Larry @ 8 Months
Larry pulling hard at his favourite mobile cot

Larry observes us attentively whenever we are walking around him... he would be having the "Wow, how do they do that! I want to walk too and go to any where I want!" kind of look. Though we were forseeing it, he gave us a nice surprise when he sat up on his cot by himself one evening after dinner. We placed him back on his back to see what this little baby would do. First, he flipped then he pushed his butt against the rails of his cot backwards till he was in upright sitting position. Wala! He looked so pleased with himself as he is able to have a better view of his surroundings including the floor!
Larry @ 9 Months
"I can SIT!"
But that didn't satisfy our little Larry boy. Two days later, we found him standing by the rails on his cot! He looked very pleased with himself and his new found view. Again, his favourite mobile cot toy was one of the compelling reasons for him in yearning to stand so much.

 
 

Since the day he discovered standing, he was usually in that position holding on to the rails in his cot while his eyes followed us around the room. Soon he took his first few baby steps and was absolutely overwhelmed by his new found freedom as he squeals and laughs in delight.

As HAPPY as LARRY, now at 19 months, he is enjoying all the mobility he has within his warm home. Walking and running around our home while exploring with his vocal cords all the time. My home is never the same. It's normal if I hear him and gets me worried if I don't. His inquisitive mind always keeps him on the move, from figuring out where the music streams from his music DJ toy to exploring the different ways he can get down from the seat... that is from bottoms down, front down or jump and slide off with the seat's cover! 
Larry @ 19 Months
"Let's try jumping off the chair with the seat cover..."

Yes JUMP!... Our little research fellow does give mummy countless heart-attacks and still counting.

Larry-ism: As HAPPY as LARRY

Larry-ism: As HAPPY as LARRY.
Have Larry-ism gotten into you? Hopefully these pictures help to brighten up your day!
 

Tuesday 30 December 2014

Larry's 1st Birthday Cake

I was organizing the photos in my PC when I chanced upon these pictures of Larry's 1 year old birthday cake. Yes, Larry is 1 year old!  It means a lot to us as it marks our 1 year odyssey. 

Larry is 1 ! Birthday Cake
Larry is One ! - Birthday Cake

I had wanted Larry's birthday cake to be a special one. One that is as unique as him and one that can be associated with him. Thus, I decided that I will bake him a birthday cake that is one of it's kind in the world. 

Larry's Birthday Cake
The number 1 took centre stage as it marks Larry's 1 year old birthday. AS HAPPY AS LARRY, a friendly bear sits among the bees while the ladybirds surround the cake. The bees are a reflection of how busy Larry is as he welcomes each day with an inquisitive exploratory mind . The stars on the cake is an analogy for how he has added sparks and made a difference to our lives. The sides of the cake is weaved in a basket weaving pattern to add texture to the sides reflecting how precious our little boy is to us. 

Happy 1ST Birthday my little boy !
Btw, Larry is 17months coming to 18months now and I hope to be able to personally bake a birthday cake for him every year :) 6 more months to go !