CNY Day 2 - 27 Jan '09

We went over to ah ma's house to 拜年. After that we rushed home as baby Zach was coming to our place. We hung around, chatted, fed the babies milk before we went to another family gathering. Mummy has fallen ill from all the bingeing of new year goodies and lack of rest. I am so worried as I kept on carrying Ashlynn. Hope I don't spread my cold bugs to her.

Ashlynn must be very tired after 2 days of visiting and her sleep routine has been badly affected. Her appetite has been poor and it was so difficult feeding her. Especially her morning and night feed. She is only drinking 100ml instead of her usual 180ml. Daddy and mummy can actually sense that she lost weight. Aiyoh, baby ah. People usually put on weight during the festive season. Why you lose weight wan...

Ashlynn crawling around while waiting for us to get ready.

I was swinging her and each time she reached close to me, she will cling on to me like a koala bear. Very funny.

Colour of the day - Red.

She was enjoying the slide at our cousin's place.
Mummy

CNY Day 1 - 26 Jan '09

We visited a total of 6 places on day 1. In fact, many relatives met up with baby for the first time. Haha... And I am very happy that many commented that baby looks more like mummy. Which means Ashlynn is beginning to look more like a girl now.

As usual, we will pose before we go out.
This is taken at mummy's relative's house. The boy is ashlynn's uncle.

We went over to granny's place to change Ashlynn into a new set of clothes and prepare her for round 2 of visiting.

Self-entertainment

Ashlynn and her cousin Natasha hugging each other.
Mummy

Ashlynn's First Reunion Dinners 24 & 25 Jan '09

We had two reunion dinners over the weekend. Saturday was with ah ma and ah gong and Sunday was with granny and grandpa. Last year, Ashlynn was in my tummy while I was enjoying the good food. This year, she could join in the feasting too :)

I would say that she has been cooperative over the two celebrations, so we all got to eat in peace. And her scars are better, so she will not look so bad after all over the CNY.

1st day of feasting...


2nd day of feasting. This fish is steamed for Ashlynn to eat.

Mummy

Scarred... 23 Jan '09

Baby kenna lotsa insect bites recently. We are not sure where these insects come from? We are wondering if it could be bed bugs... She has 2 on her right hand and 3 on her left hand. Worse still, 1 right in the middle of her forehead. And she also accidentally scratched herself on her nose and cheeks. Looks quite disfigured. And it has to be just right before CNY. Sigh...

Mummy

Gymboree 18 Jan '09

My colleague passed me a free pass for a trial class at Gymboree so we brought Ashlynn there in the afternoon to "expel" her energy. She was sleeping when we reached there and we were worried that she will wake up to be a grumpy girl. Thank goodness she woke up and regained her energetic self very quickly. We could tell that she was very excited and captivated by all the colourful structures and equipment. And she was free to roam about the large play area.

When the class started, she was easily the most energetic and excited baby around (the other babies were regulars) although she was the only non-walking baby. haha... sounds weird. This was the level 3 class for 10 to 16 months babies and I believe the other babies were older than her. As they moved from activity to activity, she was constantly screaming from excitment. She also refused to return the toys to the teacher.

The activity she enjoyed most was the rolling bus? The kiddos were to push a huge bolster-like structure and walk along. When it ended, she still continued pushing it.

When we left, she drank her milk and fell asleep for quite long. We managed to go to Orchard to run some errands and back to granny's place before she woke up.

Isn't my name spelt with a double N?
Waiting for the class to commence.

She loved Gymbo!

She managed to mount the slide. All the way gal!

At first she was quite skeptical about going through the tunnel as it was pretty narrow and it will roll about. With much encouragement, she went through it successfully.

Her favourite toy - the bean bags. We wanted to buy them but they were not for sale.

Another tunnel to go through.

This is the rolling bus which she really enjoyed.

She pushed with much determination.

I was very worried that she will fall as she was kinda tiny for it.

Ashlynn holding on to Gymbo's hand. I didn't realise this until I downloaded the photos.

This was perhaps the only time I see her sitting still. She was so captivated by the lesson.

So are we signing her up? I don't think so as we decided that if we are to send her for some class, we will prefer those that promotes more intellectual development. Not that Gymboree doesn't stimulate her intellectually, but maybe we are looking at more the Shichida kind (but no budget. sigh...)

Mummy

Good Job Daddy! 17 Jan '09

Mummy had to attend a meeting in the afternoon today. Unlike previous times whereby we deposited Ashlynn at granny's place, this time round we decided that daddy will take care of her for that few hours. Since the timing was just nice, she did not need to eat porridge nor be showered. All daddy had to do was to watch over her. He even brought her to collect her cereal from an overseas spree and to fetch mummy all the way from bishan.

When I met up with them, Ashlynn was sound asleep in her car seat. Usually she would be creating a din as she hates to be in the car seat. In fact, she was sleeping without her pacifier, her greatest addiction. I wonder how daddy did it. Anyway, thank you for taking care of her. I can now entrust you with our precious to go for my pedicure sessions right? Haha...

Mummy

Preparation for CNY 14 Jan '09

Ashlynn got a hair cut by granny today as her fringe is getting too long.

We also took out her new clothes for washing. We realised that she has so many new clothes from us and both her grandmothers. I think she has more new clothes than me but daddy thinks otherwise. haha...

Seems like I got a lot of washing to do over the weekend. Sigh...

Mummy

New Toy 09 Jan '09

We bought this new toy set for Ashlynn from Kiddy Palace. She can play on her own for awhile if she doesn't see daddy or mummy. She will roll the ball and chase after it. Very comical.

Mummy

More Teeth for Ashlynn 10 Jan '09

Finally we see signs of new teeth emerging. Not one, but five of them!! Three on top and two below. I was so excited to see that. She refused to let me brush her teeth yesterday. Not sure if it was becaus her gums were sore and she didn't want me to touch them.

Mummy

3rd Fall of the Week 10 Jan '09

Mummy had to work on Saturday so I got granny's help to take care of Ashlynn for half a day. When I went to fetch her, I was informed that she had a fall, from the high chair. I was quite sim tia but of cause I had to act normal. Cause it was definitely not anyone but Ashlynn's fault. She was simply too mischievous. According to granny, she did not cry when she hit the ground, only started crying when granny screamed from shock to see her lying on the floor. After a while, she was back to her usual cheery self. Granny asked me to monitor her to see if there was any vomitting or discomfort. Seems fine till now.

We are really worried. Within a week, she fell three times and each time the fall seems more serious.

1st time: she lost balance as she was watching tv and cruising, sat on her bums and then head down
2nd time: she climbed on the coffee table and then tried to get down. She lost her balance and fell face down. Suffered bleeding gums.
3rd time: Tried to bend over from her high chair. She bent too much that she plunged down.

I hope she can grow up quickly and also learn to be more gentle.

Mummy

BPC - Beyond Parental Control 09 Jan '09

Baby has been getting out of hands these days. She doesn't like to sit for long and doesn't even like to be carried for long. She will demand to be put down by lunging forward. Either that she will push herself away from our bodies. Her strength is quite powerful for her petite size. She prefers to be "freed" and she will start to target at wires and gadgets around the house. Really beyond our control.

As she enjoys cruising around the coffee these days, yesterday she accidentally fell and her lower teeth hit her upper gums and it bled. This is her second fall in this week. She likes to do dangerous stunts like going up the coffee table and down again. We really have to watch over her closely.

She has learnt to turn over from the coffee table to the sofa without holding on to anything. And I suspect she enjoys the thrill of it.

Of cause there is the adorable side of her. These are some of the things which she has been doing:
1) clapping her hands, trying hard to makes sure her two hands meet. We know that as she will look at her hands when she is doing the action. She must be wondering why there is sound when we clap and there isn't any when she claps. But most of the time she is clapping the air. keke...
2) Ask her to "sayang minnie", she will bend her head to touch her minnie mouse stuff toy. She even use the leg of minnie to do the answering phone action. Very cute.
3) Ask her to "hug hug mummy", she will give mummy a big bear hug. But only does it selectively.
4) Ask her to "kiss mummy", she will stick out her tongue to lick mummy's lips. haha... Is that her french kiss? Also, she does it selectively.

She will turn one in one month plus time. We have selected the venue but yet to order her cake. Panic panic!!

Mummy

Ashlynn's Little Progress 03 Jan '09

After cruising for almost a month or so, we finally managed to witness a little progress from our little one. Daddy saw her standing without support for that tad second on a few occasions while mummy was busy at work and we both saw her standing up from squatting position without any support. We could see that she was trying very hard.

Jia you our girl! Hope to see her take her first steps soon...

Mummy

Recipe for Pasta Sauce

As requested, here's my self-improvised recipe for the pasta sauce. (must make sure your baby has no allergy to tomatos first)

Ingredients:
200ml of vegetable stock or water
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 tbs of olive oil
1 small in of tomato puree (I bought 100% natural, you can make your own, but remember to choose red and ripe tomatos)

Steps:
1) Saute the onions, carrots and celery in olive oil for 5 - 10 mins.
2) Add the vegetable stock and tomato puree and simmer for 20 mins.
3) Let it cool and blend to the correct consistency.
4) Cool and freeze for future usage.

To make the pasta, just follow the instructions for cooking the pasta. I actually blend the pasta to make it smaller. Then heat up the pasta sauce and pour it over the cooked pasta. I will further warm it before I serve to my baby.

Hope this helps! :)

Mummy

Happy New Year! 01 Jan '09

My first entry for 2009.

Managed to capture a video of happy Ashlynn.
Really look forward to spend the new year with my most precious family :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!

Mummy