Today, I brought Ian alone to the Little Neuro Tree trial class, which was opened up specially for babies in 08. There were only 3 other babies attending the class, and I had heard from the reception that they were Feb/Mar babies.
The first lesson was in Japanese, with a kawaii teacher conducting the class. It consisted of flashing of cards, memory training, and some activities for mommies to do. There was the ABC song in Japanese and other Japanese songs.
Ian enjoyed it at the beginning, but began to lose his concentration towards the end and started looking around the class. The activities were more for the mommies to help out with their babies, as the babes were all too young to DIY. And it was a little distracting that other babies were crying on and off.
Anyway, there are going to be a Chinese and an English class in the next 2 weeks.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Peas and Yoghurt
This morning, I decided to introduce garden peas (which we bought a while back) to Ian. I steamed the peas together with the organic carrot which we bought on Friday night. This combination of food is actually suitable for babies from 7 months onwards, but we simply have too many things to let him try, but too little time.
Blended peas and carrots
The yoghurt comes in only 2 flavours - vanilla and banana. I let Ian try out the vanilla version, mixed with some apple puree. He liked it at first, but did not manage to finish the whole bowl. In any case, the yoghurt does smell good, with a fresh vanilla fragrance.
Blended peas and carrotsI mixed some of the puree into the cereal for Ian's lunch, and added the remaining into the slow cooker for his dinner.
Today, we finally bought the Baby Yoplait yoghurt for Ian. This is such a hard-to-find yoghurt and we searched many places before we finally found it. The PD we consulted at Sembawang actually recommended giving a baby version instead of the normal version, because the manufacturer has probably done something to make it more suitable for babies. And the box actually does mention that this is more digestible.
The yoghurt comes in only 2 flavours - vanilla and banana. I let Ian try out the vanilla version, mixed with some apple puree. He liked it at first, but did not manage to finish the whole bowl. In any case, the yoghurt does smell good, with a fresh vanilla fragrance.
Our New Slow Cooker
The brown rice grains are really hard to cook to the mashy texture like white rice. And, it was a chore to cook Ian's porridge over a stove fire. Hence, we took home the spare slow cooker from my Mom's place.
We tried cooking the brown rice in it for 3 hours, and to our disappointment, the consistency was not what we wanted. Within the 3 hours, we also added water a few times because the water dried up.
We tried cooking white rice in it for 3 hours, and the consistency was slightly more satisfying. I guess brown rice just has to be milled.
But with this new kitchen aid, cooking porridge is much easier.
We tried cooking the brown rice in it for 3 hours, and to our disappointment, the consistency was not what we wanted. Within the 3 hours, we also added water a few times because the water dried up.
We tried cooking white rice in it for 3 hours, and the consistency was slightly more satisfying. I guess brown rice just has to be milled.
But with this new kitchen aid, cooking porridge is much easier.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Ian's First Xmas Pressie
Although it is still 3 more weeks to Christmas, I have gotten a present for Ian's first Christmas. This is the Playskool Busy Ball Popper that I have been eyeing on for quite some time. It has rave reviews in Amazon and is constantly one of the top-selling toys.
We went to Vivocity yesterday and happened to see this toy at Toyrus there. To my pleasant surprise (and my hubby's consternation), it was on sale for $42. It was a pretty good deal, and again, I succumbed to the BBB addiction.
Hubby also agreed that it seemed that I was buying the toy for myself rather than Ian, because Ian has never said that he wanted more toys.
We opened up the box to try out the toy. However, it does not keep Ian interested for long. Hopefully, he will grow to like it, like how he has grown to like certain toys that he did not like at first.
The New Gadget That Made Ian Laugh
Hubby was playing with his new gadget, and surprisingly, it entertained Ian so much that he was cracking up with laughters. We simply love the way he laughs... :)
Organic Baby Jar Food
I happened to see this brand of jar food at NTUC TPY and bought a bottle for Ian to try. Such jars come handy on evenings when I return home alone with Ian and need to feed him some fruits.
I have fed this jar food to Ian earlier this week. It smelt good, even after mixing into Frisocream. Ian loved it.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
His First Super Greens - Broccoli
The super baby food book has been a bible whenever it comes to Ian's diet. Although asparagus is OKed from 7 month onwards, we have never given it a try because we are not exactly sure how to prepare it for Ian. We have bought the frozen green peas a couple of weeks ago, but have not yet cooked it for Ian.
And since the book has finally given the green light for broccoli (as Ian is already 8 months old), we bought the organic variety from NTUC yesterday to let him start on his super greens. This is one of my favourite vegetables as well.
This morning, I cut 3 bunches of florets and soaked them in salt water for about 10 minutes.
After a little soaking and washing, they went into the steamer for a 10 minutes sauna before going into the blender. One third went into the fridge (to be fed to Ian later), and I splitted the remainder into 2 baby cubes for freezing.
At the same time, I was cooking the brown rice grains to make some porridge for Ian. Cooking a pot of brown rice porridge was not an easy task as I had to keep stirring to prevent the bottom from sticking and to prevent the water from overflowing.
It was hard to cook the brown rice grains into the mashy consistency that I required. After about 30 minutes of cooking over the stove, I threw a cube of frozen pumpkin puree and a slice of organic tofu into the pot, then transferred the shuttle chef thermal pot into its outer container to let it continue to cook.
When Ian woke up from his nap, the porridge was still not mashy enough. So, we blended it before giving Ian.
And since the book has finally given the green light for broccoli (as Ian is already 8 months old), we bought the organic variety from NTUC yesterday to let him start on his super greens. This is one of my favourite vegetables as well.
This morning, I cut 3 bunches of florets and soaked them in salt water for about 10 minutes.
After a little soaking and washing, they went into the steamer for a 10 minutes sauna before going into the blender. One third went into the fridge (to be fed to Ian later), and I splitted the remainder into 2 baby cubes for freezing.
At the same time, I was cooking the brown rice grains to make some porridge for Ian. Cooking a pot of brown rice porridge was not an easy task as I had to keep stirring to prevent the bottom from sticking and to prevent the water from overflowing.
It was hard to cook the brown rice grains into the mashy consistency that I required. After about 30 minutes of cooking over the stove, I threw a cube of frozen pumpkin puree and a slice of organic tofu into the pot, then transferred the shuttle chef thermal pot into its outer container to let it continue to cook.
When Ian woke up from his nap, the porridge was still not mashy enough. So, we blended it before giving Ian.
Stage III Evaluation
This morning, I picked up the GD book again after it has been left on the shelf for the last couple of months.
Ian has already passed the stage III evaluation, based on this book. That means his midbrain and subcortical areas are developed.
Competency evaluation:
In fact, Ian's tactile competence is already in the stage IV as he can understand the third dimension in objects, for eg. to pick up a flat object like a piece of paper on the floor. He is also on his way to achieve competency in stage IV mobility - walking with arms used in a primary balance role.
Ian has already passed the stage III evaluation, based on this book. That means his midbrain and subcortical areas are developed.
Competency evaluation:
- Visual - appreciation of detail Checked
- Auditory - appreciation of meaningful sound Checked
- Tactile - knowing differences in sensation Checked
- Mobility - creeping in cross-pattern Checked
- Language - Creating meaningful sounds Checked
- Manual - Prehensile grasp Checked
In fact, Ian's tactile competence is already in the stage IV as he can understand the third dimension in objects, for eg. to pick up a flat object like a piece of paper on the floor. He is also on his way to achieve competency in stage IV mobility - walking with arms used in a primary balance role.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Cosplay
A little tiger...
Ian in his "dragon robe"... Jinbei suit from Jshoppers. This picture was taken in the afternoon, showing how Ian looks like on his 8th month "birthday".
Oh, where's his ninja suit? 引続き注目しなさい...
Ian in his "dragon robe"... Jinbei suit from Jshoppers. This picture was taken in the afternoon, showing how Ian looks like on his 8th month "birthday".
Oh, where's his ninja suit? 引続き注目しなさい...
Friday, November 28, 2008
The 2 Weeks Before 8 Months
I am finally back after a short hiatus from blogging. Both hubby and I have been bogged down by work due to tight project schedules (what's new?), and we are almost taking turns to do our work at home, while the other party takes care of Ian.
Anyway, Ian will be turning 8 months old this weekend. Time really flies... and here are the events in our family for the past 2 weeks.
Y for Yoghurt
The super baby food book recommends yoghurt for babies above 7 months old, hence, we bought a small tub for Ian to try. Although we do not like plain yoghurt at all, Ian finished the whole tub over a period of 4 days. Although he did not mind eating whatever amount that we gave him, he gave us a "yucks" expression for every mouthful of it.
C for Carrot
We bought a pack of organic carrots from NTUC to let Ian start on this nutritious vegetable. When I mentioned to his nanny to start giving him carrots, I was surprised to find out that she had already introduced carrots to Ian (without our knowledge). Anyway, we passed the whole bag of organic carrots to her so that she could add it into his diet. I was glad to know that she knew not to give it to Ian everyday.
Other new food that we have let Ian try are pear, Gerber canned peach puree and Frisocream wheat-based cereal. He loves the Frisocream the most. I let him try another slice of papaya, mixed into the Frisocream cereal, and Ian accepted the taste this time round.
Cough, Cough
Ian suffered from a cough last week and there was an unmistakable hint of phlegm in his coughing sound. On Thursday, his nanny said that when he wanted to cry, no voice came out of his mouth. She suspected that he was having a sore throat and blamed it on the brown rice powder that I had prepared (since I fried-dry the grains before milling). Anyway, we took leave on Friday to bring Ian to see a PD.
Seeing a PD was not an easy task either. Ian's fave Dr Ong was on a long vacation unfortunately, and we had to visit the AMK branch. We went around noon but the clinic was packed. The nurse almost 'warned' us that they had already rejected some walk-in patients, and she would not be fair if she were to let us in. Anyway, she squeezed us into an evening slot.
Since we still had the whole afternoon to waste, we decided to try another PD at Sembawang Kidslink. It was a good decision. The female PD was very friendly, detailed and she answered many of our questions without the usual 'rush' which we had experienced with other doctors. She gave 2 bottles of syrup medication to treat Ian's cough and phlegm. And thank God, Ian recovered by Tuesday.
He Is A Little Creeper and Cruiser
Ian is officially crawling on all fours now, and is getting adept at it. Or rather, this type of movement is more aptly called "creeping" in cross-pattern, according to the GD book.
He can also stand up without our help by 'scaling' the walls like a lizard. Just this morning, we found him standing in his playpen. Somehow, he has managed to 'scale' the walls of the playpen, reach the top edge and pull himself up. He has also began to cruise around the edge of his playpen. With his new found skills, Ian must be enjoying the new views now.
Tough Luck for the Mommy
My head suffered a knock against the shower tap on Monday, and caused a 'bah luku' within minutes. Hubby rushed back from office to bring me to the doctor. The doc asked whether I would like to go to A&E instead, but later on decided to let me observe for 2 days since I could still talk coherently. On the second day, I was still feeling giddy (perhaps due to fatigue accumulated over the past weeks). So, hubby took me to see our usual GP. She prescribed a gel to be applied on the swell and she mentioned that if I left it alone, the bump might become a permanent one.
His First Words?
On one of those days when I fetched Ian home without hubby's help, Ian was getting cranky at my mom's place while I was still having my dinner. He started yelling and to our surprise, he said "回家" (go home)! It might have been a coincidence that he babbled a sound like that, but my mom heard it too, and said that Ian was hurrying me to bring him home to sleep.
Ian, Ian, when will you call "Mummy"?
Anyway, Ian will be turning 8 months old this weekend. Time really flies... and here are the events in our family for the past 2 weeks.
Y for Yoghurt
The super baby food book recommends yoghurt for babies above 7 months old, hence, we bought a small tub for Ian to try. Although we do not like plain yoghurt at all, Ian finished the whole tub over a period of 4 days. Although he did not mind eating whatever amount that we gave him, he gave us a "yucks" expression for every mouthful of it.
C for Carrot
We bought a pack of organic carrots from NTUC to let Ian start on this nutritious vegetable. When I mentioned to his nanny to start giving him carrots, I was surprised to find out that she had already introduced carrots to Ian (without our knowledge). Anyway, we passed the whole bag of organic carrots to her so that she could add it into his diet. I was glad to know that she knew not to give it to Ian everyday.
Other new food that we have let Ian try are pear, Gerber canned peach puree and Frisocream wheat-based cereal. He loves the Frisocream the most. I let him try another slice of papaya, mixed into the Frisocream cereal, and Ian accepted the taste this time round.
Cough, Cough
Ian suffered from a cough last week and there was an unmistakable hint of phlegm in his coughing sound. On Thursday, his nanny said that when he wanted to cry, no voice came out of his mouth. She suspected that he was having a sore throat and blamed it on the brown rice powder that I had prepared (since I fried-dry the grains before milling). Anyway, we took leave on Friday to bring Ian to see a PD.
Seeing a PD was not an easy task either. Ian's fave Dr Ong was on a long vacation unfortunately, and we had to visit the AMK branch. We went around noon but the clinic was packed. The nurse almost 'warned' us that they had already rejected some walk-in patients, and she would not be fair if she were to let us in. Anyway, she squeezed us into an evening slot.
Since we still had the whole afternoon to waste, we decided to try another PD at Sembawang Kidslink. It was a good decision. The female PD was very friendly, detailed and she answered many of our questions without the usual 'rush' which we had experienced with other doctors. She gave 2 bottles of syrup medication to treat Ian's cough and phlegm. And thank God, Ian recovered by Tuesday.
He Is A Little Creeper and Cruiser
Ian is officially crawling on all fours now, and is getting adept at it. Or rather, this type of movement is more aptly called "creeping" in cross-pattern, according to the GD book.
He can also stand up without our help by 'scaling' the walls like a lizard. Just this morning, we found him standing in his playpen. Somehow, he has managed to 'scale' the walls of the playpen, reach the top edge and pull himself up. He has also began to cruise around the edge of his playpen. With his new found skills, Ian must be enjoying the new views now.
Tough Luck for the Mommy
My head suffered a knock against the shower tap on Monday, and caused a 'bah luku' within minutes. Hubby rushed back from office to bring me to the doctor. The doc asked whether I would like to go to A&E instead, but later on decided to let me observe for 2 days since I could still talk coherently. On the second day, I was still feeling giddy (perhaps due to fatigue accumulated over the past weeks). So, hubby took me to see our usual GP. She prescribed a gel to be applied on the swell and she mentioned that if I left it alone, the bump might become a permanent one.
His First Words?
On one of those days when I fetched Ian home without hubby's help, Ian was getting cranky at my mom's place while I was still having my dinner. He started yelling and to our surprise, he said "回家" (go home)! It might have been a coincidence that he babbled a sound like that, but my mom heard it too, and said that Ian was hurrying me to bring him home to sleep.
Ian, Ian, when will you call "Mummy"?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
An Orangey Day
Ian got to taste papaya for the first time today, courtesy of my mom. We blended it with milk and added cereal to make it thicker. However, we were not sure whether Ian was not hungry enough, or he just did not like it. It was tedious to feed him this, and he simply refused to eat any more after finishing half a bowl.
While hubby took over the feeding, I quickly made the pumpkin baby cubes. We bought half a pumpkin from NTUC last weekend, and since Ian is not likely to finish all of it within this week, we decided to make baby cubes out of about 2/3 of it. The remaining will go to his nanny so that she can cook it for him during the day.
While hubby took over the feeding, I quickly made the pumpkin baby cubes. We bought half a pumpkin from NTUC last weekend, and since Ian is not likely to finish all of it within this week, we decided to make baby cubes out of about 2/3 of it. The remaining will go to his nanny so that she can cook it for him during the day.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Food for Ian at 7 Month 1 Week
At month 7 week 1, we introduced 3 types of commercial food:
Although we are trying hard to feed fresh food to Ian, we have succumbed to a baby jar - prunes. We are not sure how to prepare a 'fresh' prune puree, and hence figured that it was better just to get a jar.
Gerber Prune puree with the HB cereal
As Ian is not fond of drinking plain water, we took the suggestion from the forum to give fruit juice and then, slowly dilute it with water to get the baby to get use to the taste. However, Ian does not appear to like the juice either. We mixed some into his avocado milkshake, and the remainder went to Hubby's tummy.
Heinz apple juice
To prepare, cut a slice of the tofu, steam it for 10mins and blend. Although the book says that it is OK to eat it as it is, but we prefer to steam it first to kill any germs. Keep the remainder in a tub of water, in the fridge, for up to 1 week. The water has to be changed daily.
Since tofu is a rather bland food, we mixed in the jarred prune puree and the usual HB brown rice cereal. It does not look appealing to me, but Ian enjoyed every mouth of it.
To this date, Ian has tried the following food:
- Baby jarred prune
- Canned apple juice
- Organic tofu
Although we are trying hard to feed fresh food to Ian, we have succumbed to a baby jar - prunes. We are not sure how to prepare a 'fresh' prune puree, and hence figured that it was better just to get a jar.
Gerber Prune puree with the HB cerealAs Ian is not fond of drinking plain water, we took the suggestion from the forum to give fruit juice and then, slowly dilute it with water to get the baby to get use to the taste. However, Ian does not appear to like the juice either. We mixed some into his avocado milkshake, and the remainder went to Hubby's tummy.
Heinz apple juiceTofu is a high protein food and is supposedly good for baby from 7 months onwards. Hence, we decided to introduce tofu for the week. We compared the normal tofu with the organic one. All the normal ones contain 2 ingredients (calcium sulphate being one of them) as coagulant, whereas the organic version contains a 'natural' coagulant. It costs double of a normal one, but we decided to give a more 'natural' food to our baby.
To prepare, cut a slice of the tofu, steam it for 10mins and blend. Although the book says that it is OK to eat it as it is, but we prefer to steam it first to kill any germs. Keep the remainder in a tub of water, in the fridge, for up to 1 week. The water has to be changed daily.
Since tofu is a rather bland food, we mixed in the jarred prune puree and the usual HB brown rice cereal. It does not look appealing to me, but Ian enjoyed every mouth of it.To this date, Ian has tried the following food:
- Frisocream rice cereal
- Happybellies brown rice cereal
- Happybellies oatmeal cereal
- Healthy Times oatmeal cereal
- Healthy Times barley cereal
- Plain rice porridge
- Organic brown rice porridge
- Organic banana
- Japanese sweet potato
- Apple
- Avocado
- Mango
- Organic pumpkin
- Gerber prune puree
- Heinz apple juice
- Whitebaits (still have to test for allergy as some rashes appeared after his nanny fed him)
- Tofu
- A sip of herbal soup with wolfberries and ginseng (fed by my mom while I was not looking!)
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Ian Has A Table
Have been eyeing on this activity table for a while since there were many good reviews in Amazon. While shopping at Toyrus today, we saw it on sale, for $69.xx. It is quite a good bargain - Metro was selling it at $80+ after their storewide 20% discount, and it was not much cheaper to ship in from Amazon.
Surprisingly, Toyrus has 2 versions of this toy. The one with a handle - also seen in Metro - was actually the 2007 version. Although the 2008 version does not come with the 3 AA batteries, we chose it because we thought that there might be some improvements?
While hubby was fixing up the table, Ian watched him eagerly. Finally, he got to play...
Unfortunately, after the legs were attached, we could not detach it again. :(
Surprisingly, Toyrus has 2 versions of this toy. The one with a handle - also seen in Metro - was actually the 2007 version. Although the 2008 version does not come with the 3 AA batteries, we chose it because we thought that there might be some improvements?
While hubby was fixing up the table, Ian watched him eagerly. Finally, he got to play...
Unfortunately, after the legs were attached, we could not detach it again. :(
Thursday, November 6, 2008
The Ultimate Bib
As usual, I was "window shopping" at Amazon for waterproof bibs, in anticipation for the day when Ian will start to self-feed. I was almost set on buying the Bjorn bib, when I chanced upon the Crumb Chum bib.
It is soft (unlike the Elmo one that Ian already has) and waterproof. However, the best thing of it all is that the coverage is from neck to toe! It also has a small pocket at the waist to catch all the food bits. Unfortunately, the designs for toddler size are limited, so I chose the cloudy design.
The ultimate bib for Ian!
Cost: S$19
Ian donning his new bib
I think Ian does not like his Elmo bib because once we put it on him, he will try to pull it off. We tried the new bib on Ian and he seemed better adjusted to it. Hopefully, this will serve its purpose well, that is to keep his clothes - as well as the chair - cleaner.
It is soft (unlike the Elmo one that Ian already has) and waterproof. However, the best thing of it all is that the coverage is from neck to toe! It also has a small pocket at the waist to catch all the food bits. Unfortunately, the designs for toddler size are limited, so I chose the cloudy design.
The ultimate bib for Ian!
Cost: S$19
Ian donning his new bibI think Ian does not like his Elmo bib because once we put it on him, he will try to pull it off. We tried the new bib on Ian and he seemed better adjusted to it. Hopefully, this will serve its purpose well, that is to keep his clothes - as well as the chair - cleaner.
A Pumpkin For Halloween
Last Saturday, we had wanted to buy a slice of organic pumpkin from NTUC Xtra, but we could not find it on the shelves. Probably, all the pumpkins were sold out due to Halloween on the previous day?
On the way home, we dropped by the organic store nearby our place to get the pumpkin. The lady told us that the slice could be kept inside the fridge for about 5 days.
On Sunday, we cut about 1/3 of the pumpkin, steamed and blended with some water. It smelt pretty good.
Since this is the first time that Ian was eating pumpkin, I added the familiar Happybellies brown rice cereal into the puree as usual. Ian enjoyed the pumpkin cereal thoroughly!
On the way home, we dropped by the organic store nearby our place to get the pumpkin. The lady told us that the slice could be kept inside the fridge for about 5 days.
On Sunday, we cut about 1/3 of the pumpkin, steamed and blended with some water. It smelt pretty good.
Since this is the first time that Ian was eating pumpkin, I added the familiar Happybellies brown rice cereal into the puree as usual. Ian enjoyed the pumpkin cereal thoroughly!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Ian On His Fours
Ian has been trying hard to crawl recently. Somehow, the edge of the mat or rather, the hard ceramic flooring outside his mat draws his attention particularly well. No matter where we put him within the boundaries of the mat, he will find his way to the edge and out.
Although he can rock on his knees now, but when he tries to move forward, he will slip down onto his tummy. He is mainly pulling himself forward with his arms muscles. Ian will have to figure out how to do a cross-crawling so as to move more efficiently.
Another new skill he has mastered is to roll onto his tummy, get on his knees, pull himself back and sit up on his own.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
At 7 Month Old...
This evening, hubby weighed Ian and himself, then deducted his own weight to get the magical figure "9.2". That is Ian's weight at 7 month 1 day.
During his 6th month assessment, he weighed 8.3kg. That means, he has gained 0.9kg during the past month. Just as we thought that his weight gain will slow down since he is hitting 10kg very soon, which is the average weight of 1 year old babies.
We have been trying very hard to finish up all the M sized diapers since Ian can hardly fit into them now. After giving away 1 pack of our overstocked Pampers, we just managed to finish the remainder this week (although we are still left with a couple more Mamy Pokos).
However, Ian has officially joined the league of L-sized diapers club.
During his 6th month assessment, he weighed 8.3kg. That means, he has gained 0.9kg during the past month. Just as we thought that his weight gain will slow down since he is hitting 10kg very soon, which is the average weight of 1 year old babies.
We have been trying very hard to finish up all the M sized diapers since Ian can hardly fit into them now. After giving away 1 pack of our overstocked Pampers, we just managed to finish the remainder this week (although we are still left with a couple more Mamy Pokos).
However, Ian has officially joined the league of L-sized diapers club.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
An Apple A Day, Keeps The Doctor Away
Since I took half-day leave today, I made apple puree for Ian to try.
Ingredient: Half of a Fuji apple
According to my "super" book, babies should not eat raw apples until 8 months old. Hence, I cut the apple into smaller chunks and steamed for 15mins in the steamer.
I have heard that apples turn brown after steaming, but surprisingly, mine did not. It was a beautiful colour when the steamer shut off. I blended the apple chunks, together with water collected in the steamer tray and some cooled water. However, there was too much water and it looked like a cloudy apple juice instead of an apple puree.
To make the apple juice more cereal-like, I added the Happybellies cereal into it. It did not smell very tasty.
To our pleasant surprise, Ian appeared to love this apple brown rice cereal. He eagerly gulped down to the last spoonful.
Ingredient: Half of a Fuji apple
According to my "super" book, babies should not eat raw apples until 8 months old. Hence, I cut the apple into smaller chunks and steamed for 15mins in the steamer.
I have heard that apples turn brown after steaming, but surprisingly, mine did not. It was a beautiful colour when the steamer shut off. I blended the apple chunks, together with water collected in the steamer tray and some cooled water. However, there was too much water and it looked like a cloudy apple juice instead of an apple puree.
To make the apple juice more cereal-like, I added the Happybellies cereal into it. It did not smell very tasty.
To our pleasant surprise, Ian appeared to love this apple brown rice cereal. He eagerly gulped down to the last spoonful.
Whitebaits For Porridge
Over the Deepavali holiday, I prepared the whitebaits that will be added into Ian's porridge soon. My mom sponsored the whitebaits, which is not as saltish as ikan bilis.
First, wash the whitebaits and put into a wok to fry, using low heat. No oil is required. Keep on stirring to prevent the whitebaits from sticking onto the wok. Fry until crispy and slightly yellow in colour.
Put the crispy whitebaits into the blender.
Blend until it is of a very fine powdery texture.
The volume of the powder is only about half of the original whitebaits. Next time round, I will blend in greater quantities!
First, wash the whitebaits and put into a wok to fry, using low heat. No oil is required. Keep on stirring to prevent the whitebaits from sticking onto the wok. Fry until crispy and slightly yellow in colour.
Put the crispy whitebaits into the blender.
Blend until it is of a very fine powdery texture.
The volume of the powder is only about half of the original whitebaits. Next time round, I will blend in greater quantities!
Teething Rusk
Yesterday evening, we gave this teething rusk to Ian to soothe his itchy gums since he was putting anything within his reach into his mouth. It was so hard that Ian refused to bite on it at first.
Another motive for giving this biscuit to him is to make him learn how to self-feed. However, he did not seem very interested to hold his own food. It ended up with hubby holding the biscuit stick into his mouth for him to chew on. He managed to bite off a chunk before starting to get cranky. We had to throw away more than 3/4 of it, but I think this kind of wastage is pretty normal with beginning eaters.
By the way, hubby cooked Ian's first plain rice porridge yesterday afternoon. He added a sweet potato cube into the porridge. After cooking for quite long, the porridge was still not smooth enough. Hence, we decided to use the glass blender to make it finer. Ian loves his Daddy's culinary skills, and finished every drop of the porridge!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
His 1st Porridge
Finally, Ian has had his first taste of porridge this morning. I used the Super Baby Food book as a reference and prepared as below.
We bought this bag of organic brown rice from an organic store. An ant was spotted inside when I was just about to open it.
I wanted to cook the porridge on Saturday morning, but it took too long "prepare" the rice grains.
After the grains were washed, I put them into the oven to dry at 60 degrees. It took almost 2hrs to completely dry the grains at this temperature. (By the first 30mins into this, Ian was already too hungry to wait, so I fed him cereal for the day.) I kept the washed and dried rice in an airtight container before going out.
After we reached home yesterday night, we used the brand new blender to grind the brown rice into fine powder. Within seconds, it was done.
The brown rice powder were kept in a Tupperware container, and into the fridge.
This morning, I cooked the brown rice porridge and mixed in a little of the Happybellies cereal and also the frozen sweet potato puree. With the rice in powder form, it was so much easier to cook into the required texture. I have to admit that this thing did not look very appealing.
Halfway into feeding, his cloth bib was getting quite dirty with the porridge waste. So we took out this vinyl bib that we bought quite recently. It is pretty good at keeping most of his clothes clean, but it would have been better if it is not so stiff.
Ian was not very keen on eating his porridge. I wonder whether it was because the porridge was too bland, or because he was not that hungry yet? Anyway, we gave up trying to make him eat when he was starting to yell. The bowl was still half-full by that time, but Ian did not eat half of the porridge, because he kept spitting out some of the food.
After we called it a day at attempting to make him eat his porridge, we used the Magmag cup to let him drink some water. He obviously liked to bite at the sprout and refused to let go when I wanted to take the cup to refill some water.
Although most of the water dripped out of his mouth because he was not swallowing, I am still glad that he is able to hold his own cup now.
We bought this bag of organic brown rice from an organic store. An ant was spotted inside when I was just about to open it.
I wanted to cook the porridge on Saturday morning, but it took too long "prepare" the rice grains.
After the grains were washed, I put them into the oven to dry at 60 degrees. It took almost 2hrs to completely dry the grains at this temperature. (By the first 30mins into this, Ian was already too hungry to wait, so I fed him cereal for the day.) I kept the washed and dried rice in an airtight container before going out.
After we reached home yesterday night, we used the brand new blender to grind the brown rice into fine powder. Within seconds, it was done.
The brown rice powder were kept in a Tupperware container, and into the fridge.
This morning, I cooked the brown rice porridge and mixed in a little of the Happybellies cereal and also the frozen sweet potato puree. With the rice in powder form, it was so much easier to cook into the required texture. I have to admit that this thing did not look very appealing.
Halfway into feeding, his cloth bib was getting quite dirty with the porridge waste. So we took out this vinyl bib that we bought quite recently. It is pretty good at keeping most of his clothes clean, but it would have been better if it is not so stiff.
Ian was not very keen on eating his porridge. I wonder whether it was because the porridge was too bland, or because he was not that hungry yet? Anyway, we gave up trying to make him eat when he was starting to yell. The bowl was still half-full by that time, but Ian did not eat half of the porridge, because he kept spitting out some of the food.
After we called it a day at attempting to make him eat his porridge, we used the Magmag cup to let him drink some water. He obviously liked to bite at the sprout and refused to let go when I wanted to take the cup to refill some water.
Although most of the water dripped out of his mouth because he was not swallowing, I am still glad that he is able to hold his own cup now.
His 1st Shoos
"Recommended by paediatricians as simply the best for little growing feet", quoted from the Shooshoos website.
We bought this pair of soft-soled shoes for Ian to wear when he is a bit older. We originally wanted to buy a pair that was on clearance from a BP, but it went out of stock. Hence, we reselected another pair and topped up another $10.
Cost: $29.60.
Weekend at the Malls
It was another Saturday, spent at the shopping malls. We had some Tangs vouchers and wanted to use them to buy a couple of Pigeon PES bottles, since the Dr Brown ones are going to be retired soon and we needed a few bottles for the diaper bag.
To our pleasant surprise, Tangs had 20% discount for all Pigeon products. Hence, we ended up with more than the PES bottles. We have also gotten Ian another MagMag sippy cup to be used at home. (Ian has been using a sippy cup with a hard sprout at home, and he is not taking well to it.) The PES bottles come with a M-sized teat which is for use from 3 months onwards, so we grabbed another set of L-sized teats, which are for 7 months onwards.
In the end, we only used up a (purple) $20 voucher because the brown vouchers were not accepted for promotional items. We paid the balance of $17+ with Hubby's rebate points, which meant that all the above items were $0.
On our way back via the basement floor, we passed by a booth that had some 'innovative' blender on display. I called it 'innovative' because I have not seen this type of blender before. With this, you pour your food into a cup, screw on the base with the blade, turn it upside-down and fix it onto the motor base. It will start automatically. One thing about this machine is that there is no button to control the speed, but I guess that is fine.
The blender comes with 2 types of blades - one for grinding dry food, and one for blender fluids. It also comes with 4 cups and 2 lids. What Hubby likes about this is that the blades are very low at the base unlike other brands of blenders, and it chops better.
The smaller box is for making soya bean milk. It has a filter that surrounds the blade, and you just simply pour out the milk and cook.
Cost price: $60+
Minus the $20 brown vouchers and Hubby's rebate points, balance to pay: $5
To our pleasant surprise, Tangs had 20% discount for all Pigeon products. Hence, we ended up with more than the PES bottles. We have also gotten Ian another MagMag sippy cup to be used at home. (Ian has been using a sippy cup with a hard sprout at home, and he is not taking well to it.) The PES bottles come with a M-sized teat which is for use from 3 months onwards, so we grabbed another set of L-sized teats, which are for 7 months onwards.
In the end, we only used up a (purple) $20 voucher because the brown vouchers were not accepted for promotional items. We paid the balance of $17+ with Hubby's rebate points, which meant that all the above items were $0.On our way back via the basement floor, we passed by a booth that had some 'innovative' blender on display. I called it 'innovative' because I have not seen this type of blender before. With this, you pour your food into a cup, screw on the base with the blade, turn it upside-down and fix it onto the motor base. It will start automatically. One thing about this machine is that there is no button to control the speed, but I guess that is fine.
The blender comes with 2 types of blades - one for grinding dry food, and one for blender fluids. It also comes with 4 cups and 2 lids. What Hubby likes about this is that the blades are very low at the base unlike other brands of blenders, and it chops better.
The smaller box is for making soya bean milk. It has a filter that surrounds the blade, and you just simply pour out the milk and cook.
Cost price: $60+
Minus the $20 brown vouchers and Hubby's rebate points, balance to pay: $5
Saturday, October 25, 2008
His Two Front Teeth
Yesterday, we noticed that the other lower, central incisor on his right side has become visible. The first teeth is becoming very noticeable.
Ian must be wondering when his lazy parents are going to start brushing his teeth? Hehe
Ian must be wondering when his lazy parents are going to start brushing his teeth? Hehe
Monday, October 20, 2008
Making An Avocado Puree
We served an avocado to Ian today - half in the morning, and half in the evening. After reading through the Super Baby Food book again, I think I have finally found a way to mash the avocado by hand, and getting a good consistency. (The last time we tried, there were too many lumps.)
First, the avocado must be ripe. I think the other time, it could still ripen a little more. This time round, it was soft all over.
Cut the avocado into half. Wrap up one half immediately (if it is not going to be eaten) using the cling wrap and store into the fridge. I did not coat it with any citrus juice and it was still fine in the evening - no browning at all.
Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh into a big, flat plate, spreading them out thinly. Then, use a fork to mash the avocado very finely, removing any fiber that is visible as it can be a choking hazard.
This is how it looks like after adding some milk (before stirring).
In the first feed, Ian did not appear to like the taste of avocado. We had to distract him in order to make him finish up this nutritious food. However, in the evening, Ian appeared to have taken to the taste and he happily ate up everything.
I am going to start buying this on a weekly basis!
First, the avocado must be ripe. I think the other time, it could still ripen a little more. This time round, it was soft all over.
Cut the avocado into half. Wrap up one half immediately (if it is not going to be eaten) using the cling wrap and store into the fridge. I did not coat it with any citrus juice and it was still fine in the evening - no browning at all.
Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh into a big, flat plate, spreading them out thinly. Then, use a fork to mash the avocado very finely, removing any fiber that is visible as it can be a choking hazard.
This is how it looks like after adding some milk (before stirring).
In the first feed, Ian did not appear to like the taste of avocado. We had to distract him in order to make him finish up this nutritious food. However, in the evening, Ian appeared to have taken to the taste and he happily ate up everything.
I am going to start buying this on a weekly basis!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Jump, Jump, Jump
This Jumperoo was purchased from the internet when Ian was barely 4 months old. When it just arrived, Ian's little feet could hardly touch the ground. He did not really appreciate this huge toy which his parents have bought for him after much contemplation.
However, as Ian grew and started to explore things with his hands, he found love with the spinning lizard rattle. He could spend a while there, just spinning the lizard. He loved the red parrot that hung over his head on the canopy and would stare at it.
Now he still loves the lizard rattle and will spin and spin and spin it. He still loves the parrot and will reach out to catch it. He has also found his love for other toys on the Jumperoo - those that can spin. Since he is now able to stand with both feet firmly touching the ground, he has discovered he can jump in it.
Finally, our 'investment' seems to have paid off - he enjoys being inside and has spent time exploring the toys and jumping around.
However, as Ian grew and started to explore things with his hands, he found love with the spinning lizard rattle. He could spend a while there, just spinning the lizard. He loved the red parrot that hung over his head on the canopy and would stare at it.
Now he still loves the lizard rattle and will spin and spin and spin it. He still loves the parrot and will reach out to catch it. He has also found his love for other toys on the Jumperoo - those that can spin. Since he is now able to stand with both feet firmly touching the ground, he has discovered he can jump in it.
Finally, our 'investment' seems to have paid off - he enjoys being inside and has spent time exploring the toys and jumping around.
Ian's First Teeth - Is Visible!
For the last few days, I have seen Ian's swollen gums due to the sprouting teeth. And as recently as yesterday night, all I saw was what appeared to be a blister on the gum.
However, today, I finally saw a thin white line just edging out of the gum, where the 'blister' appeared yesterday. His first teeth is the lower, central, right incisor. My guess is that, the next one to show up will be the left incisor just next to it.
However, today, I finally saw a thin white line just edging out of the gum, where the 'blister' appeared yesterday. His first teeth is the lower, central, right incisor. My guess is that, the next one to show up will be the left incisor just next to it.
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