on the miracle of life and the tenderness of being

Carrot cake for NY2012

2011-12-30T20:16:00.001+08:00

I was sitting on my couch reading when the smell of fresh orange juice wafted through the air, and strummed my cake nerves in advance. Hours later, the batches of carrot cake graced our dining table, ready to be dished out for our new years party with the kids tomorrow in the garden lounge.

Roasted crunchy walnuts disguised like rocks in an edible zen stone garden, or a pastry martian landscape, embedded gently onto zesty whips of orange flavored cream cheese.

Floor Christmas party bake

2011-12-19T19:41:00.001+08:00

This year, level 3 of BlK 84 Lakeholmz had a floor party, utilizing the common corridor shared by 4 units, 4 nationalities, coming together to have a nice Christmas gathering, over a fusion potluck feast.

Conceived with the intention of neighborliness, friendly warmth and festive feelings, it was a superb night everybody had.

Adeline baked a tasty chocolate cake with a nice homely cottage sitting on it. Extends the comfortable, fuzzy feeling of home out to the common corridor.

She also whipped up a multi- tierm tray of cup cakes, splashed with candied multi color sugariness embedded into dollops of nutella, altogether an all-star Christmassy topping over chocolate cupcake bases. Wow, whets my appetite just reminiscing on them as I write.

Special day

2011-12-16T09:11:00.001+08:00

Today is a special day.

Bryans 3

2011-12-16T09:07:00.001+08:00

Bryan celebrated his 3rd birthday in school this year on 10th November. The cake above is made by Ade. Underneath the colorful creamy exterior depiction of a child's dream, is the tastiest chocolate cake with Oreo cream layer filings.

Ade researched, planned, sweat, scrambled, whipped and crafted rehearsals for this cake months before this occasion. Here's another close up. Bryan loves Thomas the train, and this cake is it's backdrop.

From this you can tell that even at close range before you shovel a forkful into your impatient mouth, the intricate piping patterns make this cake such a thing of beauty. It cost maybe over $200 to buy a cake like this from a professional, but it is priceless if mummy made this.

Bryan, when you read this next time, go give mummy another hug for it.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2011-12-12T21:41:00.001+08:00

Adeline made a beautiful black forest cake for me and my dad for our birthday celebration. Usually, it does not matter if the cake tasted good or not, but it is the thought that counts. This cake however, was so good, i had a really special feeling eating it. My dad who is usually very careful about his diet went for second helpings. Decked a 3 storey pastry penthouse, sandwiching 2 layers of a mish mash of cream and fruit fillings, so good that one wouldn't know where to start eating the cake slice. Love you dear, for making the super cake.

Closure

2011-08-23T23:01:00.001+08:00

Today Ade and myself discovered that our unborn child's heartbeat had stopped at about 8.5 weeks. It is heartwrenching, but somehow with the experience of a blighted ovum before (refer to early posts) and the gift of our now only son, we feel comforted and prepared for this.

Nothing of course prepares anyone for a whisper of life so delicate yet to be snuffed out so quickly. I wouldn't say this was unexpected. At 6.5 weeks, we found that the amniotic sac was small compared to the yolk sac, and our gynae raised concerns on the health of this pregnancy.

Back then, despite clinical advice that it wouldn't do much, and reading several reports online that it does help, ade started drinking at least 1.5 times as much water as she normally would, averaging 14 glasses/day.

Just last Saturday, our scan at 8 weeks 2 days showed not just a small foetus, but a vaguely unclear form compared to what should have been. Amniotic fluid didn't restore to normal levels, but it looked to us to have improved a teeny bit. However, the strong sounding heartbeat gave us the false psychological affirmation that our little one could have been a fighter and pushed through Our gynae pointed to 3 factors that suggested the contrary.

1 - absolute size was small (at 8wks 2d should have been about 15mm instead of 11mm)
2 - rate of growth was slowing, suggesting eventual stop
3 - shape wasn't distinct as it should be, suggesting complications should baby have survived this phase.

All Life is precious. We are reminded once again, that we are all lucky survivors, and should treasure the one/ones that we already have.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

8weeks 2days

2011-08-17T07:19:00.001+08:00

This pregnancy, Ade has rolled into a good starting solid list of cravings already:-

Chicken satay
Swiss roll (must be polar ones without icing)
Indomee instant mee goreng

I managed 2 out of 3 so far!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

6 weeks 2 days

2011-08-14T15:13:00.001+08:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tummy at 4 weeks 2 days

2011-07-21T07:13:00.001+08:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..breathe ....... Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

2011-07-19T21:12:00.001+08:00

They say a picture says a thousand words, this picture above says everything that we felt this morning when we first saw it, indescribable even with a million words.

It's been a long enough wait, we were in fact numbed by the number of times our hearts sank by the arrival of the first signs of spotting, or worse still sometimes the slight delay of it.

Last night before we found out, we suddenly had an impulse to have durian, an unimaginable thing ever since we started controlling our diets. Maybe it was instinctively a pre celebration, this morning at 4.30I got woken by the stick waved in front of me, followed by 10 minutes of suppressed squeals,, in case we woke Bryan.

Cheers all, we begin a new chapter to the story of our family.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Marina bay sands staycation

2011-05-19T21:10:00.001+08:00

Bryan intercepted my welcome cocktail drink of pink guava juice, and drank like a seasoned champagne connoisseur. We bunked in at MBS to celebrate mummy's bday. On the following morning, we all soaked at the highly acclaimed infinity pool, but the novelty wore off before we even warmed up.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Farm visit

2011-05-19T21:05:00.001+08:00

This Vesak day, we went on a playdate to the bollywood veggies farm. It was a refreshing drive down lim Chu kang road, going past farmland which I didn't know still exist in Singapore. There was an air-conditioned cafe near the entrance where we had chilled fig tea and nasi lemak. The trip was nice and enlightening with a huge variety of tree types.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Mr Man at jp

2011-01-24T09:10:00.001+08:00

Bryan mimicked the mr man outfit with 2 pails.

Ever since Bryan saw the vivocity drummers, he had been asking me to show him the video I took of them every night, and this had been going on for coming half a year.

Yesterday, Bryan spotted a toy drum at kiddy palace Jurong point, and it was like love at first sight. After the purchase, I had to tear open the packaging and Bryan became 'Mr Man' as was the name he gave to the Vivo drummers, beating to the ambient Chinese new year songs for a good one hour, much to the envy of the other kids who saw him.

To us all, it may just be hitting away at a plastic noise making toy, but to little Bryan, he was a proud performer living out the dream he had always imagined himself to be one day, to be like Mr Man, marching down the mall alley, and one just had to notice how serious he was at his job to see that!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thank you Bryan for giving us a wonderful christmas

2010-12-28T19:16:00.001+08:00

Happy holidays and lots of festive cheer. Christmas has always been the time of the year I look forward to, because there are happy faces and loud laughter from the many gift exchanges. but this year, Bryan made me feel beyond that, he showed me pure happiness. How so? You may ask that he doesn't know the real meaning of Christmas, not that many who celebrate it really do, or what it stands for just yet - precisely that's what makes his happiness real pure. Perhaps it's the increase in the number of beautifully decorated Christmas trees around, or maybe it's the sudden opening of many presents on Christmas morning. I think it may be the many parties organized around Christmas, that he senses the festive spirit. With warm neighborly camp-overs, BBQs with friends, lunch and visiting with grandparents, and gift exchanges in school, Christmas landed right on bryans doorstep like sudden snow falling from the December sky. He embraced it naturally like how I wouldn't have expected it.

I don't know exactly what it is, but for the first time, Christmas felt extra special to me. I used to go to church or midnight mass, visit relatives every year and partake in that Christmas shopping build up to gift exchanges. This year, just seeing that happy Bryan face after a family hug did it for me.

Love u both.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Little drummer boy

2010-12-16T21:34:00.001+08:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Apple juicy apple sweet!

2010-12-01T19:43:00.001+08:00

We asked Bryan to draw an apple on his mini magnetic board and he came up with this!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bryan is 2!

2010-11-06T19:08:00.001+08:00

Ice cream cone cupcake surprise - the cone rim is welded with hazelnuttella and dark chocolate cereal balls. Underneath the upturned muffin is a treasure trove of candies - mixed M&Ms and japanese jelly chocolate beans. Topping it all is a swirl of nutella, sprinkles of rainbowrice and a marshmellow flower to soften up your guilt. Overall, this army of candies will obliterate all sweet tooths and chocolate cravings.

Ade and Aunty Rose woke up early this morning to make these for Bryan's party.

The party was littered with children jumping, somersaulting, rolling, hopping and smearing. The ceiling was strewn with multicolored balloons. All daddies were made to jump for their kids' favorite color. Bryan's excitement came from letting go of balloons. Daddy almost jumped off all the calories from the cakes.

You know when the little birthday boy is in a good happy mood when he produces moves like the above. Its as though his little body cannot contain all the multi directional excitement in the party, so he had to shake it off through his 4 limbs and that bobble head.

As if shaking it off isn't enough, as we had anticipated. This mini bouncy castle was a superb solution to burn off the rest of Bryan's happy energy. It was a blast, especially when he recently grew some serious jumping beans.

"fan fan! fan!! i want fan!" Bryan loves fans so much. Everytime we go to NTUC, he turns on all the fans on the shelf,and demands that all the ceiling fans be on. From 1km away, hes able to spot a tiny distant swirling object.

Mummy planned the fan cake project from months back, researching on the net, producing sketches with daddy, and a couple of drafts. We even used AUTOCAD to create a template for cutting the fan blades.

Chocolate sprinkles were from a special source, which we serendipitously got hold of during our anniversary celebration.

For this cake, mummy took leave and did a trial run. Days of shopping, testing, brainstorming, dry and wet rehearsals turned into the most beautiful three dimensional fan cake ever baked. Beautiful as it must be in Bryan's heart, as his favourite fan became a cake, and it was made by his dear mummy.

Balloon sculptor got really busy with challenging requests. He churned out tulips, hats, swords, barney, fan, heartshaped gifts, dogs and etc. The buffet catering was really delicious this time.

Celebrating our 4th year wedding anni(bryan gets involved)versary

2010-10-30T18:57:00.000+08:00

We got to the hard rock hotel at resorts world in the afternoon after picking Bryan up from half day childcare. Bryan was really excited. This trip was the second part of our wedding anniversary celebration, the adeline-surprise-luther leg.

At the concierge, we tried to leave our bags at the counter before proceeding for lunch, but Bryan got really protective over his school trolley bag. He was truly distressed when the nice aunty wanted to help him keep it.

Lunch was at chillis, super yummy indeed. The anticipation of going to our hotel room gave us a good appetite.

When we got to our room, Bryan got ballistic about the springy bed and chaise lounge. In his mind he must be thinking this was our new house.

In the evening, we got the night pass into universal studios. During the 45 minutes that we waited for the fireworks below to start, Bryan was super happy running around the waterfront stage.

Funny thing was that during the fireworks display, Bryan was afraid, but after that, he said he liked it. ahahahha. gungho bravo machoshit. Super cute.

That night we were tired and really happy.
Bryan changed into pyjamas and got ready for the usual night routine at a completely different place.

The next morning, we had a great family swim at the play pool, as seen from our room above. All in all, it was a beautiful anniversary.

Baking Green Tea and Chocolate Snow Skin Mooncakes

2010-08-29T09:33:00.000+08:00

The completed mooncakes from the top.

Bryan's godma Eileen came over to try making mooncakes with Ade yesterday morning. It was both their first tries. I brought Bryan to take refuge at his grandparent's, so that the ladies could whip up their snow storm.

The results are as shown i.e. delicately printed powderd little medallions of creamy paste made of three different flavours:-

Snow Skin Green tea and mango paste
Snow Skin Chocolate almond nips lotus paste
Snow Skin Green tea almond nips lotus paste

Fit for royal consumption. Excuse me while i go sink my teeth into one of them, before the little prince ravages them all.

Half view of mooncakes showing the chocolate and greentea variations.

Rochester buffet breakfast play

2010-08-10T07:47:00.000+08:00

It was a feat getting a nice big group out of their beds on early Sunday morning, as we all met at 7 Rochester for a morning toddler gathering. By 10am, all the individual families have arrived and were digging in the breakfast.

everyone was donned in red in the national day theme.

Behind the jar of apples lie the breakfast buffet counter, which laid out the food which could do with more improvement, like softer pancakes for example, and better hashbrown. However, the nice greenery and outdoor location made up for it slightly.

The playhouse was lovely. For a nominal fee, our feisty little children got their hands and bodies real busy in the clean and organized playroom, perfect for leaving mummy and daddy with a little solace for a greatly yearned together time without having to juggle a squirmy worm with breakfast sausages.

When time was up in the playroom (they charge by the half hour after the first hour), Bryan's expression above says it all on how much he wanted to get back inside.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

After a fun morning at Rochester

2010-08-08T13:43:00.000+08:00

Bryan is expending the rest of his almost boundless energy at hong kong cafe anchor point.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ketchup slurping monster

2010-08-04T07:53:00.000+08:00

Bryan newly discovered the joy of dips. At mos burger Jurong point, everything edible went into the ketchup tray first, including his fingers. After a while, mummy realizes that he ain't eating the French fry at all, but the sauce dish was starting to empty out.

We tried giving him a piece of bread to distract him, but it turns out the bread was like a better sponge.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bryans haircut

2010-08-04T07:47:00.000+08:00

Before haircut

After haircut!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Swimming with little friends - 24 July 2010

2010-08-04T07:28:00.000+08:00

We had a baby gathering with all his baby friends from the forum, and lunch time was a crazy jumparound in the kid pool, followed by a warm down session in the hot jacuzzi, in the rather cold Saturday weather.

The pot luck lunch function room not only had great food which all the daddys and mummys contributed to, but there were also baby slide, safari ball pool and the santa fe express train set for the kids to ride on.

The menu of the day included -

Ee Fu noodle
Ham, tuna & cheese sandwich
Fried bee hoon
Spinach quiche
Carrot cake
Chocolate brownies
Konyaku jelly
Lychee agar agar
Strawberries
Star puffs
Cheese cake
Baby juices
Soft drinks

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday morning read

2010-06-14T08:00:00.000+08:00

This weekend, a couple of mini miracles happened:-

1) he managed to pronounce 'ah-kong' finally, when all along he use to call his grandpa 'ah-tah'

2) he managed to count with us alternating from 1 to 10 by himself (daddy: one Bryan: two daddy: three Bryan:four......till ten). We were all so astonished because he only could count till 3 by himself previously.

3) he started completing the last word for each phrase for songs and rhymes that we often sing and recite for him.

Only now we truly realize how much is probably stored hidden in his brain vault, waiting to spring out, and also how important it is to keep stimulating your child even though there may be no immediate response because he is registering it!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Godma and yiyi comes to visit

2010-05-24T08:20:00.000+08:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bryan at his first Sunday school

2010-05-24T08:17:00.000+08:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Chug a chug a lug lug

2010-05-19T07:17:00.000+08:00

Now Bryan is an expert at pulling his trolley bag.

It's Bryan's second last week in Infantcare, in which he spent most of his life since he was 4mths old. In June, he will move into toddler school, where he will self feed, toilet train and mingle with the older kids.

Bryan has something for playing with the older children. In our estate, he has made many friends of all ages and race. Before he sleeps, he would call the names of his classmates and korkors that he knows. Most recently, he blurted out "Nan-Dee-nee" which referred to one of the teachers in school called nandini.

from my iPhone

Ex-cer-cise and un-Der-neath

2010-05-17T20:07:00.000+08:00

Bryan started spurting 3 syllabic words this weekend, and he learnt how to smile like in the pic below when asked to. The pic below was taken at kopi tiam raffles city, mr photogenic was happy about eating portions of mummy's birthday lunch.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Poopn' news

2010-05-12T07:51:00.001+08:00

Just this weekend, we took our chance and bought a child toilet seat. When Bryan starts to get the urge to poo, he will suddenly stop in his tracks, or his face will turn red, and when he finishes, he will say 'ng ngg' whilst pointing to his diapers with both his index fingers.

We managed to spot a red face incident just along the corridor outside our toilet and immediately brought him onto the toilet seat. To our pleasant surprise, he held the side bars if the plastic child seat mounted on the w.c. And let his virgin squeeze of poop fall into echoey waters. Nothing sounded more like music to our ears at that time. Too bad for us, and luckily for you all, we didn't manage to get a picture of the end result.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bryan goes to school

2010-05-12T07:46:00.001+08:00

It was a good move by mummy, to give Bryan a trolley bag, he loves it, and we love the weightlessness too. In the picture above, Bryan wears his new cap which he refuses to remove, and walks to school with mummy early in the morning in Jurong point.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bryan is 1 and a half tomorrow!

2010-05-09T20:59:00.000+08:00

Bryan loves hangers. Before we went to church morning, i took the shirt off the wardrobe, and he went 'angh ner!! angh ner!!!' We had a great day at St andrews cathedral this morning. He was very attentive, to the voluminous interior of the beautiful building. When he started blabbering a bit, mummy said 'sssshhh', and he gave a cheeky smile and said 'ssssh' back. That got me laughing almost aloud during service.

From left to right: Madeleine Jie Jie, Sean 'tar tar (which is his pronounciation for kor kor)', and Candace Jie Jie, and Bryan, the kid gang of blk 84.

It was a real fun time for Bryan when the wonderful neighbors came to play with him. He was so happy, running up and down the corridor, trying to command everyone to sit and stand, to which they nicely obliged. Soon everyone was playing Simon says, clapping hands, marching, sitting, standing. We think he will have a real party when he moves over to the toddler division.

Candace and Madeleine comes to play with Bryan

2010-05-08T08:54:00.000+08:00

2010-05-04T09:20:00.001+08:00

Bryan sees mummy off to work for the first time. He wailed when we left mummy at work.

The brave kid that he is, Bryan sprang back in action straight after injection.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Vivocity splash time.

2010-05-03T07:59:00.001+08:00

It was such a hot day outside the mall, but we came prepared to vivo yesterday for his water play. Bryan was cautious as usual in the initial 5 minutes but when he got comfortable, he managed to have a real ball of a time. Running from one end of the water feature to the other, challenging older children to their water spots, he was really at home. We all had one really awesome unforgettable day.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bryan at uncle dinz and aunt ivy's

2010-04-20T08:06:00.001+08:00

We visited fernando's and ivy's place last Sunday and Bryan took about 10 min of warming up before he ran the place like a cowboy in a rodeo. He got so fascinated with a mop that was hanging from outside the window that he kept asking to look at it. So here's a tribute to the mop, we call her Janet.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2010-04-10T10:35:00.002+08:00

Bryan glancing out at the rainy day scene, wishing he could be at the pool below just like last week.
Bryan's baby features gives way to new boyish proportions. Today is his 17th month.

Bryan's saturday morning artwork

2010-04-10T08:37:00.003+08:00

Bryan loves to color with his new crayola crayons. He'd take two colors in both hands and create bold sweeping dashes, or drums little dots on the sketch book. Watch out this space soon for his artwork!

2010-04-04T08:52:00.003+08:00

These little gems overflowing with irresistable flowy creaminess of D24 durians are no bigger than your pop-in-the-mouth, bite-sized ferrero rocher. These little pastry devils are so potently delicious that one is enough to satisfy your durian craving for a long while. *sucks thumb dry*

Bryan freshens up with a crisp haircut

2010-04-04T08:46:00.004+08:00

Bryan had his 3rd haircut and boy is he growing fast, so fast that his shirts look like slim fit.

Grandad tickles Bryan

2010-03-21T16:37:00.002+08:00

Bryan on his train ride

2010-03-21T16:29:00.003+08:00

He was a natural at it. The moment it railed, he was riding it like a pro.

Bryan starts tekaning the cats

2010-02-15T11:29:00.003+08:00

Oh no caught in the act.

Squishy fats time

bryan goes swimming

2010-02-15T11:14:00.001+08:00

Spit happens

2010-01-17T10:28:00.001+08:00

Chicken, Mushroom & Pumpkin Rice

2010-01-10T19:13:00.005+08:00

Servings - 4 person (2 helpings each)

Ingredients

3 Cups of Rice (rinsed and soaked for 20mins)

1/2 Pumpkin, cut into cubes

2 pkts Chicken Fillets (cut into small cubes)

5 - 8 Fresh / Dried Shitake Mushrooms **

25g Dried Prawns (pre-soaked for 15mins. keep the water for cooking later)

1 Small Onion(finely minced)

2 tsps Fried Shallots

1 tsp Sugar

Oil for stir-frying

Water / Chicken Stock for cooking the rice

Spring Onions & Fried Shallots (for garnishing)

Marinate for chicken
1 tbsp Light Soya Sauce
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Sesame Oil
3 tsps Corn Flour

Seasoning for rice
2 tbsps Light Soya Sauce
3 tsps Dark Soya Sauce
1 tsp Salt
2 tsps Oyster Sauce
Dash of Sesame Oil & Pepper

Methods:

Marinate the chicken pieces for at least 30mins. Sealed with cling wrap and keep in the fridge.

Fry onions until golden brown, add 1 tsp of dried shallots and continue to fry for 1 min.

Add dried shrimps and fry until fragrant. Add Mushrooms and 1 tsp of sugar and fry for a while.

Push the dried shimps and mushrooms to the side of the wok. Add chicken and fry until the chicken is half cook (pale white colour)

Add pumpkin and continue to stir-fry for 1 min. Add a little oil if the mixture look dry.

Add pre-soaked rice, 1 tsp of fried shallots and the seasonings. Stir until the mixture are well mixed.

Transfer all the mixture into the rice cooker. Add 1 cup of the mushroomwater plus 4-5cups of water/chicken stock.

Cover and press cook.

Serve hot sprinkled with spring onions and more fried shallots.

** Notes

You can either use fresh of dried mushroom. For fresh mushrooms, wash with running water and cut into small pieces.
If you're going to serve the rice to toddlers under 2 yrs old, omit the dried shrimps & oyster sauce.

14 months

2010-01-10T16:51:00.002+08:00

Shooting star #49

2010-01-09T22:42:00.003+08:00

Its been about 10 years that i last saw a shooting star and tonight i saw one. Its number 49. Yes i was an astronomy freak then.

After a long and tiring jog in the nice january weather, i took a slow walk back. When i reached the lobby downstairs, i just happened to look up and it was a really clear sky. So i took a moment to recall what those stars were. Ursa Major the big dog, Sirius its key star, and thought of Sirius B the white dwarf which circles it, and cannot be seen, but i know is there. Then i glanced west and saw Orion, Betelgeuse and Rigel being its brightest stars and Orion's belt, where the nebula is, birth place of billions of stars. Ok.. getting carried away...

Anyway, i just thought that now i have a little boy to teach about the constellations, where to pick out the galaxies, where are the star clusters, how to spot a nebula. It was also then that i realized while looking at the interstellar heavens that i've long stopped pondering about bigger things, like how the earth was made, history of man, mankind, nature, blah blah, that i'd have to start looking again, spend nice long nights telling Bryan about everything under the sky. Think about things bigger than the everyday that seems to make time pass so fast. Suddenly, a meteor flashed past, and i quickly made my wish, and it was for Bryan. Shooting star #49 is dedicated to him.

2010-01-09T21:11:00.001+08:00

Wheres the baby in Bryan gone to??! Cheeky boy he is now.

2009-12-26T11:38:00.002+08:00

Bryan walks

2009-12-19T19:11:00.005+08:00

Bryan busy at infantcare

2009-12-01T12:27:00.001+08:00

Our little dude has been extremely busy at infant care, ploughing through all the toys in every corner, not leaving a single building block unturned. The trackers got it easy because a visible trail of shiny saliva serves like a visual map of his foraging path.

2009-11-27T11:41:00.003+08:00

So proud of our boy. Haven't learnt how to walk but trying to dance already. Yeah! Literally! Check it out. Ahahahahhaha. The sequence goes. Crawl - stand - dance - walk. Which toddler guide tells you that!

Yesterday morning he doesnt know how to stand from a crawling position yet, but when he discovered this new mode, he looked like a boy who just got his new bike. He kept wanting to try it out!

Baking a special birthday cake

2009-11-27T10:44:00.006+08:00

I have to document this very special moment when Candace our neighbor, who is also Bryans can can jie jie came over to bake with Adeline. Seems like baking is contagious!

Walking in and out of the room, i was constantly being greeted with a scene of 2 girls whizzing around the dining table in a dance of baking stupor. Smeared streaks of chocolate and dashes of whipped cream donned like accidental warpaint looked the part of this baking war dance. At the end of it all, we have a beautiful fortress of chocolate rolled walls guarding the precious layout of its fruity inhabitants.

Well done Candace, we are really proud that you are able to create such a beautiful cake for your mum's birthday, and well done darling for the beginning of your baking discipleship program... or is it!

*******************************

Thanks Candace!

2009-11-14T12:03:00.002+08:00

Bryan's right - Grand Aunt Lin, Left - Madeleine, Top - Candace

We'd like to mention a special thank you to our dearest neighbour Candace. She documented the whole birthday party with hundreds of pictures of the event, including videos of the most memorable cake cutting which we did not even have. Thanks for that sweet thought.The photos and videos were composed into a DVD which we are watching over and over again.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bryan's first birthday celebration

2009-11-13T21:03:00.007+08:00

Bryan loves balls. His first clear word was 'ball', so for his birthday, mummy decided to rent a ball pool for Bryan, and it was really magic, because Bryan went in like a fish released into the lake. It was great fun to see all the kids jump into the ball pool with Bryan, nice and dry.
If you have been following this blog from the beginning, Mummy's passion for baking started during pregnancy. What began as a passtime to deal with the rigors of pregnancy grew into a love for making cakes. The idea of baking our son's first birthday cake started as a dream and it culminated in an almost disney theatrical explosion of colors; the cake looked as spectacular as it tasted. Mummy surpassed herself in doing up every single bumblebee, kneading in every inch of fondant with a red consistent color, baking lots of trials to achieve just the right beautiful finish as we all were treated to that day. That must be the most awesome birthday cake i've ever seen in my life, and it belonged to our son, made by you dear. Thanks for that.

Thank you also to all the babies who came with their mummies and daddies to make Bryan's birthday a truly fun one. It was great. The atmosphere was one of happy toddlers laughing and soaking in the kiddy revelry, which i feel is the best way to make your baby most comfortable. It sure beats having a crowd of daddy's and mummy's remotest relatives and friends choking the room with unfamiliarity, which would surely result in baby being uncomfortable too. Once again, great foresight on that mummy.

Thanks everyone for coming to share this day with us, and making him the happiest kid in the block on that day.

Heres a behind the scenes peek of Bryan swimming in his bounty of presents.

Bryans Birthday Cake preview 2 - 'my arms are aching'

2009-10-31T16:51:00.001+08:00

Bumblebee cupcakes ----- COMING SOON on bryans birthday

2009-10-25T20:49:00.001+08:00

2009-10-25T17:38:00.002+08:00

Bryan the footballer

2009-10-25T13:21:00.001+08:00

Mummy excels in Bryan's first birthday cake rehearsal

2009-10-25T11:45:00.004+08:00

Bryan's babyu photo frolick - series 4 (family shots)

2009-09-20T10:37:00.005+08:00

Bryan's babyu photo frolick - series 3

2009-09-20T10:33:00.004+08:00

Bryan's babyu photo frolick - series 2 (christmas)

2009-09-20T10:20:00.006+08:00

Bryan's babyu photo frolick - series 1

2009-09-20T10:04:00.006+08:00

Bryan's first haircut

2009-09-01T16:45:00.003+08:00

HEY!!!! finally im able to upload stuff.. i've been trying almost everyday to get the image uploading working in blogger.

Its been exasperating because I feel a sense of responsibility towards tracking bryan's growth on the blog, ever since he was conceived... i don't know its like a personal online diary for him, which conveniently we can reflect on and he can enjoy when he is able to next time.

That day we brought Bryan for his first haircut, it felt really strange. Bryan had a head of hair which was untouched since birth. His hair dropped once, abuot 4-5 months, and then grew again, so cutting it was like altering his natural state, the virgin pure entity left unmodified since birth, the honda civic that was manufactured from the orignal factory before you add the Ah Beng lights and spoilers. I know, its just a hair cut, but i never knew cutting your baby's hair for the first time can feel that way. Ahahahaha Daddy is bonkers.

Smiley fuzzball

2009-08-31T21:37:00.000+08:00

Sit crawl climb

2009-08-28T21:17:00.001+08:00

Its been almost a month since the last post, marks how busy we are OBSERVING and GETTING INVOLVED with Bryan's growth that we forgot to DOCUMENT it. Tsk tsk tsk. How can.

"eh mum & dad!!! how come theres this 1 mth gap here, what happened to me, too shameful to write ah"

to which ....

"you were climbing all over the house little bugger, how to type with 4 limbs full"

But anyhow, sporadically i've been trying to upload some pretty cheerful pictures and videos but blogger hasn't been functioning that well, the videos get jammed, the upload photo button doesnt open the upload box, its been frustrating, so i just decided to write here to update.

Also like to thank Aunty Lin who was here the past week (and not to mention ever since) to help with looking after Bryan during the crazy week, and Dad and Mum who have been tirelessly fetching Bryan to and from infantcare almost everyday. Yeah this little darling needs a team of at least 5 to shepherd him into his cot for a nap.

Bryan at infant care

2009-08-01T02:03:00.003+08:00

Twins!!..... BIGAMY!!!!!! no lah, just a neat panoramic trick. Ade and Bryan at two different parts of the infant care. Thats our routine in the morning. Wake up at 5am/6am, feed, bathe, dress, leave house by 6.45, Granddad comes and fetches us all to infant care.

banana puff face

2009-08-01T01:50:00.006+08:00

Bryan now eats at the dinner table with us. But he has his moods, sometimes he finishes his food without fuss, sometimes he smears his face with his fingers dipped in apple sauce. Its really fun introducing new flavours and textures to the little dude, everytime you try something new, like set him on something tangy, and suddenly change it to sweet, his face scrunges up like hes thinking "what the heck, did my pear/apple mix turn bad?? echhhh eckkkkk!!!" Its really funny, sometimes i feel like suddenly changing flavours just to see that face.

New found powers.

2009-07-27T08:33:00.001+08:00

Bryan gains the power of Cognition, and Daddy and mummy learns the importance of power naps.

Wah lau, i tell you, this fella is getting really frisky. sometimes we can only fondly miss his recent angelic behavior when he sleeps. Ok lah, not so bad. Its been a ball, we are loving it. This little man has been running all over the house on his walker screaming and chasing the poor cats. Only this weekend, Bryan just learned how to crawl, and so putting on his diapers and clothes after baths feels like running on a treadmill at top speed, except that you are the treadmill. Thank God for pull-up pants.

Alls not that bad, some of his new found skills do help us out a bit, especially his auto rocking kung fu kicks (see vid below). The way he clenches his fists looks like Xiao Ding Dang concentrating to take a shit and kicking to maintain the steady rocking momentum. When that happens, daddy and mummy can find a bit of time to take a bite, take a bath, take everything all within 2mins before Bryan realizes hes entertaining no one.

Bryan's 2nd swim

2009-07-07T20:55:00.007+08:00

Bryan chuckles like nobody's business

2009-07-04T10:24:00.001+08:00

Bryan sitting at the dinner table with us at thai express for the first time

2009-07-04T10:16:00.003+08:00

Bryan's first 2 teeth just emerged. Its so nice and pure. Like little white corals growing out in the virgin ocean.

Yummy Lentil

2009-06-28T22:23:00.002+08:00

1 Medium White Onions, finely cubed
2 Medium Carrots, peeled & cut into small pieces
4 stalks Celery, cut into small pieces
60g Red Lentils
250g Pumpkin or 2 medium potatoes
500ml Vegetable stock or chicken stock
1 tbsp Vegetable oil

Method

Briefly sauté onions, carrots & celery in vegetable oil for about 5mins or until the vegetables are softened.
Add the lentils and sweet potatoes/potatoes and fry for about 2mins.
Pour in the vegetable stock/chicken stock.
Cover the pot & bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer for about 30mins, stirring occasionally.
Once the lentils and vegetables are tender, you can take it off the stove to cool.
Once lentils are cooled, puree & serve immediately or freeze.

Tips
· I read that lentils can be hard to digest so it is best serve during lunch.
· Do wash the lentils prior to cooking as it can be quite dirty (dusty)
· You can also use other vegetables such as sweet potatoes, parsnip instead of pumpkin.

Bryan goes swimming at the jacuzzi!

2009-06-28T11:18:00.010+08:00

More Chicken Delights :)

2009-06-28T00:07:00.003+08:00

1/2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
60g Leeks, washed & chopped
180g Minced Chicken
180g Carrots, peeled & chopped
60g Frozen Peas
250ml Vegetables Stock / Chicken Stock

Method

Heat oil in the frying pan and stir fry the leeks for about 2-3mins.
Add minced chicken and saute for about another 2-3mins.
Add carrots & pour veg. stock/chicken stock, then bring to the boil. Lower heat and cover with lid to simmer for about 20mins.
Add peas and continue to cook (uncovered) for another 5mins. Save the cooking liquid.
Puree the content and add the balance cooking liquid to achieve the appropriate consistency.

Versatile Vegetable Stock

2009-06-22T21:22:00.005+08:00

The stock can be stored in air tight containers for up to about
2 months in the freezer.

1 Large yellow onion – cut into quarters
2 Medium carrots – washed, peeled & cut into small pieces
2 Ears of Sweet Corn – Chop into small segments
5 stalks Celery, washed trimmed and cut into small pieces
½ cut Chinese Cabbage (Wongbok)
3 Litres Water

Methods

1. Thoroughly wash all the vegetables.
2. Peel the onions, carrots and remove the husk/silk from the sweet corn.
3. Bring the water to the boil and add all the chopped vegetables. Cover the pot.
4. When it starts to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 -2.5 hours.
5. Once the stock is done, strain the stock and allow to cool before storing.

Notes:

I use small glass containers (lock n lock series) to store the stock. Each container is approx. 220ml.
My suggestion is to store the stock in 2 types of containers. One around 220ml for mixing into cereal etc and the other in 500ml for cooking porridge etc.
I used this stock to mix into the plain rice cereal and my son loves it J The stock can be used to cook baby porridge to give it a better flavour. Enjoy!

Bryan having rice cereal with carrot

2009-06-22T20:47:00.002+08:00

Heres bryan having his rice cereal mixed with carrot during lunch. Mummy is trying real hard not to stuff the spoon up his nose as she aims for Bryan's mouth. He is so easily distracted by our meow meow jie jie. hahahaha

Fathers day 2009

2009-06-21T21:00:00.006+08:00

Bryan loves his rusk biscuit. His face shows a lot of satisfaction from slowly wearing away the hardness of his food with his gooey saliva, till his hands, mouth and nose are all smothered with crumbly ruskiness. But.... it got so slippery it dropped on the floor.. thus the following face.....

aaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwww........1 second after Bryan let slip his gooey Rusk biscuit, he looked down at the floor in sudden shock and disappointment.... after which followed a pitiful whine. At this point daddy goes "hahahahaha, there goes your biscuit, there goes your biscuit, time to clean the messiness. lalalalla" So bad one hor.

Mummy's present for us. The same T-shirts! its the sweetest thing to be wearing the same T as my son. Awesome mummy! Incidentally, grandad wore the same color scheme as well. Color coordinated family chain.
Heres Bryan who pespires so easily all the time, so i plastered his hair to his head for this pic.

Daddy and son lazing on the playmat on sunday afternoon. After a while daddy becomes bryan's gigantic bolster.

Vegetables & Brown Rice

2009-06-21T15:48:00.004+08:00

For 7 months old

1 cup Broccoli florets, washed and discard yellow bits.
1 Medium Carrot - washed, peeled and diced
2 cups Vegetable stock or water
1/3 cup Organic Brown Rice, grind to a finer grains.

Methods

In a saucepan, add 2cups of either vegetable stock or water and boil the carrot & broccoli for about 10-15mins. Simmer with the lid on to prevent evaporation of stock.
Once the vegetables are tender, use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables. Save the stock.
Pour the organic brown rice into the saved stock and cook to a boil. Stir once and reduce heat.
Cover the saucepan and simmer for about 50mins. Once done, remove from heat and let it stand for 10mins. Save the stock again.
Use a hand held blender or food processor, puree rice & vegetables. Add a tablespoon of left over stock at a time to achieve the desired consistency. If you find that the puree is still too thick, you can add more stock.
Pour the puree into the baby cubes or ice cube trays and freeze.

Notes:
· I pack each baby cube with approx. 60ml of puree for convenience.
· You may double the potion to achieve more.
. I find that it is a lot easier to cook when the rice grains are grinded.

Beefy Mash

2009-06-21T15:46:00.003+08:00

For 7 months old

1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 small Onion
2 Large Tomato, diced
1 Medium Carrot, washed, peeled and diced
1 Clove of Garlic, mashed
150g Minced Lean Beef
2 Medium Potatoes, washed peeled & diced
1/2 cup Frozen Peas
1/4 cup Vegetable stock /water

Methods

In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and sauté onion until fragrant and translucent. (about 5 mins)
Stir in tomatoes, carrot, peas and garlic. Continue to sauté for another 5 mins.
Add minced beef and stock/water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer partially covered for about 25-30 mins. (until meat is thoroughly cooked). Save the stock.
In another small saucepan, boil potatoes until tender; drain.
Once all the ingredients are cooled, use a hand held blender or food processor, puree meat mixture and potatoes. Add a tablespoon of left over stock at a time to achieve the desired consistency. If you find that the puree is still too thick, you can add more stock.
Pour the puree into the baby cubes or ice cube trays and freeze.

Notes:
· I pack each baby cube with approx. 75ml of puree for convenience. Yields 8 cubes
· You may double the portion to achieve more.
· This stew is like our shepherd’s pie but baby version :P

Chicken Macaroni Stew

2009-06-21T15:42:00.002+08:00

For 7 months old

100g Minced Chicken
½ tsp Tarragon leaves (optional)
1 Medium Carrot, washed, peeled and diced
1 cup Broccoli florets, discard the yellow bits
1 stalk Celery, washed trimmed and thinly sliced
1 small Onion, cut into quarters
1 Large Potato, washed peeled & cut into cubes
2 ½ cups Vegetable stock or water
1/3 cup Macaroni

Methods

In a medium pot, place chicken & tarragon in water and bring to a boil.
Add macaroni, celery, carrots, onion and potato; reduce heat and simmer for about 25mins or until the vegetables are tender. Keep the pot partially covered.
Stir occasionally, the consistency should be that of a thick stew and if there is too much liquid, remove the lid and continue to simmer for 5-10mins more.
Once the vegetables & macaroni are tender, use a slotted spoon to remove. Save the stock and leave the macaroni mixture to cool.
Once cooled, use a hand held blender or food processor, puree macaroni & vegetables. Add a tablespoon of left over stock at a time to achieve the desired consistency. If you find that the puree is still too thick, you can add more stock.
Pour the puree into the baby cubes or ice cube trays and freeze.

Notes:
· I pack each baby cube with approx. 60ml of puree for convenience. Yields 8 baby cubes (60ml each)
· You may double the potion to achieve more.
· This stew is so fragrant that I feel like eating it myself :P

Chicken & Apple Delight

2009-06-21T15:33:00.003+08:00

For 6 -7 months old

2 Small Organic Fuji Apple, cored and quartered. Leave the skin on.
50g Minced Chicken
1 cup Vegetable stock or water
2 tbsps Apple Juice (approx.)

Methods

In a steamer, steam apple with the skin over boiling water for about 15 mins. Leave it to cool.
In another small saucepan, add 1 cup of either vegetable stock or water and boil the minced chicken for about 5-10mins. Ensure that the chicken is fully cook (no more red bits and meat should be white). Once the chicken is cooked, leave it aside to cool.
Scrape the flesh of the apple with a teaspoon and discard the skin.
Use a hand held blender or food processor, puree the chicken& apples. Add a tablespoon of apple Juice at a time to achieve the desired consistency. If you find that the puree is still too thick, you can add more apple juice.
Pour the puree into the baby cubes or ice cube trays and freeze.

Notes:
· I pack each baby cube with approx. 45ml of puree for convenience.
· Yields about 4 baby cubes (45ml each).
· You may double the potion to achieve more.
· Good introduction of meat to babies as it is mixed with their familiar fruit. Really Yummy !

Done to satisfy Chin Fee's craving

2009-06-18T20:52:00.003+08:00

These carrot jellies on the cake look like those magnetic diagrams from the old science text book. When i used to eat those biscuits where there were yummy icings on top, i'd eat the plain biscuit first and save the icing for last. Some people like Ade do the reverse - wallop the icing first. This time round, i didnt know what to do because both the carrot jelly and the cake were super delicious.

Yeah and they came about because Godma had a craving for them.

Get well soon baby

2009-06-14T14:03:00.002+08:00

Poor Bryan has been down with flu and cough the recent week. Its a real heart break to see him in such misery. Just today, he seemed to be in much higher spirits. He now follows us everywhere we go on his new walker.

ahahahaha

2009-05-29T17:07:00.000+08:00

Bryans 0 to 6 mths

2009-05-29T14:54:00.003+08:00

Its amazing to lay these pictures side by side, seeing bryan grow from new born to 6 mths.

Bryan in his rainforest jumperoo

2009-05-29T08:08:00.002+08:00

Ok, heres the exact opposite of the previous video where the singing pig stole the show. Here, Bryan jumps so fast that he becomes a blurrrrrr.

Bryan and sunshine pig.

2009-05-26T09:32:00.003+08:00

2009-05-18T20:49:00.005+08:00

Cheeky little fella, relaxing on the couch until so oo-say.

Bryan giving the grown up look.

Bryan gets tickled whenever we give him a funny face, play peek-a-boo, or surprise him with some random action.

Super ticklish! Bryan just started his first solid - rice cereal a week ago. When we introduced a new food - apple sauce without warning him, he gave a face as though he just smelt my fart! ahahhahahahaha. Eeks. After that he got really crazy over it, to the point when Ade tasted a bit from the jar, he protested with a real big whine.

6 mth old

2009-05-16T22:03:00.008+08:00

Bryan starts taking rice cereal

2009-05-09T15:45:00.007+08:00

After giving us those accusatory stares whenever we eat our delicious food in front of him, Bryan finally gets to take his first spoonful of rice cereal with milk. He took to it pretty well, almost like he trained and practiced in his mind whenever he saw us eat. Well done baby!

Itchy gums

2009-05-02T14:57:00.004+08:00

2009-05-01T18:36:00.000+08:00

"why all these cakes? i thought it was all about me. me . me."

Nutella Cupcakes

2009-05-01T18:27:00.005+08:00

Remember when some of us were kids and we bought those little plastic serving sized nutella from the mamak shop? A bite into the nutella cupcake didn't just bring back those awesome hazulnut chocolatey memories, after getting past the amazing topping which is a nutty candy nutella mix, you get to the base, which itself is a complementary chocolate cake with a fine hint of almond. If there was such a thing as a chocolate forest, these would be the flowers growing on those chocolate trees.

Strawberry shortcake

2009-05-01T18:17:00.003+08:00

Now i know baking wasn't a pregnancy quirk, its back in full force. The pictures above tastily affirm that. Here we have Ade's modification of a strawberry shortcake, sprinkled with choc shavings to combine into wholesome chunks of strawberry chocolatiness. Cream moustache anyone?

Choc-Berry Truffle Cake

2009-04-25T09:44:00.005+08:00

CHOC-BERRY TRUFFLE CAKE
Blueberry and pitted cherry sandwiched with a layer of chocolate truffle and frosted with chocolate ganache. Ade's new creation.

Bryan and friends!

2009-04-19T10:27:00.015+08:00

5 months!

2009-04-11T15:03:00.007+08:00

on the miracle of life and the tenderness of being

Carrot cake for NY2012

Floor Christmas party bake

Special day

Bryans 3

Closure

8weeks 2days

6 weeks 2 days

Tummy at 4 weeks 2 days

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..*breathe* ....... Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Marina bay sands staycation

Farm visit

Mr Man at jp

Thank you Bryan for giving us a wonderful christmas

Little drummer boy

Apple juicy apple sweet!

Bryan is 2!

Celebrating our 4th year wedding anni(bryan gets involved)versary

Baking Green Tea and Chocolate Snow Skin Mooncakes

Rochester buffet breakfast play

After a fun morning at Rochester

Ketchup slurping monster

Bryans haircut

Swimming with little friends - 24 July 2010

Sunday morning read

Godma and yiyi comes to visit

Bryan at his first Sunday school

Chug a chug a lug lug

Ex-cer-cise and un-Der-neath

Poopn' news

Bryan goes to school

Bryan is 1 and a half tomorrow!

Candace and Madeleine comes to play with Bryan

Vivocity splash time.

Bryan at uncle dinz and aunt ivy's

Bryan's saturday morning artwork

Bryan freshens up with a crisp haircut

Grandad tickles Bryan

Bryan on his train ride

Bryan starts tekaning the cats

bryan goes swimming

Spit happens

Chicken, Mushroom & Pumpkin Rice

14 months

Shooting star #49

Wheres the baby in Bryan gone to??! Cheeky boy he is now.

Bryan walks

Bryan busy at infantcare

Baking a special birthday cake

Thanks Candace!

Bryan's first birthday celebration

Bryans Birthday Cake preview 2 - 'my arms are aching'

Bumblebee cupcakes ----- COMING SOON on bryans birthday

Bryan the footballer

Mummy excels in Bryan's first birthday cake rehearsal

Bryan's babyu photo frolick - series 4 (family shots)

Bryan's babyu photo frolick - series 3

Bryan's babyu photo frolick - series 2 (christmas)

Bryan's babyu photo frolick - series 1

Bryan's first haircut

Smiley fuzzball

Sit crawl climb

Bryan at infant care

banana puff face

New found powers.

Bryan's 2nd swim

Bryan chuckles like nobody's business

Bryan sitting at the dinner table with us at thai express for the first time

Yummy Lentil

Bryan goes swimming at the jacuzzi!

More Chicken Delights :)

Versatile Vegetable Stock

Bryan having rice cereal with carrot

Fathers day 2009

Vegetables & Brown Rice

Beefy Mash

Chicken Macaroni Stew

Chicken & Apple Delight

Done to satisfy Chin Fee's craving

Get well soon baby

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..breathe ....... Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!