My 1st Swimming Session...

Mummy had my Saturday all planned out for me. After she fed me this morning, she got me all ready for my 1st swimming session. Dressed me in my Huggies swim diapers and Froggie swimming costume. She and Daddy took turns to inflate my huge whale float and neck float. It was tiring cos my whale float was so big. Check this out...














However, Mummy had an unpleasant surprise as we all got ready only to find out when we went to the pool that it is under maintenance. Sigh... But Mummy was determined to let me swim today, so she filled the bathtub with water, put my neck float on... And I was kicking away. Check out the video on the right side...





Here's one taken of me in the whale float...

风云???

Mummy trimmed my hair for me today, as the sides and front are getting too long and always irritates me. She's kept a tail for me since birth and it's shoulder length long now. She managed to style it for me. Don't I look like a character from 风云??? Check this out... Hmmm, don't tell too many people, else they get jealous of my hair... Haha...

Random Gymboree Play/Music Playgroup

Check these out...

Colour / Animal Theme Outfits...

Mummy has gone crazy this weekend since we are home alone. So she decided to dress me up according to either colour or animal themes. Check this out. Mummy will add on every weekend, since during the weekdays, 婆婆 decides what I wear... Haha...

It's a GREY day today. So check out my GREY outfit today, with matching GREY babylegs and GREY shoes...









I am a RED ladybird today, with matching RED Striped babylegs

I Can Stand on My Own... With "Some" Help...

Mummy found a new way for me to practise my leg muscles to stand up. That is at the corner of 2 connecting ends of the sofa in our living room. I was so amazed that I was practising standing up and squatting down for many times. However, I accidentally knocked onto the floor whilst Mummy looked away. Ouch, I think I hit my nose on the floor, cos now it's become slightly red...

Caterpillar will become a Butterfly???

Mummy gave me a Science lesson this weekend. She taught me that my Leapfrog caterpillar will one day become my Lamaze butterfly. Check this out...

Home Alone Weekend with Mummy...

Starting from tonight, it's a home alone weekend with Mummy. Daddy has gone on a business trip to Indonesia and 婆婆 has gone on a weekend trip to Ningbo with a visiting friend...

So here's our weekend together. On Saturday, Mummy woke up early to feed me and bathe me. However, I wet the entire bathroom floor as I insisted on playing with the water and kept slapping my hands into the water, as if I am trying to catch a "fish". I took a short morning nap, but realised that when I woke up, I was in my stroller, on the way to the Post Office on Beijing Road to collect Mummy's Amazon order (The order was supposed to arrive at our place, however, as no one was at home, they simply left us a slip to collect it from the Post Office. So unlucky!!!) Boy, those books were heavy. There were all books about weaning, purees, baby development and my new board books. We then went to City Supermarket at Shanghai Center to get my rice cereal, organic carrots and apples, only to realise that there is a smaller outlet near our place, selling the organic vegetables and fruits at a cheaper price. Mummy was furious... All the effort to carry them back home... I was so hungry during lunch time. Mummy fed me rice cereal and carrots, but I was still crying for my milk. I finished the entire bottle of 200ML of milk. After that, we rushed to Gymboree at XuJiaHui for my play class. Wow, there were lots of babies today. We learnt how to balance ourselves today, by swinging on a swing, see saw and lifted up in a piece of cloth. Boy was Mummy and I tired out today... Mummy fed me my dream feed at 830pm and I slept all the way to 9am on Sunday morning. However, poor Mummy still has her technical memo on her favourite topic of the year (ie more convertible loans, preference shares and warrants) to complete and a 20F to review. She only got to sleep at 130am.

So Sunday starts. As usual, the mornings are always busy for Mummy cos she has to feed me my milk and rice cereal. Mummy always wonders why I like to smile while eating my cereal. Cos all the cereal ends up flowing out of my mouth. So I had another day out with Mummy today, and she first had her lunch at Whisk on Huai Hai Road. Whisk serves fabulous chocolate drinks and desserts. I am just waiting so hard for the day I can try them out too... Then Mummy brought me along Huai Hai Road for window shopping.

For the umpteenth times, Mummy had to explain to passer-bys that I am NOT a girl. It always appears strange why people would ask when I am obviously dressed like a boy. So they tell Mummy it's probably cos I have a lot of hair and I have some facial features that makes me look like a girl (ie they all say I have fabulous nice and fair skin, I have long eye lashes and a nicely shaped mouth). But Mummy finds it so strange...NO HAIR = BOY and got HAIR = GIRL? What kind of logic is this?

Lastly, we ended up at a massage place that Mummy frequents. Massage has now become a luxury to Mummy as time always seem to be so short with me around that she seldom finds time to go nowadays. But Mummy can only do foot massage when she brings me along. So I sat beside her in her chair... It was another tiring day for me. I slept early again, at 9pm after my dream feed... Thank you Mummy for the nice weekend... Good nite...

Mummy's new Beco Butterfly Baby Carrier

FINALLY!!! After a long, long hesitation, Mummy has finally decided to order her Beco Butterfly baby carrier. Of course, Daddy has HUGE objections to this. But Mummy says she will pay for it herself. Carrying me on her current Sungli carrier is getting more and more strenuous on Mummy's back as I am growing heavier and heavier. So she had to make an investment in the Beco Butterfly. Mind you... It's definitely not cheap... Here's a preview to the Isabella design (Mummy originally wanted the Addison, but this UNfortunately is not coming back. So Mummy's second choice was the Carnival, but she received HUGE objections from Daddy, as it has too much prints. So Mummy had to compromise and chose the Isabella). But I pictured Mummy that she will look more "STYLO" with the Isabella...

To view the other designs from the website Mummy ordered from, here it is http://www.wearsthebaby.com/shopping/becobutterfly.html

To view the real Beco website, here it is http://www.becobabycarrier.com/

My 1st Music Class at Gymboree...

Mummy brought me to Gymboree's music class today, where I learnt how to play the drums and shake the rattles. Today, I saw for the very 1st time, soapy bubbles and I was so amazed that it was flying around in the music room... Check out my class today...

I Am 6 Months' Old...

I AM FINALLY 6 MONTHS' OLD!!! Hurrah, this definitely calls for a big celebration. So this morning, Mummy reminded Daddy 2 times to remember to get a nice cake for me to celebrate. And of course, as usual, I always don't get to eat it. Now that I have started out on solids, I always salivate and lick my mouth with my tongue every time I see Daddy or Mummy eating (even though being good daddy and mummy, they always feed me first, then they have their meals).



Daddy, Mummy and ME...

Hush Hush, Mummy is stealing some time from her review of a new convertible debt memo to write this while taking a short break. Financial instruments is a new topic that is on Mummy's development point for the year and yes, she can't seem to get enough of it... Every deal she is on since she came back from maternity leave has these "wonderful" financial instruments (ie convertible debt, preference shares, warrants, derivatives etc). Some even had grave consequences the Company has to face. What consequences??? A HUGE hit to the Company's profit and loss statement. No wonder she doesn't ever want me to be an accountant like her and Daddy. Haha...

Here's a list of milestones I have reached so far:

• Turns toward sounds and voices
• Imitates sounds
• Rolls over in both directions
• Is ready for solid foods
• Sits without support
• Mouths objects
• Passes objects from hand to hand
• Lunges forward or starts crawling
• Jabbers or combines syllables
• Drags objects toward himself (At times, I like to kick my toys away.)

Last of all, Daddy and Mummy have decided to donate part of my baby bonus that we have just received to help the Sichuan folks with the recent earthquake. My 6 months' birthday wish is that the rescue job can be done smoothly and quickly and all the affected people can start to get on their normal lives and start to reconstruct their homes...

Countdown to 6 Months' Old

Matt officially turns 6 months tomorrow. Come to think about it, time really flies. It seemed like just yesterday that he was still kicking me in my stomach. I still recall that there was this one weekend we tried to film Matt "moving" in my stomach with my stomach rumbling in "waves". It was hilarious.

He certainly has brought much joy to the family, since both his daddy and mummy are such workaholics. We used to work until late at night and only go home with takeaway dinners around 9 plus at night. Now, we try to make it a point to leave earlier and reach home before 8.30 so that we get to spend some time with Matt before he sleeps.

I must say Matt's a pretty well-behaved kid. Other than crying when he is hungry, he usually amuses himself with toys, pacifier (pulling it in and out of his mouth), fingers and toes... He likes to touch people's faces to explore them. When he is in a good mood and you play peek-a-boo with him, he breaks out into laughter and giggles. The part I like best is hugging him to sleep, as if I am cuddling a big teddy bear. There's so much I can say about this boy... He's on solids for almost 2 weeks now and have tried rice cereal and sweet potatoes. I have bought some carrots and intend to puree it for him this weekend. He's currently feeding like an adult, only 4 feeds a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner with rice cereal or puree and milk, and supper with only milk). We usually feed him before our own meals. But then, he always looked glutton as he would stick out his tongue, licking away as he watches us when we are eating away. I recently made 2 orders of books for Amazon about solids and flashcards so that I can read up to gain more information. They are still in shipment and I certainly can't wait to read them.

I am now halfway to my target of breastfeeding for 12 months. Matt's been on total breast milk for the past 6 months. Now, my 2 opened cans of formula milk powder are just sitting in my kitchen, wasting away. Sigh... Jia You, another 6 more months to the completion of my target, although it can be a pain to express milk in the office. However, I do believe that breast milk has immunities in them that are good for the baby, cos Matt's not been sick before, except for a slight cold he got when he first came back to Shanghai.

Summer's almost here since the temperature in Shanghai in the day time has reached almost 30 degrees celsius, although it is still rather chilly at night. I originially wanted to bring Matt swimming and so excitedly got ready his swim gear, swim diapers, neck float etc, just to find out that the Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease ("HFMD") is very prevalent in a nearby Anhui province. So I guess I will have to delay this until it is safer. My mum has reached Shanghai last weekend to take over the caring for Matt. She bathed him this morning. Matt was kicking away, enjoying himself. I certainly look forward to the day that I can bring him swimming at the pool in our development.

As we celebrate Matt's 6 months birthday, I also pray that for this child of God to continue to stay in God's blessing and for God to watch over each and every little baby step he is taking. I also want to cover the children and people of the Sichuan province in prayer, as the Lord watches over them during this period of the earthquake and pray that these people will get all the assistance they would require to ensure survival as well as the reconstruction of their homes afterwards. Amen...

Goodbye to 爷爷 and 奶奶

This week marks another important milestone reached in my baby steps as I bade goodbye to 爷爷 and 奶奶, who have so patiently taken care of me for the past 3 months whilst Mummy went back to work after her maternity leave. Both Daddy and Mummy (of course, me included) are so grateful for their help for this period and would like to take this chance to appreciate them.

Here's some of 爷爷's masterpieces that he took of me over these 3 months in Shanghai:

My 1st Pair of Stride Rite Sandals

Mummy bought me a pair of Stride Rite sandals for the summer. She figured that the weather is getting too hot for track shoes. Check them out. So cool right... Mummy has such good taste...

Mummy's Little Monkey...

Introducing my newest loot... Mummy bought this romper for me as she thought it was so cute. It is printed with lots of little black and brown monkeys. Daddy thinks I look abit "Sam Seng" though.







Aunty Grace says lucky Mummy had me and not a girl girl, else Mummy will probably be so broke every month... Now Mummy introduces my loot to me one by one, cos she is worried she will get a earful from Daddy again for buying too many things for me. Hush hush, beware that Daddy might be eavesdropping. Haha...

My Third Try at Solids...

Mummy learnt more lessons yesterday at her 2nd attempt to feed me solids.







Further steps she took today:

1. Mix the 15ML of cereal with less milk (ie 40ML), so it is less runny and reduces spillage


2. Let me "wear" a super HUGE bib that Mummy bought yesterday. Mummy figured this was really useful as it helps to serve 2 purposes. One, to prevent the milk from dripping onto my clothes and second, as the sleeves are still too long for me, it prevents me from eating my fingers during the meal. However, it just gets on my nerves as I couldn't figure out why I can "see" my fingers yet not be able to "eat" them. Daddy and Mummy were grinning away at the side. Haha...

Finally, Mummy had some success in feeding me.

My Second Try at Solids...

Mummy learnt a few lessons yesterday at her 1st attempt to feed me solids. So she knew what to expect today.









Some new steps she took today:

1. Feed me solids in the day so that it is easier to digest. And if there is any allergy, it will be safer to attend to in the day
2. Lay a piece of waterproof sheet on the floor before placing me and my bumbo seat on it, so that if I spit out anything, it will be easily cleaned up
3. Let me wear a bigger bib

However, Mummy soon realises that I still spill all over. She gave up. So she decided to buy me a plastic bib that I can wear as a shirt. Haha...

I Finally Started on Solids...

Mummy finally decided that I was close to the 6 months' age (in another 2 weeks) and decided to give me solids today. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be breastfed exclusively for at least six months — though parents will attest that some babies are eager and ready to eat solids earlier.



But Daddy and Mummy got a big "surprise" when they fed me the 1st meal of solids. First, I was so "excited" that I flipped my hands and spilled some of my milk cum rice cereal. Second, when Mummy finally got down to feeding me, I started spitting out the milk cum rice cereal as I didn't know how to feed using a spoon.



So Mummy figured by seeing how "soaked" my bib was, I probably only finished half the amount she prepared and the other half ended up soaked in my bib. Then Mummy had to bathe me again after the meal.


See, I am still hungry after I finished the cereal, then I am still sucking my fingers. Mummy had to give me another 50ML of milk.

A Busy Labour Day...

It was a busy Labour Day for Mummy today. As the name would speak for itself, Mummy woke up early today and prepared all my summer wear, swim gear and bathrobe for laundry. The weather has gradually turned warm and today, I finally started wearing rompers that expose my legs once again. Check out my collection...


Then, in the afternoon, Daddy and Mummy brought me to City Supermarket and bought me some solids. Yes, that's right. It was the same place I drooled at the cereals the last time Mummy brought me there. This time, Mummy bought me some Nestle and Gerber rice cereal with some Heinz puree (wow, she bought 6 flavours: corn, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, mixed vegetables and apple) for me to try. I am going to have a feast...