Monday made: Crunchy oatmeal cookies

We baked cookies across the weekend. :)  I decided that I'll try to let the boy help me during the process, but I was rather worried that I'd not be able to manage him AND bake at the same time, so I roped in hubby to help.  Turned out my little baking buddy was eager to help, but ended up flinging alot of cookie dough onto the floor (which of course, made the dog very happy indeed!).

Anyway, the recipe is really really easy to prepare and if you're fast, you can have them cookies ready, piping hot from the oven, in about half an hour!  I liked that the recipe uses whole wheat flour and rolled oats, which are healthier options.

I had wanted to make them in teddy bear shapes in the hope of getting the boy interested, but I think the dough isn't really suitable for cookie cutters, and I spaced them too closely, so they ended up like this:

I put the raisins as eyes, and the hubby said they looked like fat hamsters!
The next time I try this, I'd add more raisins since they really go well with the cookies...

However, they turned out really yummy.  For those who like really crunchy cookies, this is a recipe to try (get it here), and I most certainly would be baking these again soon.  But I'd probably halve the amount of sugar added as I prefer cookies that are not too sweet!

Happy baking!

Week(end) wanderings: Toilet training and tiredness

The week (and weekend) that's passed has been a busy one.  The hubby has been busy training up for his triathlon that's coming up this weekend, and I also decided to start toilet-training the boy since he seemed to have some indicators that he might be ready for it.  The whole process didn't go too well, since the boy kept trying to run away almost every time we brought him to use the potty.  We did manage to score a few "hits", so we just "Yayyyeeed" (something the boy now loves to do) and clapped every time that happened.  He also had all sorts of reactions to wearing underpants... and sometimes refuses to wear them.  Now, he willingly wears them only if I let him choose between two different ones (and thankfully he chooses Tigger some days, and Pooh some days, and sometimes when he's feeling like a superhero, he takes the plain red one).

Just before potty training started on Wed, we brought him to the lantern festival:

The boy got to carry his own lantern (my mum gave him 3 and we opted for the battery operated one lest he set us and himself alight)...

The boy was too distracted by his lantern to look at the camera.  Ah well.

... and generally enjoyed looking at the lights, until he cut his hand.  It was dark, so I didn't notice that he'd cut his hand pretty deeply (and the boy didn't seem to feel it too), and it was only when we went to buy ice-cream from Haato that I saw he had blood all over his T-shirt.  Odd thing was, I was carrying him the whole time, and he hadn't touched anything, so we were puzzled at how he could have cut himself.  Anyway, he only started crying 10 minutes after we found the cut, and had to go home to clean him up.

Junior J enjoying himself, before he got cut!

I wasn't feeling too good across the weekend, and had a tummy upset too, so I ended up staying at home with the boy while hubby went for dinner with our DG on Sat, and hubby brought the boy to church on Sun where he learnt that God made everything:

The kids learnt about the 6 days of creation and got to eat different snacks for each day.
According to the hubby, the boy loved all the snacks, except for the marshmallows.
(Never mind, my boy, mama can eat your marshmallows for you, anyday!)

Aside from that, we managed to:

Celebrate my dad's birthday on Sunday night and feasted on a seafood dinner (erghhh, too much bamboo clams in my case)...

Explore the Bishan Active Park on Monday evening:

Couldn't do much since there was a light drizzle,
but the boy loved turning the wheel...

Catch falling raindrops...

Make oatmeal cookies together...

Baking buddy, at the start, before the mess started...

Make pee puddles everywhere at home (like I said, the toilet-training didn't go too well!)...

And make secret phone calls while looking out for clown loaches in the fish tank.

Hello papa?  I think you need to clean the tank.  Its murky!

I must admit, having to stalk the little boy with the potty and cleaning up all those accidents, plus all the other activities have really made me really tired out, which may explain those headaches I've been getting during the weekend.  I think I'll be taking things more easy this week, plus I'd gotta work more on my dissertation... Nonetheless, have a great week!  (Or what's left of it!)

You turned 20 months...

Bao bao, teese?

... and my have you grown, my boy!  You love to run around the house, and love to go out for walks, and would run to get your shoes whenever we ask if you want to "go downstairs".  And then you'd get really upset if we dally and would protest until we take you out of the door.  However, you'd still insist on being carried most of the time when we are out... but you're getting better at walking about (but will still exclaim "hand!" and insist that we hold your hand, not that we mind though!).

Ssshhhoo, sssshhhooo...

You love to play ball, and would happily spend 20 minutes just running around the house (or the street soccer court) with the ball.  Drape a blanket over your playpen and you'll be engrossed in getting the ball onto the blanket... or you'd be really busy playing house!

You still love to read, and would always clamber into our lap when we take a book, exclaiming "lap!", and insisting that our legs must be kept straight like yours.  Its all animals for you, you love to point out animals in every book, and hence you love your "Curious George Feeds the Animals" book, since there's a different creature on every page!  And you make us laugh when we ask you to give us an "angry look", as you'd growl and clench your fist... ;)  You're learning words really fast now, and surprised us the other day when we overheard you singing "ehh-de-dise, eehhh-de-dise"...

Reading with Godma...

Just like mama, you love art.  You'd fill up pieces of paper with blobs of paint, and will go "shhhhhoooo" when you paint streaks of colour across your masterpiece.  Then you'd act horrified at the mess you made and will help to clean up the table at the end of it all (much to mama's relief!).

Mealtimes are still tough-going, but otherwise you're a cheerful little fellow... and we give thanks for all the sunshine and laughter that you bring into our home...

Feeding the dog puffs for tea

Don't grow up too fast, little boy, for we still want to hold your hand still!

Love,
Your Mama

Weaning Wednesdays: Meet our mealtime monster

Ok, its been a long time since I've written about Junior J's meals.  The boy oddly has regressed in terms of his food preference, and now only eats stuff that has been pureed smooth.  So for every lunch and dinner, he gets variations of an oatmeal-based porridge (with all sorts of veg/meat mixed inside and run through my hand-held blender), and breakfast usually consists of milk (we've resorted to Pediasure to up the calorie count), cheese and some carbs (bread/different cereals that we rotate).

He's been a difficult one to feed.  We've tried giving him small portions of "table" food to self-feed, such as corn, cucumber, pasta or cereal to self-feed... and some days he'll happily sit there and try to feed himself while we hastily try to spoon in oatmeal in between:

Junior J on one of his better days, eating breakfast from his snack cup

However, usually the self-feeding thing lasts for about 10 minutes before he starts to (1) feed the dog his food, (2) spit or (3) fling his plate (and all of its contents) to the floor... all options which make the dog very happy, and us, not so!

So right now, the only thing that seems to work would be to keep him occupied by all sorts of activities (which I console myself are helping him to develop his fine-motor skills), while feeding him his oatmeal and spooning fluid (water/milk/soup) in between mouthfuls to make him swallow (yes, he has the skill of storing all that liquid food in his mouth, like a hamster!):

Reading board books, and stacking cubes

Taking things in and out of boxes

Putting cotton wool into a vitamin container, and learning to cap it

Poking toothpicks into holes in a soft board

He's usually quite ok when he's out for meals, but keeping him occupied with stuff helps...

And many a time, he starts to get restless halfway through the meal (each meal takes almost an hour!), and we resort to using the iPhone and letting him watch videos of himself, or play educational games.  I know, I've seen those "looks" parents give me when they see our kid, barely two, engrossed in poking at the screen, but trust me, we only whip it out of desperation when nothing else works.  The boy's weight gain hasn't been too great (especially after the recent bouts of illness), otherwise I'd just stick to the "don't eat just starve" philosophy.

On good days, we manage to get him to finish his food... and on bad days, he puts his head on the table and refuses to eat.  Or he ends up like this:

The bib says it all!

So far, the only two people that have managed to make him eat his meals would be myself, and the hubby (and even the hubby can't seem to tolerate feeding him for more than 30 minutes!).  I'm really almost to the end of my tether, and my only consolations are that the boy (1) is generally easy-going apart from mealtimes, (2) is still wanting his breastmilk, and (3) has finally consented to wear bibs again during meals (of course, with the condition that he puts his little frog toy in the pocket of the bib!).   So parents, please help me out here... do share any tips/experiences you've had for feeding/getting a toddler to eat!

Thankful Tuesdays: Grandparent greatness

Hello hello! Grandparent's day has been celebrated in various parts of the world this period of time... So I thought a big thank you to Junior J's grandparents was in order. :)  We really thank God for all the love, care, concern and help they've given to us and the little one... They love to just spend time with the little boy, never tire from carrying him, shower him with kisses and gifts... They are truly a blessing to us, and our boy!

And on a related note, since I've been rather stressed with the editing of my drafts, I've taken to using my scissors and inks again. (I know, I know, the hubby says that this blog is fast turning into a scrappy blog, but this hobby really helps me destress, so bear with me!) I decided to do a layout for my dad for his birthday, as my mum hinted that he would like a layout with a picture of him and Junior J, to hang in his office.

I used those beautiful papers from the "So Sophie" collection from My Mind's Eye... and fussy-cut out the leafy designs, and added some more flowers and leaves by repeatedly stamping 2 different stamps on white cardstock, transparency, and the plainer parts of the patterned paper, and cutting them out:

I used white cardstock for the background, punched out flower shapes as masks, misted parts of the paper using 2 different mists, and then pasted the flowers on!

I also sewed a leafy pattern here and there, and a straight border all around the LO using my sewing machine, added punched borders using the same patterned paper, and dated the LO by cutting out the numbers from another MME paper:

And since the LO would be up at my dad's office, I opted to keep the journalling hidden:

Little journalling book, held shut with cotton twine, made using that same piece of patterned paper (I just punched, inked and layered flower shapes, and added an eyelet).

Journalling inside the booklet, when open. Paper is folded accordion-style to close the book...

I wanted to use a die-cut paper to frame the photo, however, it was too large so I cut two corners of the paper and joined them, and covered up the joined up section with all the plants and journalling!  Here's the full picture:

Layout: My Mind's Eye Supplies: White cardstock, Journalling card (My Mind's Eye: So Sophie - Simple Things) Patterned paper (My Mind's Eye: So Sophie - Simple Things Nice Numbers, Forever with You Botanical Blue) Lettering (AC Thickers Regards, Making Memories Tiny Alphas Teal Ledger) Brads (AC Jewel Brads Baby Girl), Stamps (Prima and Stampendous)

Thanks for looking! And I promise, no more scrappy stuff for this week! ;)

Weekend wanderings: Time together

This weekend was a rare one where hubby was finally NOT on call on Saturday!  However, I was not feeling too well, and was feeling rather down too, especially since the boy has been rather difficult during meals these days, and also threw up his lunch on Sunday when we were out.  Despite the "down and out" feeling, I think it we had a really blessed weekend, especially when we got to spend so much family time together...

I met up with an ex-colleague, S and her little girl, A, for lunch and some shopping at Papermarket on Friday, and all 4 of us braved the heavy rain to make our way to Raffles City.  Had lunch over there before heading home for the boy's nap.  Then the hubby and I went for a walk at the Toa Payoh town park in the evening before dinner...

Walking the dog together...
I really love this park, as it has this old, tranquil feeling about it...

On the bridge, looking at the tranquil waters.
The boy spotted some terrapins (and yelled "TURTLE!").

We were supposed to have a packed Saturday as we had to attend a wedding in the morning, and a birthday party in the afternoon... The boy got all dressed up nice and spiffy for the wedding...

But he was really grumpy after the wedding and gave us a really hard time during lunch... so we headed back home to let him rest.  However, he decided that he'll wake up when we reached home, and he ended up going down for his nap pretty late, so as a result, we had to miss the birthday party.  I did manage to do up my very first album for the little birthday boy after a few days of cutting and pasting, and many cups of coffee (man, albums are really tough to do!):

The aftermath: scrap supplies all over my dining table...

And here's a sneak peek of the cover:

Can't post full pictures yet, since I've not passed the album over!

It was the usual for Sunday: church, where the boy learnt that God is everywhere, and had fun sticking petals on his craft piece...

... and lunch with churchmates, where we had the yummy Simpang Bedok yong tau foo... yumyum!

We popped by the Kite Festival over at the Marina Promontory after the boy had his afternoon nap:

We didn't have our own kite to fly, however,
we had a great time looking at the many kites that were being flown!

The boy learnt how to say "Kite!" and "Fly!" and
spent the whole time yelling those words...

Caught the sunset along the way for dinner...

... and had a yummy dinner over at one of our fav ramen places, Kyonichi Ramen...

The boy fishing for red beans using the straw.  For once, he finished his dinner!

All in all, I must say I'm feeling better.  Its Monday, my drafts have been vetted by my sup, so I think I'd better go back to editing them (big SIGH) before the boy wakes up...

I hope everyone had a great weekend... here's to a better week ahead!

Monday made: Reusing egg trays

Hello hello!  The weather has been really hot over here, and Junior J has been helping me to water the plants everyday.  Recently, we decided that we would grow some green beans so that he could care for his very own plants.  So I gave him a pot of soil, and a plastic egg tray, and guided him to scoop soil into each compartment, and let him carefully place a few green beans into each section (he got really excited and tipped too many, but I just had to take away some!).

So its been a week since he's planted them, and the beans have already germinated and have started growing (though they are pretty scraggly since they are in the shade, I've gotta find a sunnier spot for them I guess!):

Then the boy has been starting to pick up verbs like "pour" and "hang" so I thought I'd make a little sign for his mini-garden, using corrugated cardboard, and wrapped in plastic cut from a clear-holder to protect it from over-enthusiastic watering from little hands:

Supplies used: Corrugated cardboard (Daiso)
Construction paper and ice-cream stick (Popular)
Lettering (AC Remarks)

So here it is, our very own beany garden!

What I liked about this activity was that it helps Junior J to learn how to be responsible for caring for living things, in this case, plants, while also fine-tuning fine motor skills like scooping, pouring and picking up small objects (beans).

Some tips:
1. Use only the plastic trays, as the cardboard version will get soggy with watering.  Added advantages of using these plastic ones are that as the beans grow bigger, you'll be able to see the roots growing since the plastic is clear!

2. Use a toothpick and poke holes into the base of each compartment, which will allow water to drain.  Kids get really excited and tend to drown the beans in water, and you don't want waterlogged soil!   Cut the cover of the tray, and reuse it by placing it beneath the tray to catch the excess water, and periodically clear this to prevent your garden from breeding mosquitoes.

3.  Plant only about 3 seeds/beans per compartment to prevent overcrowding.

4. You can get your kids to plant one compartment a day, so that you can see the seedlings all at various stages of growth, all at one glance!  Alternatively, plant different seeds in different compartments and make labels for the compartments so that you know which is which.

5. Other uses for plastic egg trays include reusing them as paint palettes, or as a tool for sorting activities. The cardboard version can be used for craftwork to make animals like caterpillars!

How do you reuse your egg trays?

Weekend wanderings: What a weekend!

Ok, our weekend started from Thursday, since the hubby was on call on Saturday, and was away (or sleeping most of the actual weekend)... and my my, was it eventful!

I had some of my ex-colleagues (the bio teachers) over to my place for a pot-luck lunch cum crop (for the non-scrapbookers, it's basically a scrapping party where you scrap with your friends, but how this term came about, I have no idea!) on Thursday.  It was quite interesting, since we had 4 gal pals, plus 2 dogs, and 2 toddlers.  I'm quite amazed we managed to even scrap!  Lunch was shepherd's pie, tom yam fried rice and salad... mmm, yum!  

E spent the entire time punching papers for her cards, that she sells over at her blog shop,
do pop by if you have the time!

Two of my friends wanted to learn how to scrap, so me and another friend, E (who went with me for our first scrapbooking class last time) taught them almost everything we knew, from how to use embellies, mists, ink, and punches, to how to choose papers and arrange everything on the page. :)  It was crazy-going since we had to feed both kids and ourselves lunch, and the little girl, A, kept freaking out every time our dog, Nicky, walked past her.  

The two dogs sizing each other up.  They eventually spent
lots of time romping around and wrestling!

The dogs had a good time playing, though, and little A finally settled down and patiently sat in the high chair for 2 hours while her mum, S, did her first ever scrapbook piece.  

Little A, when she wasn't freaked out by Nicky.  Isn't she cute?

I think they had fun, and managed to come up with their own pieces:

S and her piece, entitled "Yum!".  Little A approves of her mum's piece I think!
She also used the packaging for the wild cards for her journalling tag. :)

P and her piece about her goddaughter.
We're waiting for the photos of the finished piece, ya?

I was so busy I didn't manage to scrap, but it was nice teaching them and seeing how happy they were with their finished (or almost) pieces.  Both are already talking about buying paper trimmers and discussing our next crop, so I guess they'll be continuing for this hobby.  What can I say, but welcome to the crazy world of scrapbooking! ;)

Hubby came back from work just when we finished, and we brought Junior J out to Macritchie Reservoir.  

We had a nice long walk...

Junior J happily running around, while I fed him blueberries...

... and I think the boy and dog enjoyed hanging out together...

Well, at least I know the dog was certainly happy, having a doggy date AND a long walk, both on the same day!

Friday was a public holiday over here in Singapore, and it was nice having hubby around for the whole day for a change.  We dropped by to my friend, Jo's place to pass her some buttons, as well as get some stuff (thanks so much girl for all those goodies!) , and then headed down to the pet shop haven over at Serangoon to buy some fishkeeping supplies.  Junior J had a good time examining all the birds and rabbits!  Then we had hubby's team from his Gansu trip over for a potluck lunch, and we celebrated the 2nd birthday of one of the team member's daughter:

Junior J was still clutching on to his precious ball!

They got her this amazingly cute ladybug cake, and used this lotus flower candle.  The petals open up when lit, and then the candle plays the happy birthday tune!  The kids were rather in awe of the candle I think...

... and they also had a good time playing together!

We went down to Vivocity in the evening as I needed to get some stuff, but sort of regretted it, since it was so so crowded!  We had to queue for food, and hastily tried to feed the boy while people hovered over us, waiting for a seat.  However, the boy did get to splash around at the water area, and had fun.  He got so excited, he fell in!

Then Saturday rolled by, and hubby and I went down to Sia Huat (a shop that sells just about every single thing you would need in the kitchen) to look at breadmakers.  Turned out, they sold everything (even giant mixers that stood up to your waist in height!), except breadmakers!  Bought yummy yong tau foo for lunch, and then it was off to work for the hubby.

Sunday was the usual church cum lunch with churchmates after the service.  We went down to Holland V for ramen, and we finally got the breadmaker from Parisilk (We find its one of the cheapest places to buy gadgets, their cameras are the cheapest!)... Phew!  What a weekend!  To top it off, I brought Junior J to Ikea on my own today for lunch and abit of shopping, and we also went for an evening swim with hubby since he had to train for a triathlon coming up in Oct...  

I hope everyone had a great weekend... here's to a great week ahead!