Cute Pixes

ROM Anniversary

To celebrate our 2nd ROM anniversary, we splurged on an authentic Japanese dinner at Sushi Zen, downtown at the junction of Broughton and Whitaker Street. Savannahians have conservative palates and most ethnic food sold here have been americanised, ie sweetened, thickened or fried. So we were very pleasantly surprised that the sushi served actually tasted authentic. Baby had a good time as well as we sat on the low tables on the 2nd floor and she a whale of a time crawling around.

The friendly baby also tried to smile at and make friends with 2 little boys there! But she's too young to play with them.

We had the sushi & tempura combo so we can have a taste of everything. For drinks we had a 2004 Columbia Winery CellarMaster's Riesling. Quote from the internet "Floral, honeyed aroma with hints of apricot, pear and allspice. Rich and full-flavored fruit on the palate is balanced by clean, crisp acidity. " I concur.

Toys, toys and more toys

Since most of baby's toys have been quite simple toys - mostly various kinds of rattles, we've been on the lookout for affordable and more complex toys for her. We found that Ross is a good place to buy decent toys for under $5, so we bought baby a little xylophone and a shape sorter cum pull-along toy. During the Christmas sale, we bought her a set of stacking rings too. Vivian has also given her some books. So now, baby has more interesting toys to play with - though we haven't introduced all the toys to her yet. We are still following the rotation system as well, so some toys are kept in 'Siberia' in the closet and then re-released after a while for novelty.

Anyway, the active little baby amuses herself quite well simply by moving around - crawling up and down the bed, crawling under the chair and table and over her high chair base, standing, sitting, trying to walk, pushing against the wall to get herself into a standing position ... we get tired just watching her... Yawn..

Little Miss Potty

We got a little 2nd-hand potty for Mei Xi (got it at a yard sale together with an Eeyore plush toy and a toy with animals that pop up when you manouevre certain levers/buttons and a baby toilet seat - all for only $5). (Potties are very expensive here because of fancy features, such as being convertible to a step stoole etc... so we can't bear to buy a new one, and it's a bit tricky holding her over the toilet bowl.) Now we make it a habit for her to sit on the potty before and after she zzz... if we remember, she sits on it after a meal too. We hope to minimise diaper rash and the messy diaper clean-up, especially because she abhors diaper changes. After using the potty for about a week, she seems to have caught onto what she's supposed to do and she pees in it quite regularly. For the last few mornings, she has pooped in it too - we think it's more than a coincidence. Good little girl! It's now so much easier to clean her after a poop. Hee.

Baby's favourite activities

She loves to stand while holding onto the edge of the bed (or sofa, or rocker, or chair, or whatever available surface.. but the bed is her favourite) and wave her toy(s) around:



And she can multi-task and suck her thumb at the same time too!

She's a little expert at standing now and can lower herself to the ground without falling. She can even change grip and hold onto another piece of furniture nearby. And she's started taking slow, baby steps to move along the side of the bed to reach a toy I put further away =) Guess it won't be long before she's walking and running all over the place...

All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth...

Baby has her 2 front teeth for Christmas.. .and 3 lower teeth too! She's now getting quite good at eating chunkier food. We are starting to feed her some finger food (using our fingers, not hers, though =p) for her lunch - food like strips of Cheddar or Swiss cheese, home-baked bread, rice cracker, grape chunks, peas... and she can eat quite a bit. And on the rare occasions when she's in the mood (e.g. 15th Dec), she'll feed herself her solid food and a few spoonfuls of cereal during her meals =)




Her hours are a bit different now. She'll sleep for about 9 hours at night, then wake up for about an hour for milk and diaper change, and then sleep for another 2 hours or so. But she'll sleep less in the day... maybe it's also because we have been going out this weekend so there are too many distractions outside for her to want to sleep. What a little kaypoh.

Eating Out

Lunch at Huey along the Savannah riverfront... The popular restaurant serves Lousiana fare. But baby is just taking apples, cheese and bread =p

The Cardigan Mummy Knitted

This is baby wearing the cardigan I knitted a few years back for my nephew. Cute?

Yummy yummy

Baby just started eating chicken this week. She's not that fond of fish or chicken or cottage cheese - prefer yoghurt or tofu. As for vege, her favourites include carrots, sweet potato, squash, sweet corn. Not that fond of green beans or peas. She likes diced fruits - apples, bananas, grapes - guess it's because they are sweet. I started using commercial jar food, and then I recycled the glass jars by making my own - steam/boil, mash, freeze, heat to eat. Now, I tend to boil when needed since the foods don't have to be that finely mashed, so there's less prep work. Meat can't be cooked in advance anyway. We try to buy organic food when possible, so it's healthier for her - no preservatives or additives.

She's now taking 5 meals a day, 3 of milk, 2 of milk/solid. (This differs from the sample menus we've seen in baby books, but she seems to be growing ok and happy with this arrangement.) We're thinking of gradually shifting her to 3 milk/solid meals a day, weaning her off, and include some finger food and fruit juice. (Do you know what's the difference between adult fruit juice and baby fruit juice, btw?) Maybe she needs to eat more in the day so she can zzz more. She has been sleeping less lately. And she's lazy - doesn't want to feed herself =( At most, feed herself just a few spoonfuls or catapult the food away. But when it's playtime, she's happy to put everything into her own mouth quite accurately. Sigh*

She looks like she's eager to start walking (while holding onto something) soon. She loves to stand by holding anything she can - bed, sofa, laundry basket, toy crate, cha ir, rocker, even the wall and the laundry rack. But maybe because she wants to keep moving, changing her diapers and clothes is a big headache. She keeps rolling over and trying to crawl away, or put up a big struggle when we want to dress her. Anyway, her diaper rash has been quite bad since our Thanksgiving hol, so we now air her butt when she naps. Looking better now.

Baby's Playground

Her crib is like her safe haven for fun. These days, her curiosity and increased mobility will wreak havoc whenever she is let loose. So we usually leave her in the crib if we need to concentrate on some short task without her crawling over.

But most days, the living room and bedroom are both her playground and she roams from one to the other with consummate ease... so I leave a little crate of toys for her in each room... but she's very good at leaving a trail of mess wherever she goes. And our little budding engineer just loves to go after the electrical wires and laptop and modem - all the forbidden items.

Look at her satisfied look when she manages to stand successfully.

See how straight baby can sit up now.

Dinner At The Old Pinke House

Had a good dinner at the Old Pinke House at 23 Abercorn Street. The restaurant prides itself in good southern food and hospitality in a quaint heritage house that was built about 200 years ago. I had New York Strip served with onion rings, asparagus and double baked mashed potatoes and chocolate tort (a type of cake apparently) for desert. For drinks, we ordered a 2001 Glass Mountain Merlot. I am not a wine expert but it tastes like a good full body wine and not too sharp or tart. The quality of the food was good, kinda expected from the price they charge.

Below is a picture of us at the restaurant. L to R, Ofer, Saul, Me, Leonard, Arnon.

Daddy is away

Hubby has been away for a work trip this week, so it's been just baby and me spending a lot of time together. But there was some variety too. Vivian asked us to join the St James nursery childcare session for a couple of hours one morning, so baby got to meet new faces and play with new toys. A couple of the toddlers there adored babies, so they made a lot of fuss over her. We also spent another afternoon with Vivian and Chloe and Lucas, and baby really enjoyed herself there. As usual, she's very well-behaved when she's not at home - seems like she already knows about impression management at such a tender age! Going out now and then makes baby's life more varied, and she also becomes happier at home. And this last week, we've grown closer together from sleeping and playing together too. Now, she'll even crawl towards me or hubby when she wants some attention or some hugs! That's really endearing. And even though she no longer showers strangers with her endearing smiles, she smiles a lot, a lot at us these days =)