All about PLAY!

The long weekend is all about play for Zachary and he also picked up a new skill.

Scribbling.. I bought this mini draw board from Toys R Us as a Christmas pressie Zach. He ignore it at first but on Friday morning, he found it amidst his toys and start scribbling. We showed him how to push the slider to erase the drawing and he mastered it within seconds.

He then upgraded himself to pen and paper. No prize for guessing where most of the ink landed, on his hands, legs and floor!! I hope he will stay on paper and pen before crayons..I can only imagine my walls.

His long weekend began on 31st Dec 2009 when we brought him to Punggol Marina for Shabu Shabu dinner. He was very tired that day but still refused to sleep. He enjoyed watching people fishing and at the same time, littering the floor with bits and pieces of torn tissues...psst.. between you and me, Zach torn about 1/2 box of their tissue..oopps!

Not in his best of mood

He did not go to sleep till past midnight but we did not watch the countdown on Ch 5 because I am busy catching up with my TVB drama, Rosy Business.. hahaha

He slept past 10am on Friday, just in time to wake up to enjoy the Raisin Buttermilk pancake I made him..he took a whole piece + 1/4 of mine.. he has a very big appetite. Weather was good and we were contemplating to go for a swim or Polliwogs for him to exercise. Decided on the latter.. but I forgot to apply sunscreen on him so he end up with more than tanned cheeks..hehehe. Must remember next time ya.

He had alot of fun at Polliwogs, climbing up and down, going down the slides, venturing. It is a good place to bring him.

He knocked off the moment we drove off!

Joanne SMS-ed me on Saturday morning organising a playdate at Polliwogs! Hooray that Papa said yes.. we went at 3.30pm and saw Summer and Daniell with Darrell.

Zachary

Summer

Daniell

Clarice and Ashlynne were slightly late.

Ashlynne

Clarice

They have a ball of time. Most of them knocked out after the play except Ashlynne. She's such a hyper baby..cute! We parents had dinner at Kenny Rogers after that. Clarice was snoozing, Zach trying hard to snooze, Summer & Ashlynne were 'egging' each other..hahaha. Too bad, no pix to post.

We will organise another play date very very soon.

Technical Glith

Something is wrong with this site... lazy to get it rectified now because Zach is very whiny today, maybe because he is having slight runny nose and is prob teething.. he better be because he is going to turn 13mths and he only have 4 teeth still and they are not even fully grown! Hahaha

Mickey and Friends

Busy Sunday for Zach..

Brought him to East Coast for some sun and sand play. Weather was good..the sun is out but windy at the same time. Both of us love the sun and we do hope Zach will too..lucky for us, he is okay with it.

As expected, he is scared of the sand when we put him down. Took a while for him to touch the sand using his hands.. I ventured further by carrying him near the water..he screamed! Hahaha..he pulled up his leg not wanting to touch the water further. Supposed it is too cold for his liking.

After 15minutes, it is time for breakfast.. yummy yummy at Old Town.

Head home for him to rest and he actually fell asleep after 2 spoons of cereal..ooppss..

Daddy needed to get a pair of shoes for their wedding dinner next Saturday so mommy suggested we go to Vivo for a short shopping.. She wanted to drop by Toy R Us to get some toys and let me try on the Little Tikes slide before she consider getting it for me. Ooopss.. our house is really slowly filling up with my barang barang..pai seh

We got lucky cos mommy spotted some promotions on Mickey (umbrella @ $10) and there was a show at the atrium!! Hooray.. mommy asked daddy go shop at Zara on his own while she bring me to watch Mickey & Friends.

Donald, Goofy, Minnie, Mickey and Chip & Dale all came out one by one. I am quite excited about it. My first time watching such show.. however, I think mommy is more excited and happy than me cos she kept singing all the Christmas song with them..

At night, daddy was a real gem to bring us to Tanglin Mall to catch the 'snow' show.. mommy woke me up so that I will not miss out on the fun.

It was really fun-filled day...not the usual boring whole day shopping at Centrepoint or Tangs. We will definitely do this more often..

Moo Moo Party

05 Dec 2009, Zach woke up earlier than his usual 7am! I don't mind it at all because it is his BIRTHDAY!! He turns one today.. yipppee. I am more excited than he is, having sleepless nights few days before today. Afraid and worried that his birthday party will be a flop, bro couldn't rent a helium tank, what if there is too little food? what if the cake is a total disaster and don't match the price I paid?

After planting a huge and wet kiss on him.. brought him down to meet his grandparents. This would mean his usual routine in Klang, watching the fishes gobbles down the food..haha.

7.36am a year ago, Zach was carried out from my womb, crying even before Dr Soong spank his butt. Grandpa says Zach is a smart boy, cry before someone spank him..hahaha.

Out to the world for the first time

Fast forward to 2009, he is lying on my lap drinking his milk. I love having him on my lap drinking milk. Nothing beats latching him but I shall not dwell into it anymore..as long as I still get to cradle him, I am happy.

Got style even when drinking milk in his urine sogged diaper

We decided to let him play the choose-your-destiny game. I am not the superstitious type but for the fun of it..

There's no drumstick for him to eat nor stepping on the big ang ku kueh etc. He wore shoes long before he even turn one and he hates wearing shoes. Mabbe it is because of his big big feet?

His party starts at 7.30am and went into full swing by 9pm!! All of us at home clearly adore Zach..everyone went the extra mile to ensure that he gets the best. Thanks everyone from Zach, mommy and daddy.. most of all, the ang pows, presents and love.

Presents and more presents! Zach can open a toy shop

The preparation

Alas, Zach wasn't a very good host. He was cranky and whiny the whole night. It is probably due to the early start of the day and rushing in and out with me the whole day, only catching a few winks of sleep here and there. A peace-loving baby which dislikes loud noises, he is especially disturbed with our neighbour holding his bachelor party ala KTV style. So all the Hokkien songs were being belted out in style while my son is crying away..

Star of the day

Party ended past midnight! There's leftover of food and cake but mostly were tapao-ed back by my relatives for breakfast, lunch n dinner the next day.

Ooohh..I must rave about the cake from Just Heavenly! Just like the name...it is simply just heavenly. Rich chocolate fudge cake with a Barnyard Animal theme. I love the way the ducks were swimming happily and the pigs were frolicking in the mud.

Hand-crafted cake

Zach will enjoy the photos when he is older..

Zach is ONE

The twelfth month.. time really whizzes by! Zach celebrated his 1st Birthday last week in Klang with my family and close relatives.. it was a grand affair. He will have another celebration with our close frens, his frens and daddy's relatives on the 19th. Ai seh.. mommy don't even have such luxury of celebrating birthday twice.. lucky chap!

By now, my little cheeky monster is not only getting cheekier, louder, smiley than he was a month ago, he is also able to:
1. Walk holding on to furniture. Sometimes, he tries to be a brave little man and try cruising holding on using one hand and another hand waving. Braver gesture is to move from one furniture to another one close by.
2. Play patty-cake: Zach was able to do so months ago..
3. Drink from cup: and mess up! That's his forte. Somehow, he knows how not to swallow the water and the moment I remove the cup, he will open his mouth to let the water flow out. He will then proceed to play with the water on the floor. Eeekkss..
4. Pick up tiny objects: If he can use his thumb & index finger to peel out those small embellishments from my shirt, he have not problem picking them up from the floor. Haha
5. Stand alone momentarily: We tried this on him several times a day to give him some confidence, usually about 10cm away from us. I will let go of his hands and he will throw himself on me after few seconds. The longest was 5 seconds!!
6. Say dada or mama: No mama yet but he calls his daddy fondly as Pa Pa. He refers me a Eh now..hahaha
7. Play ball: Zach can roll the ball back to us if we play this with him. Recently, he is able to net the ball into the basket by watching me doing it several times. Zach is like me, learn through observing.
8. Spouting gibberish: Yes... we get that alot from Zach. I will reply him with things that may interest him such as "You are right, this is a bus and there is the wheels on the bus. You remember the song?" and I will start singing the song to him

Besides the usual developmental milestone, Zach is able to:
1. Pat on his tummy to signal that he is full
2. Tap on his chest to tell us that he is scared *duh..dunno where he learnt that from*
3. Wave goodbye and say bai bai
4. Do the action of 'pai pai' (prayer gesture)
5. Shake his head to signal no
6. Using his hand to sign 'No More'

Zach wean himself off porridge when he was a week shy from turning one. I am not sure what is the trigger point but everytime I cook porridge for him, he will only eat a few spoonful and turn away.

I decided to try fish bake rice and he took all of it! So for the past 2 weekends, it is rice for him, bake rice, steam rice with pork, bah kut teh..hahaha

Now that he is one, I started him on some table food but most of the time it is safe food like chicken, fish, pork and tofu. I have yet to let him try food that contains cow's milk in full yet. A small tub of yoghurt, 30ml, will cause him to have rashes..so no formula milk for him but goat's milk instead. Costly but do I have a choice?

Art Work

Zach's very first artwork from his Julia Gabriel Holiday Camp..as the class theme was Bird, most of the program revolves around birds of diff kinds.

We're so proud of his artwork that we pasted it on the wall.

Yummy Pancake

Thanks to Jessey for providing me with the recipe for Buttermilk Pancake, I tried it over the weekend.

Zach loves it and mommy loves it too.. shall have this again this weekend.

The Scariest Virus

My poor boy barely recovered from his viral fever last month when it attacked him again on Friday wee hour in the morning! I woke up at 5am only to felt him feverish. Administered Paracetamol, 3ml as per the bottle instruction. His fever did not subside but I could not give more med cos the instruction said 6-hrly. I can only wait and stick the cooling gel on him. He refuse sponging, not sure if it is cos of the cold towel.

Day 1 of his fever. Daddy is pushing him around the house, hoping to get him out of his crankiness

By late afternoon, his fever went up to 39.2 degree, which is the highest so far. I bugged hubby to bring him to see his PD at Parkway Parade (he's on duty at night) but he actually refused!! I was so pissed off with him. End up we went to Kinder Clinic at Sengkang! No medication was prescribed but was asked to give him Brufen and Paracetamol, 2.5ml each at 3-hrly interval. I find it too much but as long as it can bring my baby's temp down, anything is okay.

I realised he is especially weak when he took Brufen. After few times, it no longer have any effect on his extremely high temp. Being the paranoid mom, I decided to bring him to KK Children's A&E on Saturday, 12am!! Not helpful at all.. FAIL BIG TIME!! Next time, I will pay extra to go private hospital..

Today is the 4th day Zach is having his fever. Though it is no longer hovering around 39.8 to 40 degree, it is still fever to me! I stopped Brufen and only gave him Para... hopefully by tomorrow, I don't have to give him any other medication. I feel sick giving him medication, he is so weak and sleep most of the time. He even lose weight. He is so skinny.. I wanna cry!! Must feed him more when he recovers fully.

Day 4 of his fever..happier baby. Must be the ample sleep he is getting. Mommy needs the rest too

Happy 11 Month Old, Zach

It's the Eleventh Month!! Mommy is counting down to his big birthday bash. No details were overlooked.. still have some loose ends to tie but mommy got it all thought after and will be taken care off in no time..

Zach is still the same cheeky monster that I wrote about a month ago. Frankly, despite our (babysitter and me) effort to feed him bigger portion of food, more carbo and dairy (yay! He is finally slowly recovering from his allergy), he is still of the same size few months ago. My parents gonna nag me about it when they come over this weekend. How come still same size? Like never grow leh..arrggh.. I alr feeding him with a cheese stick alternate day, yoghurt alternate day, 3 meals of porridge daily, 4 bottles of milk consisting of 210ml each.. i consider that alot but what to do? Zach is super hyper-active, one moment he will be here and next moment at another place.

His progress in his 11th month:

Get into sitting position from stomach
> He prefer to be on his tummy if he is playing with his toys.. tapping his feet away just like an adult but he can get into sitting position real fast. Maybe with his light-weight body, it is ultra easy? Maybe he can be a gymnast like his uncle?

Pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger
> Hmm.. I never leave any tiny objects on the floor but I did try giving him tiny objects like his baby biscuits (xiao man tou) to hold but he will not want to hold it. Does that mean he fail in this?

Understands No but not always obeying it
> Zach probably champions this statement.. we (Daddy and I) is always telling him NO when he is near the TV console and what our cheeky monster will do? Turn around, give us a grin and continue his destruction mode.

Play patty cake or wave bye bye
> Clapping started when he was about 6.5 months old and recently he will clap when he is happy and sometimes before bed time when I sing him his nursery rhyme, he will clap as well. In excitement, he will hit me with both his hands while shrieking.
> I find that he has his good days and bad days. In good days, he will wave goodbye to me, but on a bad day, he can't even be bothered to take a second glance at me. :(

Walk holding on to furniture
> A recently mastered skill which he at times trying to act macho and let go immediate to reach the opposite side. This usually end up with him falling down. Hehehe

Point or gesture to something to get needs meet
> If I am carrying him while sitting down, he will tap on my shoulder to get me going. If he wants his milk, he will know how to pull and tug my shirt and give me that look.

Say Dada or Mama discriminately or other word
> He can say Papa clearly but I wonder does he really understand the meaning of it? He will shout out Mama when he is desperate for me to carry him.
> Beside Papa and Mama, he does blabber in full sentence most of the time but I can't really catch what he say "Bye?", "Bus?" "Ba?"

That is Zach, having some of mommy's b'day cake and calling out toPapa

Play Ball
> Give him the basket ball, he will know how to net it. Give him the soccer ball, he will throw it to you. Give him the colored balls, he will roll it on the floor to you.

Even though his learning skills are not as fast as other babies born in the same month or later than him, I am nevertheless happy that he is growing up strong and healthy. It is every mother's wish to have their offspring to be healthy.

Upsize Me

Mommy bought this Threadless bodysuit few months ago. It was meant for 12months and above but it seems way way way too big for Zach.. this boy can still fit into bodysuit meant for 6months old..

He don't seem to be growing sideways despite eating alot! Mabbe I should start stuffing him with ice cream and cakes!

See his 2 tiny bottom teeth??

We were at Orchard on Sunday and Christmas deco were all up.. mommy is pestering daddy to bring us to Orchard Road at night so that Zach has the chance to see the lighted up deco.. it is so much nicer than last year's deco.

There'll be no Christmas tree at our house this year. Zach would probably push it down like what he does with the other decor at home..will wait till he is older.