From the length of this post, I'm sure you can figure that we had a really full day. It started off tastily with home-cooked sugary vanilla French toast, coffee and Fuzzy and I shared Chubbs' banana breakfast. After Chubbs' nap, we zipped off to his PD, Dr. Chan, to have the fall documented, and get his first pnuemococcal jab at the same time. She gave him a clean bill of health after checking his motor and visual responses and he took his injection bravely. However, the semi-solids made Chubbs balloon a little. He now weighs 8.6kg... that's a 6% gain in three weeks. Thing is, I don't even feed him the semi-solids until he turns away (the sure sign that they can't take another bite) because the food should not be filling him up. At this stage, they are just tasting, and the bulk of the calories and nutrition should still come from breastmilk. Nonetheless, I do feed him roughly the daily recommended portions to get his accustomed to eating. Dr. Chan's diplomatic comment is that "he's well-padded" :/ We checked with her about his talking too. She says that he shouldn't be talking until at least 10months, and if he is saying "hai" already, he probably doesn't mean it. Haha. Another case of over-zealous parents :/
At the PD's.We were then off to Ikea, where we frequented every week before Chubbs came along. There's always something to buy there! Today, we picked up shelving units, a book rack and four photo frames. After the mandatory hot dog, we used the car ride to lull Chubbs into a nap, and drove to our bakery haunt, Provence, at Holland, for my weekly dose of Cream Wassant and Milk Bun. Next stop, Bukit Timah Plaza! Fuzzy needed supplies from Popular as he is currently crafting a surprise for me :) We also picked up some organic Pink Lady apples for Chubbs' next edible adventure.
Finally we got home, in time for me to peel, core, cube, steam and puree the apples for Chubbs. Apart from the occasional blemish expected in organic produce, the apples were very sweet, fragrant and a little tart. I froze most of the apple sauce, and decided to feed Chubbs the extra that could not fit into the freezer cubes. He loved it and so did Fuzzy, who licked the blender clean!
We also introduced Chubbs to water for the first time. Dr. Chan suggested that we give him a few teaspoons now that he's on semi-solids, and because he is so active. I didn't expect him to like it since it is urm... tasteless, but he gulped it down, licked his lips and asked for more. He must have found it refreshing after the super sweet apple sauce. Good boy!
Dinner reservations were at Bistro Petit Salut at Chip Bee. Their sister eatery at Harding Road left us wanting more, so we celebrated today by checking out the original outlet to see if the two places match up. The Bistro has a relaxed feel to it, and diners who do not mind the humidity will enjoy the candle-lit al fresco dining.
Chubbs vetoed this outfit before we stepped out of the house.
Our baby was chirpy in his special seat on an adult chair. He sat playing with his teether happily until we were half way through our mains. Then bedtime loomed and he decided to serenade our fellow diners with his (in)famous shrill chorus. To entertain him, Fuzzy introduced him to the chefs. Chubbs promptly reached out to shake their hands (this is his new favourite thing to do). I must say my son has quite a firm grip.
Food-wise, Fuzzy had escargots (again) for starters, and I opted for the seafood platter with prawns, baby scallops, baby octopus, and salmon tartare. My hubby liked the snails and thought they tasted better than at Harding, but the flavours on my seafood platter were rather "off". The octopus was overly garlicky and salty, the salmon was bland and the prawns had been given the bicarbonate of soda treatment, lending them a crunchy, rubbery texture.
We chose the same dish for main course. It was a meat platter with home-made pork sausage, a piece of sirloin, a piece of onglet, and confit of chicken leg. They were all well-seasoned and well-cooked. It's an excellent concept for people (like us) who sometimes can't decide what to have. I feel that the small portions of different meats help me enjoy them more, as opposed to one big hunk of the same something. To accompany the copious total amount of meat, we ordered a glass of Bordeaux and a Burgundy to share. The wine was good, but the small glasses they were served in did not do the wines justice. The bold, complex flavours in the 2002 and 2004 reds were not allowed to develop. We were so keen on pigging out that I forgot to take pictures before we started on the mains. Here's what's left at the end.
We both wanted the Mont Blanc for dessert. The combination of chestnut puree, meringue, whipped cream and vanilla ice-cream sounded heavenly. But Fuzzy was sorely disappointed by it, because the puree was not sweetened (he likes everything sickeningly sweet) and had a gritty texture. It made the "sweet" ending a very bland one. I loved the smooth, creamy gelato though. The other let-down? The all-important cup of coffee was not part of the set dinner.
The service was, again, impeccable. The food was passable, mediocre, forgettable. But the company and time that the three of us shared, and the lasting memories are priceless. Fuzzy and I concur that we do love our little family meals so.
