Ssswing!

Over the past weekend, Fuzzy assembled a swing set that belonged to Chubbs' cousins. Because this is a hand-me-down, the original buckles on the safety belt were already broken. So Fuzzy used his old army belts (that don't fit anymore :/) to act as a harness, and Chubbs enjoyed himself fiddling with them. The sides of the swing are in the shape of giraffes, with cut-outs for Chubbs to hang on to. Chubbs loved swinging in it!

After a while, we realized that the harness was not enough to keep Chubbs in as he kept keeling over, very nearly falling off the swing. So Fuzzy added another belt across his chest. Chubbs was not too pleased with this.

Sorry, Love. We got to keep you safe :/

Pomegranate, Acai and Blackberry

Chubbs had a taste of some pear, pomegranate, acai and blackberry puree yesterday afternoon. It's a new flavour from Heinz and it's still not available in Singapore; Aunty Jan brought it in from Vancouver for little Chubbs some time back. I was hoping this new taste sensation will snap Chubbs out of his current eating rut... well, not so current since it's been going on for months :(

He liked the taste of it (because he didn't spit it out), but was unwilling to have much. I don't know if it's the texture, or being fed by a spoon that he doesn't fancy. But it's been like that with Chubbs for a few months already. He fights me at every meal, and all he wants are bananas, plums, grapes, rice cakes, pancakes, and snacks. I could take the easy way out and feed him those everyday, but he won't be getting the nutrition he needs to grow up well. I've exhausted almost all methodological permutations that exist in getting a baby to eat, but with no avail. It's tiring, it's stressful, and I need him to start eating properly soon.

Keeping his mouth tightly shut :(

Pushing the food away with his tongue :(

When Fuzzy Turned 33

Cottage Cheese and Milk

After seeing how much S's baby enjoyed his cottage cheese dinner the other night, Fuzzy and I bought a tub for Chubbs to try. We have delayed giving Chubbs dairy and soy products because he had colic (gas in stomach that resulted in non-stop crying for hours on end) and threw up a lot during the first few months, and it only went away after I cut out dairy and soy from my diet. He was sensitive to these foods, and was affected through breastmilk.

Unfortunately, Chubbs did not enjoy the cottage cheese at all. He violently rejected the mouthful and didn't eat anything else after that bite. I know this sounds strange, but I'm starting to suspect that Chubbs is naturally vegan :/ He doesn't enjoy meat/fish/egg/cheese, loves fruit and veg, and devours any form of grain or starch. If he had his way, he'd eat rice cakes, buckwheat puffs, sweet potato, bread, bananas, pumpkin, blueberries, etc, for every meal. But then again, I have read is many websites and books that babies tend to naturally shun foods that they know their bodies can't tolerate. I wonder if this is true for Chubbs. I tried feeding him eggs on 30 separate occasions (3 trays full), and he spat his lunch out every single time :/

But I will forge on. In efforts of increasing the amount of dairy in his diet, I baked him a batch of maple scones for breakfast. I used full fat fresh milk (Meiji), eggs, organic wholemeal flour, French butter and pure maple syrup. He liked it! Probably because it's carbs. But I'm happy, since I can get him to eat any egg and dairy by baking yummy treats. Yay!

If only he opens his mouth this wide when I'm feeding him :/

A Long Weekend of Gluttony

It is high birthday season August through to end of September for our families, and especially this week, with Fuzzy's and my F-I-L's one day apart. And naturally, we celebrate... by pigging out.

Starting with Saturday night, where we headed to Mitzi Cantonese Restaurant for some good ol' Cantonese cooking. We were served "peach buns" with lotus paste because it is a birthday celebration, followed by scrambled eggs with crab meat, sharks' fin soup (for everyone but me), deep-fried prawn and pork balls, suckling pig flavoured with lam-yu, buttered king prawns, deep-fried grouper with sweet and sour sauce, roasted chicken, stir-fried scallops with asparagus, stir-fried beef with kailan, egg noodles with chicken and dried mushrooms, and taro cream with lotus seeds for dessert. They got most of the dishes spot on. Very homely cooking, with no too bad an MSG attack afterwards. The suckling pig was the star of the show; crunchy, lardy, fragrant, moreish!

We stayed out way past Chubbs' bedtime that night. He was awake for eight hours straight (quite a feat for him), but was still on his best behaviour, playing with Fuzzy and I. The waitresses were also rather smitten by his smiles, laughs and chatter.

He likes looking into my eyes. Awww...

Check it out; the same facial expression.

On Sunday, Fuzzy and I met up with my friend, S, and her hubby, J, for dinner at Le Petit Cuisine at Serene Centre. We haven't met in months and I was keen to see how baby Asher has grown! The babies had their dinners with us as well. Asher tucked into a yummy bowl of cottage cheese, couscous, and avocado, while Chubbs had a home-made banana muffin and watermelon juice. For us, we shared a salad, I had the duck confit, and Fuzzy ordered a mixed grilled meat (two types of sausages, ham, pork chop, braised pork belly) dish with sauerkraut and potatoes.

I was hesitant to order the confit after our last not-so-pleasant encounter with it, but I gave it a second chance. The duck fared well enough this time, but the potato gratin was still too wet and sloppy.

Fuzzy's meal was a monster. Weak eaters don't stand half a chance against it. I helped him with quite a bit of the sauerkraut, and he still had left-overs. I think the problem isn't that there was too much food, but it was simply too salty. I could almost feel my kidneys screaming. We concurred that we'll come back for this again, when we are very hungry, and when we need a sodium high.

For a sweet ending, we trotted over to Island Creamery and had some scoops and the babies got to chat for a while. They were both getting restless, climbing over tables and chairs and trying to wriggle out of our grasps. So we called it a night and lugged our precious cargoes home.

Using the birthdays as a valid reason once more, we made reservations at Au Petit Salut on Monday for lunch with my in-laws, and Shan. Chubbs missed his nap, and was a little quiet at the beginning of the meal, sitting brooding in his chair.

But he perked up once I gave him his snacks. Fuzzy wanted some too, but Chubbs wouldn't share, because he knows that Daddy is no longer a baby. I wonder when Fuzzy will come to realize that :/

I know this is reiteration, but we are indeed boring people. We had escargot and onglet again (roll eyes upwards). I chose creme brulee for dessert, and Fuzzy tried the dark chocolate mousse with raspberries and rice crispies. It was 70% cocoa, and good!

Chubbs has this thing for pointing and yelling, "There!" nowadays. So we'd ask, "Where's the fountain?" He'll scan the area and do this cute response.

The owner of the restaurant, a friend of my in-laws, happened to be at the restaurant. She started playing with Chubbs and seeing that he was so friendly, she carried him for a tour of the garden area and to play with her staff in the restaurant. Fuzzy and I managed to finish our coffees before the little darling was returned to us.

I'll admit. We overate. Again. Let's just sit and rest our jaws.

(Maybe I'll have a coffee to help my stomach settle. A small slice of cake is also necessary to help soak up the caffeine.)

Spelt Pancakes

We cooked up a batch of spelt pancakes for Chubbs' breakfast this morning. Spelt is an ancient grain, that is high in protein (17%) and the fibre in it helps to reduce cholesterol levels. People with wheat or gluten sensitivites have been known to be able to tolerate spelt.

Fuzzy was in charge of the cooking.

Using organic spelt flour, sunflower oil, pure maple syrup (not maple-flavoured syrup please!), an egg, breastmilk, and a little baking powder, these pancakes turned out awesome! So much so that Chubbs ate one and a half of these palm-sized treats (and would have had more if we didn't stop him), together with a banana. The flavour is nutty and aromatic, and the pancakes did not have a gritty texture.

La Braceria

Fuzzy has been talking about La Braceria since he lunched there several weeks back with a client. I've only heard him being so enamoured with a restaurant, on two previous occasions; this place must be good. I've never eaten there, but heard that their home-made pork sausages are fabulous. So for September's special day, we made a reservation. Oh my... was it an amazing dinner.

We ordered arugula, tomato and Parmesan salad, clams sauteed in white wine, olive oil and garlic, grilled tenderloin, and linguine with langoustines in a brandied tomato cream sauce. You seldom hear me say this, but everything was downright yummy, and very nearly faultless!

The salad was a good-sized portion, and the leaves were dressed with the right amount of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I need to rave about these clams. I have NEVER seen a larger plate of clams before! It's at least twice the normal portion you get at other Italian joints. That's me dipping bread into the sauce because I simply could not wait for Fuzzy to finish snapping a photo. It tastes sooo good!

We slurped up almost all of the sweet, fragrant sauce. Fuzzy, who is not really a shellfish kinda guy, probably ate more clams tonight than he did his entire life before. This was our pile of shells after we've devoured everything.

Fuzzy's main course of beef tenderloin came on a bed of arugula, dressed simply but deliciously in lemon juice and olive oil. The doneness of the meat was perfect (something which restaurants always have problems with), it was tender, and the flavour was robust. It was even more wonderful paired with the huge glass of Sicilian Marabino we had.

I had an interesting pasta dish with langoustines (similar to yabbies) and brandy. I must commend them on the amount of seafood they gave with the dish. It made up almost 40% of the plate. The sauce was sweet with the goodness from the shellfish, and had the right amount of garlic in it. Most importantly, the pasta was perfectly al dente and the sauce did not over-power the delicate flavour of the langoustines.

We wanted to try some of their desserts, but Chubbs missed his late afternoon nap. So we didn't want to test his limits, and decided to call for the bill. There were four minor setbacks of the night though. The restaurant uses plastic crockery! Bread was not warmed. They could have used more fresh herbs in the dishes, to liven flavours and lift the dish. The baby chair Chubbs was provided with was poorly-designed. There's no safety belt, so he could actually climb out of it.

With good quality, quantity, and not too hefty a price, we're definitely going back to this hole-in-the-wall joint soon. And hopefully, the home-made sausages will be available then.

Another Weekend, Another Birthday

This time, our funky uncle, Tuck-Sook, turns one year older, and dinner was held last Saturday at Min Jiang at Goodwood Hotel. My previous experiences at this restaurant chain have been marked by bad service, and lower than mediocre food. Nonetheless, I went with an open mind, hoping that the current competitiveness of the Chinese fine dining scene would have done the restaurant some good. Sadly, it did not fail to disappoint, yet again.

Our appetisers of deep-fried whitebait arrived cold to the table. Crispy, but cold and way too salty. The cold drunken chicken was alright, as were the beancurd rolls. Next, I had pork and arrowroot soup, and Fuzzy had the shark's fin; both were average. We also had Peking duck, deep-fried Soon Hock, black pepper beef, Kurobuta pork chops, Hong-siew pork belly with deep-fried bread, fried Ee-fu noodles with crab meat, and white asparagus with cabbage. The worst dish was the beef. It was overly, artificially tenderised, and the meat was very stale. Even the strong black pepper flavour could not mask the foul smell of the meat. The Peking duck was far below fair standard. The piece of crepe used for each roll/pancake was too big, and we couldn't taste any duck skin. The white asparagus and cabbage were over-cooked to the point of being mushy, which is a waste of the seasonal, and expensive asparagus. The pork belly was not braised for long enough, so the meat was still slightly stringy and chewy. Best dish of the night (if I had to pick one) is probably the Kurobuta pork chops, simply by virtue of the good quality of meat used. The accompanying tangy sauce with onions was only so-so.

Despite the less-than-tasty dishes, what we were most appalled by, was the service, or the lack of it. Fuzzy doesn't think there was any service provided at all. First of all, we were given a table that was way too small for our company of 15. All of us were elbow to elbow, and there was no space for cutlery to be placed properly. The layout of the restaurant was so bad, the the waitresses could not reach some of their guests to clear plates (which we had to keep reminding them to do) or serve food. So I was passing dirty plates to the waitresses and getting clean ones in return to hand to the person beside me. Our teacups were also refilled this way, which is very dangerous considering Chubbs was sitting right beside me.

Bad food and service aside, the point of the get-together was to have dinner as a family and celebrate with Tuck-Sook. So we didn't really let the disappointing culinary skills of the chef get to us. Moreover, Chubbs was going around entertaining the Grandies and Great-Grandies, and the tables next to us. It was heart-warming to hear his squeals of laughter and babbling over the din of the dinner service.

But the best part of the night came when Fuzzy carried Chubbs to the lobby to listen to the live jazz band perform. Chubbs was mesmerized, and couldn't take his eyes of the musicians. He danced enthusiastically to the music (too adorable!), to the amusement of the performers and passers-by.

We came home for cake, and while waiting for everyone to arrive, Chubbs read a magazine to kill time.

He later proudly displayed his candle-blowing skills to birthday-boy Tuck-Sook.

The party only died down close to midnight, when Chubbs finally got to take his bath and get his beauty sleep.

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We told Chubbs that last night was a magic night because he would go to bed as a baby and wake up as a toddler. My heart aches, knowing that I can't call him a baby anymore; he's a big boy now :/

Our focus for his birthday was to do everything that we thought would be fun for him. Started out with cooking a batch of pancakes for his breakfast. I used wholemeal flour, and they turned out rather well. He liked it quite a bit, and finished one pancake the size of my palm, plus the usual banana :) This boy loves his carbs!

"Pancakes are yummy!"

Before and after.

Fuzzy cooked pancakes for ourselves too. This is fast becoming our new morning favourite. And I especially like them because they are lovingly cooked by my hubby :)

Fuzzy's stack.

After brekkie, we set Chubbs loose on all his birthday presents. He received them a few days back, but I told him that he had to wait till his actual birthday to open them. He had a blast playing with the boxes and wrappers; I think he might have enjoyed that part more than playing with the toys themselves!

"Where do I start?"

"Helping Daddy free the toy from its box."

He finally gets to play with one of his new toys, intently examining the hammer that's a part of it. Notice the bruise on his forehead? Sigh :(

Once Chubbs had lunch, we set out for the zoo. Chubbs has been very interested in animals recently. He watches the hundreds of lorikeets and parakeets in the trees beside our house, mimics the sounds of hoofs, etc. So we figured he would enjoy himself at the zoo. It was also Chubbs' maiden voyage in his new car seat, Moo.

Chubbs donned his hat, Fuzzy put him in the hiking harness, and we are off!

Chubbs checked out the polar bears.

And the mini horses.

And the elephants (holding tails).

And the white tigers.

And the penguins. He was wondering why they were smaller than his friend, Penguin-San.

Our favourite moments of the day must be the penguins, the baby pygmy hippo, the polar bears, the white tigers and when we caught the lions in s scuffle. Their roars were really intimidating, and we could even feel the vibrations in the viewing room.

We left just as the park was closing. Chubbs took a short nap before his dinner, and it was time for cake-cutting (again). As you can tell, he was very happy with his cake :)

I prepared his banana cupcake for him, and this time, he almost finished the whole thing for dessert, after having eaten salmon, butternut squash, buckwheat puffs and a plum! He must have found it very tasty:)

What was left of the cupcake after he had his way with it.

Before we called it a night, we left Chubbs burn off some energy by putting him on the floor, and allowing him to crawl wherever he pleased. He looked a little lost at first, but found his bearings once he saw the lap-top, and made a beeline for it.

He made the most of his day, only retiring at 11.50pm. I'm excited, yet sad to see my precious baby grow up. He was just 2.95kg bundle 1 year back; now, he's 10.7kg. I can't believe how far we've come, and how well Chubbs is doing. There are still days when I want to pull my hair out because of the frustrations involved in caring for Chubbs, but amidst all the challenges, there is no doubt in our minds that he is the most amazing part of our lives. For everything that he is, I'm honoured to be his mom. Happy Birthday, my sweetest Love.