Conquering 3 Quays

13 April 2013

This Saturday morning, we did what we normally do on weekends, which is to stroll and have our brekkie near the riverside. Today, however, was a bit different cos we ventured to a new riverside. From Robertson Quay, we walked to Clarke Quay and continued to Boat Quay, conquering the three Quays! This mini adventure took us about two hours, inclusive of breakfast. Wayne was awesome, skate scooting throughout the long journey - not a complain from him at all! At least up till the point we reached Boat Quay, and we discovered that the river boat we had planned to take for our return trip back to Robertson Quay was not available. He was so disappointed, as he had really looked forward to going on the boat ride. We ended up taking a taxi home. Hehe.

It was a good workout for us all (how long has it been since I last sweated it out?!) and the scenic view we had to accompany our morning walk was a bonus point!

Meal times are happy times

I was preparing Amanda's food over the weekend and enjoyed it so much (though it involved nothing difficult!) and I was reminded of the times I experimented in the kitchen preparing meals for Wayne three years back. I remember the satisfaction I got from just preparing healthy nutritious food for him and watching him gobble them up. It was really fun, and now that Amanda has started her semi solids, it's round two of the much enjoyed experience! I try to prepare two kinds of puree during weekends and freeze them, with supply for about 5 days.

It has been three months since Amanda started semi-solids at six months old and so far she has had her share of apples, pears, plums, carrot, broccoli, pumpkin, potatoes, avocado, sweet potato, fish, chicken, spinach, french beans, papaya and various kind of cereals and brown rice. From single grain rice cereal, to two grains, and now multi grains (up to 7) as well as brown rice for her porridge. She has just recently also started having puffs and biscuits - kor-kor Wayne's favorites in the past, and mommy and daddy's 'hope' towards having Amanda on the dining table that bit longer.

Brown rice and pasta

While Amanda has tasted all the food mentioned above, it's not all to her liking and Amanda is one girl who doesn't hesitate to show her dislike! Especially at the first taste. She scrunches up her face, seals her lips tight and uses her hands to push her spoon away. But I've come to realize, after some persistence on mommy's part, and a few more tries, she usually grows to accept the new taste and finishes her food.

So which was a yay and which a nay? Generally she liked the vegetables and meat but not so much the fruits. In fact, the pear was the only fruit she didn't scrunch up her face in disgust and scream at the second spoon feed. I foresee a lot of patience will be needed to force this little girl to open her taste bud to all kinds of taste and textures - and good thing mommy has a lot of that! 

This time round, with Amanda, mommy has the Beaba BabyCook, which mommy absolutely loves. Its so convenient to steam and puree her food, as its done all-in-one using this Babycook. You can even cook rice with this. And the accessories are so pretty, it is such a joy to prepare her food. Mommy is a fan of Beaba and am so glad daddy bought this for me. Looking forward to more meal times with Amanda!

Various meal time photos:

10 March 2013

Cereal with Avocado

9 April 2013

Blend of pumpkin and sweet potato 

14 April 2013

Amanda was having french beans with cereal

Apple puree for in-between meals

Clay Cove - Part I

Thanks to the rain this morning, daddy didnt have to go for soccer and so mommy took the opportunity to bring Wayne for a pottery class for toddlers at Clay Cove. It was our first (of a package of four) lesson and it turned out to be really fun. When we left at the end of the 45 minute session, Wayne exclaimed that he wanted to be back next week.

Oh ya, mommy didn't know that the classes here were independent classes for the kids, meaning mommy was not supposed to accompany him throughout the class. But being the sticky-yummy-bear kind of a kiddo, he of course didn't let me go anywhere out of sight. BUT he promised that in the next lesson, he would attend by himself. We shall see. =) Which is another reason why we are keen to bring Wayne for such classes, hopefully it exposes him a little, step by step, towards independent participation and interaction with other people. 

Mommy had a good time learning a bit about pottery making too, which is actually the process of turning clay into ceramics. Some of the ceramics done by others were really pretty! I can't wait to see how Wayne's plate turn out - yep, in his first 2 lessons, he would be creating, decorating and painting a plate. Wayne had fun playing with the clay - squishing, squelching, pinching, poking, rolling and pounding the clay in the process.

The whole process started with a soft ball of clay which Wayne had to roll and flatten. 

 Reminded him of the croissants he made with sanyi and yiyi

 Next was to cut out a circle shape - first resemblance to a plate

 Picking out the letters of his name, and stamping it on the bottom of his plate

 Its his own personalized plate

 Then the decorating started - he first made a caterpillar at the sides and did lots of stamping all over the plate

 Ta-dah.. plate halfway decorated

 Adding on a butterfly at the side, just beside his caterpillar

 Teacher Belinda adding in a smiley face on his caterpillar

 And he was done!

 Showing off his plate

 The plate decorated and ready for the next step in the pottery making process..

 ...which is to go into the oven to be bisque fired. After which, his plate would be ready to be painted in his second lesson next week

Some clay artwork done by others.. being dried on the table

And some of the end products! I'm sure Wayne will enjoy the next session very much, given how much he enjoys coloring and painting these days. Looking forward to seeing Wayne's colorful ceramic plate!