Bibinogs Term 1 - Lesson 7

My baby boy is amazing...yes I'm a proud mummy of his! With much enthusiasm today, he enjoyed his music and movement, story-telling , phonics and even ART! Yes, he finally allow me to hold his hands to do his art, using the cork and paint to create a picture of a bunch of grapes. I left his artwork in school as its paint was still wet. During the mandarin lesson, he was a little restless and  I tried to cuddle him and rock him gently side to side (so he can stay still during the mandarin story-telling time), however within seconds, he fell asleep in my arms! I was quite amused, one minute he was an excited monkey having fun during the English lesson but fell asleep instantly when the mandarin teacher took over...

Letter of the week is G, Gary the Gorilla !

Egg Yolk Custard

Separate egg yolks from the egg whites (especially for babies 12 months and below) before adding in your home-made vegetable stock and a little milk powder for the added calories and also for the custard to have a smoother texture. I prepared my vegetable stock earlier and froze them in the freezer.

Mix them well, cover the cup/bowl with aluminum foil and steam for approximately 10 minutes.

A simple and easy high-tea snack for babies.

Trial Class @ Julia Gabriel Centre- Playnest (6-18 months)

I've been contemplating to go for a trial at Julia Gabriel Centre, especially when many have compared it to Bibinogs, the playschool that baby Reagan is currently attending weekly. 

I took the 1pm time slot but due to the congested traffic at Orchard,  we were nearly 20mins late when we reached the school. Fortunately the first 20 mins was free-play time with the toys laid out on the mat, so I guess we didn't miss out anything much. There were around 5 other babies and parents with 3 teachers in the class.

After the toys were kept, all of us sat in a circle and sang the greeting and introduction songs. The teacher brought out a bear puppet and went around interacting with the babies. I made Reagan give the bear a big "Hi-5" and encouraged him to pat it gently. Next is sensory play and the teachers distributed different types of spices such as cinnamon, star anise..etc for the babies to explore with their sense of smell. Reagan was very well-behaved during snack-time as he sat at the children table, waiting patiently for the teacher to fill up his bowl with some organic biscuits which tasted quite tough and tasteless. Next is the outdoor play-time at the indoor playground outside the classroom. Reagan gets to play on the slides, mini ball-pit and the different car rides. Lastly is music and movement as the teachers played the piano and sang a few songs accompanied with actions.

Firstly, I'm quite impressed by the facilities, with an indoor playground and their own library where the kids can borrow storybooks. I also enjoyed the music & movement segment which was very lively as the teachers sang out loud with the piano-playing. But to compare to Bibinogs, both of them have really devoted and dramatic teachers, but phonics and the mandarin segments are not included in Julia Gabriel's playnest course. Furthermore, there are TWO free-play sessions during the lesson which I wonder if it's necessary to have repeated free-play time.

Anyway I've registered a new term for Reagan at Julia Gabriel since he left one more month with Bibinogs before his term ends, and I thought of a change of a new environment for him. However last week Reagan was having fun in his Bibinogs class and he recognizes his teachers and had much fun during the story-telling and songs sang in Bibinogs class. He is still loving his zoo-phonics and can focus very well during that segment. Therefore I made a decision to sign up Reagan for another term at Bibinogs, and deferred the Julia Gabriel course to the month of July instead, as I do not want both schools to overlap. 

Reagan's Sunday Brunch @ The Coastal Settlement

Reagan's first Sunday brunch with my girls, and his beloved god-ma who was truly so excited to carry him around the playground despite the humid hot weather. Below are some of my favorite photos taken by Jess.

 With his god-ma.

 Mummy enjoyed the day as much as him too...

Reagan @ 10 months (adjusted: 8 months old)

Words to describe him: Engaging, Observant, Calm, Alert, Excited, Smiley & Lovable.

Eating together with baby

We are trying to make it a habit for baby to have his meals together with us, on his new high chair.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

Just add a little cheese and yogurt to the broccoli puree and here you'll get a warm bowl of healthy cheesy broccoli soup for your little one.

 Just to share the brands of cheese and yogurt I used for my baby boy. I used cheddar but would recommend using cottage cheese or cream cheese instead as cheddar is more "sticky" and not as creamy.

m

Spinach Pasta with Minced Chicken

 Today I decided to let him have a taste of pasta, instead of his usual daily porridge. I chose buckwheat as I read that it is one of the more nutritious choice of pasta. 

While waiting for the pasta to be cooked, I prepared the spinach and minced chicken by steaming them first before mixing them together with the pasta. If your baby can chew semi-solid food, then the pasta is soft enough and ready to be eaten. Otherwise, here comes my favorite part ... pureeing them!

The texture can be quite dry after they are pureed, and that's when the vegetable/chicken stock that I prepared earlier come in handy. Throw one cube inside to moist and add flavors to the pasta.

After Hubs bought me a handheld blender, making purees have become so fun and easy. I can say I've been even more hardworking because I no longer freeze my purees but wake up early every morning to make them fresh daily for my baby boy.

Flash card factory review

After my first flashcards order from MyLittleOnes (read review), I was tempted to order more cards, but this time from another website called the Flash Card Factory. We had a little problem with the bank transaction earlier but luckily it got through successfully. Still, if I get to choose, I would prefer cash on delivery. Unlike MyLittleOnes, there are no free delivery for any minimum order though. However if I were to compare, the paper quality from MyLittle Ones is better than Flashcardfactory, thicker with both sides glossy. Better quality cards are durable and make speed-flashing a breeze. However in terms of the colour pictures quality, my vote goes to Flashcardfactory, with bigger and clearer pictures on plain white background.

I should quickly fix my colour printer so I can continue making my own cards for baby Reagan.

Polliwogs @ ECP

 An indoor playground that provides great work out for the kids to drain off their high-level energy. But with a 10 months old baby, it's more like a tedious work out for the poor mummy instead.

The Organic Grocer review

Since I have a baby who is going all organic, I tend to search for places or even websites that sells organic food, especially fruits, vegetables and even the meat. I chanced upon this The Organic Grocer's website and decided to give it a try.  Free home delivery is opted as my order hits $150 and above.

I received the confirmation of all my orders via email, which also states the delivery time to be from 3pm- 7.30pm. However the goods arrived at my place late at 8pm. Initially I thought whether I would be lucky to receive them earlier, maybe before late evening so I can use the new vegetable I ordered to prepare my baby's dinner tonight. Well,it would be nice if everything just goes my way of course.

I was in the kitchen preparing baby's snack when the delivery guy finally came at 8pm and collected the money from my maid after she signed on the invoice. There are certain things that did not make my first-time-ordering a pleasant one, which I will elaborate below.

Firstly, of course it would be polite if I was informed either by call, text or even email, that they're going to deliver my items late. Luckily we were at home to receive the goods after they reached my place half an hour later from the stated delivery time. If I happened to bring my maids out with me and no one is at home to receive the goods, then it will be all troublesome again to arrange another delivery timing or worse if they charged me with another delivery cost.

Secondly, the frozen chicken and fish I ordered were totally defrost and dripping wet by the time they reached my place. To prevent contamination and also for hygiene purpose, I felt that the frozen meat should be packed in an ice box during the traveling journey, or maybe be put together with some ice packs to maintain the cold temperature. It makes me wonder how long the meat have been out from the freezer, especially when they were delivered to me that late. And now I've doubts in using the meat for my baby's meals.

Lastly, right after the delivery guy left, my maid handed me the goods and I checked that they had left out the organic infant milk powder. Immediately I called the hp number stated on the invoice but there was no answer. So, I left an email and an sms to ask if they could check whether they have left out the milk. I regretted not reminding my maid to check the goods first before signing the invoice and passing them the money. Within like 5 minutes, I received an sms text stating that they have no more stocks for the organic milk and will refund me the overcharged amount via paypal. Once again, no initiative to inform me earlier about the out of stock item even after I received the CONFIRMATION of my orders. Furthermore I was only told that my infant milk powder was out of stock UNTIL I checked that it was missing from the goods on the actual day of delivery, and also UNTIL the delivery guy left and UNTIL I was the one that questioned them about the missing item first. So if I did not check and did not question them about the missing infant powder, would they still take the initiative to let me know after that? And if the delivery guy was aware, he should also make known to my maid about the extra cash that she handed him. I think the problem here is probably the lack of clear communication between their internal staffs.

To round it off, I received no apologies for the uninformed late delivery, late notice of the out of stock item and the overcharged invoice either. Neither did I send them any feedback as I don't think it is necessary anymore. I don't think I'm going to be their repeated customer, unless I really need to get something which I've trouble finding it elsewhere. However they still deserve some credits in terms of their reasonable pricing and also their wide range of organic items, from food to even toiletries, household products and even health supplements. I managed to find my organic chia seeds and sugarless organic marshmallows from them too.

Well, hopefully other customers have better ordering experience with them.

Chicken & Carrot Puree and Chicken stock

The only meat that I've been using for baby Reagan's porridge is either snow cod fish or black cod fish. This week at 10 months old (adjusted 8 months old), I've started to introduce chicken into his meals. I bought chicken thighs from the FourSeasons Organic market, steamed them, removed the meat and pureed it with carrot. You can also choose to puree with other veg such as peas, potato, spinach etc, to get a smoother texture.

 The lean part of the chicken, such as the chicken breast meat is higher in protein but lower in fat. But I chose the thigh meat because it is higher in iron and fat, at the same time it is easier to puree. And of course the taste and texture is nicer than the chicken breast, and it's important especially when I need to make his first taste of chicken meat experience a good one.  I chose organic chicken for his first year of food consumption because it's free from hormones and antibotics. They are quite easy to find compared to organic fish though, however I managed to find a place that sells organic fish, which I will blog about in another entry soon.

As for the bones of the chicken thighs, I used them to make my chicken and vegetable stock for baby. The below recipe is also shared with me by my lovely cousin.

Chicken Stock recipe
Chicken bones

2 onions

2 leeks

2 carrots

2 sticks of celery

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Throw them together in a pot and bring to a boil then reduce the heat until the liquid is simmering rapidly. Simmer, uncovered for about 4 hours, skimming and foam that rises to surface. Remove the bones and strain the stock. You may wish to simmer longer to make it more concentrated and easier to store. I stored them the same way as how I kept my vegetable stock.

Again I estimated the quantity of the ingredients and simmered only 2 hours + because it was already late at night when I was preparing this. I would simmer it longer if I've more time to watch over it. 

Bibinogs Term 1 - Lesson 6

I'm glad that baby Reagan managed to recover from his cough and flu before his lesson this week. He was the only student who turn up for class though, probably because it was still the CNY week. However my boy was in a superb mood today! He goes all cheeky and smiley once he saw his teachers whom I think he might have already recognised.

Three things that he did to surprise me in class today. For the very first time, he kept the toys into the box during the clean up time! Usually I'm always the one who do the keeping of toys for him but today, the teacher asked him to put the toy he was holding into the box, and he DID! He surprised his teacher as well and she made him do it again and again. I'm glad he finally understood that during the "clean-up time", he is supposed to pick up the toys and keep them into the box.

 Secondly, he enjoys the story about the farm animals and sat throughout the entire story. He was so eager that each time the teacher flips the page slowly, he would tilt his head awkwardly to peek at the next page or moved his arms wildly as though signalling for the teacher to turn the page quickly! We can't control our giggles at all.

Lastly, finally Reagan has learnt to shake the egg shakers all by himself during the music and movement segment. Usually he would just hold the egg shakers and observe them like some precious dinosaur eggs. Or else he would stare at me blankly while i dance and shake the eggs shakers for him. Today he picked them up and when the music was played, he smiled broadly and shook them by himself to the rhythm!

 It's just the small little things which he picked up along the way that excites me a great lot. Yes and we rewarded him with lots and lots of kisses. Keep it up darling, mummy is so proud of your little achievements today!

Today craft session was messy! Since this week is letter "F", we were supposed to do hand-printing with paints to create a Flower. Mummy helped him with his artwork of course. He likes to feel the mushy paint with his hands but shows much resistance when I tried to control his hands to prevent him from rubbing his eyes or putting them into his mouth. Alright then he started whining away....but luckily the bubbles-blowing time managed to distract him.

Daddy joined him during snack-time....well actually because his paranoid daddy spotted paint on his baby's face and rushed forward to clean him up..

 This week is letter "F", Fanny the Flamingo and this is Reagan's "Flower hand-printing" artwork.

Lastly, a video of him during the zoophonics segment in class.

 

Homemade Vegetable Stock recipe for Babies

The below vegetable stock is shared by one of my sweet cousins who has two beautiful kids herself. She usually prepared this healthy stock weekly and use it to add taste to her kids' porridge, pasta or their vegetable puree. The ingredients that I use for baby food are usually organic, bought from either the Market Place Super Market, FourSeasons Organic Market, Cold Storage and NTUC Finest.

Baby's homemade vegetable stock

2 large carrot

2 large onions

2 celery stalks

1 turnip

10 black peppercorns

1 bulb of garlic

pinch thyme

pinch parsley

1 bay leaf

Peel all the vegetable and chop them roughly. Put them into a large cooking pot along with the peppercorns and the herbs. Cover them with water and bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer for an hour. Allow broth to cook and strain the vegetable. The vegetable stock is ready!

I didn't really follow the recipe exactly as I estimated the quantity of the ingredients used. At the same time, I had some leftover organic potato on my kitchen counter and so I threw them inside the pot as well. 

After cooling the stock, I store it in ice-trays and freezes it before transferring into a ziplock bag. So each time I need to use the stock to prepare my baby's food, I just throw in a cube.

So what to do with the used ingredients after we kept the stock? Of course you don't have to throw them away. Well, I blended the left-over ingredients into a thick puree, add water, cream milk and a dash of salt and pepper, and turned it into a bowl of healthy creamy vegetable soup for the adults. 

Ta-dah!

CNY 2013

This is Reagan 's first Chinese New Year celebration with us, however he was down with fever, cough and flu, the ultimate triple combo virus.I blamed it on the unpredictable weather these few days and also his daddy whom I believed that Reagan might have caught the virus from him. With a bad cough, running nose and thick phlegm stuck in his throat, he showed much discomfort and was not at all in his good mood and best behaviour this CNY week.  In almost every of his photos taken, his eyes were welling up with tears and mucus dripping down his nose. 

Baby Reagan's first "Lo Hei"

 

Baby Reagan gets to receive angbows...but he seems more interested in the oranges..

 It's not as easy feat to take a good family picture with a sick and cranky baby...but we tried and this is the best we can get..

 On the 3rd day of the CNY, our baby boy's fever subsided but we still have to battle with his cough and running nose. He would struggle and cry hysterically each time we attempt to force-feed him with his medicine or to wipe his dripping mucus away. However his mood was much better today, at least he smiles again when we talk or sing to him now.

And because he has also been vomiting his meals out during his cough fits, he lost nearly a kg and looked even more malnourished. When he recovers, I promised to invest more time and effort in researching for recipes and preparing his food personally. Hope to "fatten" him up before his 1st birthday.

Mommy and daddy understand you are crying because you are uncomfortable and upset over the awful virus-attack. Our heart aches each time you cough uncontrollably until you spew vomit out from your mouth and nose . We know you will get well soon...love you always, our darling boy.

Bibinogs Term 1 - Lesson 5

(For the previous lessons (Term 1, lesson 1-4) that Reagan attended at Bibinogs, please click here. )

Baby Reagan had his lesson again at UE Square and this time we arrived earlier and spent some free-play time in their playroom. I didn't realize they had a playroom during my last visit. So this is one plus point that UE Square has over the Siglap branch. Basically it's just a room with floor covered with soft mat , filled with toys and activity station, a playhouse filled with colourful balls, slide, rocking horse ..etc 

We were first to reach so we got the entire room all for ourselves. I hopped around the place with my Reagan ,"baby baby play the slide! Wow see! Let's sit on the horse! Wow look there's a house!" Hubs thought I was definitely more excited than him. And , I thought like all other babies, Reagan would enjoy the rocking horse and the slide, however he was more fascinated in this ...a wooden table with maze and spinning blocks..

I got bored with the table maze and tried to pull his attention back to the rocking horse. But even though I carried him away, he turned his head to look at the maze with his arms outstretched. Ok fine, and so I carried him back to the table again where he spent the next 10 minutes playing with it. Well, if I'm a kid I'll definitely choose the rocking horse though.

I love Reagan's serious and engrossed facial expressions during class.

Letter of the week is "E", so the teacher invited Emos the Elephant to class. It is always very hilarious to see how Reagan reacts when puppets, soft toys or anything with fur comes near him. He will make this weird face, blink his eyes repeatedly and shivers as though he was being tickled. The teachers and other parents had some good laughter watching Reagan's exaggerated reaction. 

Lastly his art work today, chick popping out from the EGG.