Busy baby

I am beginning to understand the significance of when people say that babies grow up so fast.

My! My! Indeed they do and my god! It does seem like Spud is just growing right before my very eyes.

Just a few months ago she was this little red lump who would not stop crying, and wanting to be held all the time. Now she is this tiny little busy person who’d try to wriggle her way out of your arms in trying to get herself on the floor. She keeps herself real busy crawling her wobbly crawls just about anywhere clamouring over stuff and grabbing on to anything which allows her to pull herself up in to a standing position. She is also now very able to sit upright without any support when she’s had enough crawling, and has been able to keep herself occupied for a good 5 minutes at least being busy with stacking cups or just watching Animal Planet.

Spud’s a very busy little imp these days, and I feel so exhausted just watching her go! While it is indeed a little too early for a 7 month old to be walking, this little imp seems to be quite hell-bent in beating the odds. She tries all the time, and every single time she pulls herself up to a standing position, she immediately moves one of her feet forward. Sometimes I swear I think she thinks she can already walk, as right after she gets herself into a standing position, she forgets that there’s nothing for her to hold on to as she moves her other foot. Guess what happens?

Yep, this is usually the point where she loses her balance and if we are not there to catch her fall, plop! she’ll go on her side, crash to the floor and then a little pause before she wails her loudest drama-mama wail.

Sometimes it is quite hilarious to just watch her (and I mean it in a very endearing way). And each time she tries, I have to remind her that, No Spud, it is nice that you are trying but no darling, you can’t quite walk yet and neither is your body physically ready to allow you to walk at the moment. But, you can keep trying though!

Spud is certainly developing personality of her own. And, being extremely determined and strong-willed seems to be one of the few distinctive traits she has shown.

One thing we noticed though, Spud does not seem to care very much for toys. I mean she does acknowledge them and play with them for a little bit, but that’s about it and so far, she has not shown any sort of attachment to them. She loses interest in them quite quickly. She does get all intrigued with the L.A.B.E.L.S she found on her toys, though. Those labels is able to keep her occupied for quite a while. How weird is that!

Here are just some random shots of Spud doing her thing:

Share the happiness

This was a really awesome campaign. I thought it was brilliantly executed as it expounded on the idea of sharing the happiness all around to truly engage their consumers. I'm not advocating consuming sweet, sugary beverage, but this is definitely one of the campaigns that makes me feel all warm and tingly inside!

Freezing patooties!

The humid, hot weather took a turn a few days ago. It was rainy and stormy in the last few days…and then last night, the temperature dropped down to a cool, possibly less than 22°C.

When I entered the bathroom this morning, half asleep, I was rudely awaken by the slap of the cold air from the bathroom right smacked on my face. We could feel the cold air swishing by into our apartment, and consequently able to freeze our sad, tropical-weathered patooties off !

It was probably quite cold last night that we had the cats snuggling with us for a good dose of the night. Fudge was quite the heart-tugger --- she actually crawled into our duvet cover and wedged herself in between Silver Bullet and me for some human warmth and comfort. She was there ( I think!) almost throughout the night, and constantly adjusting herself against me to get herself comfortable,

I found out that it is now apparently a cool 18°C out there as I got to the office. Quite strange weather conditions here in Bangkok, considering that the hottest season of the year should have already started.

When it stays cool like this for a few days, it is still, however, one of the loveliest weather in Bangkok. And I am definitely not complaining!

Siam Paragon: The Basement

An impromptu suggestion made by Silver Bullet to visit Siam Ocean World saw the three of us adventuring down the basement of Siam Paragon Shopping Mall in no time at all over the weekend. Yep. You read that right. Siam Ocean World in Siam Paragon.

In fact, it is apparently purported as the largest aquarium in Southeast Asia - 10,000 square metre aquarium filled with marine life, right-smacked in the heart of downtown Bangkok and occupying 2 levels of an upscale shopping destination. Sounds weird, I know...but it's true. And you know what, extremely convenient too!

Last we brought Spud to Siam Ocean World was when she was only about 3 months old when we had played host to Silver Bullet's subordinate who was here on training. She was still so young then, but we remembered her being intrigued by all the colours she saw. She seemed particularly hyper and got all excited by the jelly-fish. I think she also got overtly stimulated by  the end of the trip that she had a (more than a) tad of an issue sleeping well at night; waking up several times and crying hard. I wonder if she was having nightmares about the jelly-fish then!

This time though, a little bit older, she seemed to be really intrigued by the penguins and the big fish. She missed the jelly fish as she fell asleep towards the end.

What made this trip memorable for us though was that we realised something completely coincidental and un-orchestrated as we sat down and made a pit-stop at a rest area to feed her. We had unceremoniously introduced Spud to fish for the very first time that day while in an area full of fishies! Funny that.

Siam Ocean World is open daily from 9 am to 10 pm. The admission fee however, can be quite exorbitant at 900 per adult if you are a tourist. It is, like any other attractions in Thailand, a two-tiered pricing place where Thai nationals pay much lesser. However, the first time we went with Spud in tow, we were actually offered a discounted rate (without us asking for it!) since Silver Bullet were able to produce a Thai driving license as prove that we reside here. (I only do not need to open my mouth and I pass of as a Thai!)

For that, we pay a not-so-hefty amount of less than 600 baht for the two and a half of us. (infant is, of course free). For that amount, it makes a casual visit to the Siam Ocean World almost all worth it.

Spud and the curious penguins

The Ragged-Tooth Shark!

The Ultimate

This must be one of the ultimate compilations of funny cat videos ever! Only watch it if you have 7 minutes and 49 seconds to spare. I like the bit @3:02.

Blardy fahnee, can!

First memory of food

At one of the talks I attended on the topic of Baby & Toddler Nutrition, we (the mothers who attended the talk) were asked to share the earliest memory of food when we were a child as we introduced ourselves to one another.

I thought it was a nice way to start a workshop on baby’s food. I did not even have to think very hard and immediately, my thoughts went to my mom’s home-cooked food. Even though it was so long ago, it felt like as though I was digging in to the last bit of cookie that was left in a very deep cookie jar. It was nice, it was rewarding and the memory still makes me feel warm and tingly inside. It was special. It was, actually, more than just special.

Image from Google

Still etched in my mind were my childhood memories where, I distinctly remember my mom whipping out food she prepared from home whenever we had a family day out over the weekends. It did not matter where we went; it could be the zoo, the bird park, the beach, the botanical gardens, the waterpark…and when it was time to eat, there was my mom’s home-made Nasi Goreng, Nasi Lemak or Ayam Goreng! I distinctly remember the Nasi Lemak being wrapped up in banana leaves in the old fashioned way, and the Nasi Goreng carefully packed in a tub of Tupperware.

As a kid, I did not understand why we never get to eat at McDonald’s or KFC or Burger Kings like the other kids. At such an impressionable age (I think roughly at 5- 8 years old), I remember feeling envious of other kids for having such privileges. I think I even felt rather mad at my parents for shoving only home-cooked food to us at that time!

I guess I was too young to understand anything then. But, looking back, of course I realised the reasons for my mom not encouraging us to eat “outside food” was not only because of economic reasons (they were not very well-off and it was extremely expensive to eat out) but for health reasons as well.

Up till now, I clearly remember us taking a break at whatever it was we were doing by finding a nice and cool shady spot to tuck in the food which my mom magically whipped out from one of the tote bags she totted along. I think I can still remember what the food smelt like! Little did I know that those habits nurtured at such a young age had actually made a very big impact to my life; especially now that I am a mother.

As time goes by, I realise that I’m being more like my mother. Thinking back, before Spud came along, I used to prepare simple food from home when we take a long drive out of Bangkok to get through the journey. It could be simple sandwiches, fried rice or Mee Siam and I would be more than happy to make the time to prepare it the night before we leave.

I guess I am a foodie by device and the appreciation of home cooked, healthy meal can be nurtured from a very young age.

It is my hope that Spud too will appreciate home prepared meal in her later years and that her memories of food is going to be as special as my memories of my mom’s home-made food that were all prepared with nothing but healthy ingredients and loads of love!

A cat-owner's doing

This one absolutely cracks me up. The person behind this has got to be a cat owner for only cat owners can relate to somthing like this!