Dylan’s 14th month update

Food

A month of savory discovery,….even junkfood discovery….

The challenge of taking care of #2 is that he always wanna do what #1 is doing. And it is unfair to restrict the freedom of #1 (Bryan)…Well, as if he wants and can be restricted la. So whatever that Bryan do or eats, Dylan wants too.

So he has been introduced to

• Dominos pizza *GASPS*
• McD fries *GASP* GASP*
• McD fries WITH Ketchup *GASP* GASP* GASP*
• Prawn crackers *GASP* GASP* GASP*GASP*

Ok la..not just junkies but also healthy homecook food

• Millet porridge
• Oat & nestum cookies
• Sesame cookies
• Cakes & muffins
• bread & prune pudding
• Okonomiyaki – without seasonings but with cheese
• Cream of pumpkin & carrot soup
• Pasta carbonara –without seasonings
• Baked salmon
• Homemade pork meatballs
• Scallops (since he didn’t get any allergy from the prawn crackers, I’ve started to cook scallop porridge for him)

Above are just what I have prepared / fed him. I don’t know what else my parents have been feeding him. This guy can eat & eat non stop. This lil guy is pretty good at eating solids though he has only 5 teeth.

Everytime I pick him up from my mom’s place, it is quite common to see this guy eating something, eventhough he had already had his dinner – sesame cookies, fruits or asking for bites from our dinner plate.

He can stuff the whole McD fries into his mouth, chew chew and swallow without gagging. We gave him whole fries to hold and chew the first few times. When he starts stuffing them into his mouth whole, I tore subsequent offerings into smaller pieces. Just in case he chokes.

He loves to self feed. I will cut the cooked vegetables into small pieces and he would happily feed himself using his hands. If I tried to feed him instead, he will say “Na Na Na” (Take in Mandarin). It means that he wants to take the food himself.

Just wish he’ll take more milk. Maybe he is too full from solid to take more milk. But main problem is feeding him milk from the bottle. He is still fully bf, no plans to introduce formula yet coz I have more than enuff milk for him since he drinks so little fr the bottle. Probably will delay until he starts day care end of this year.

At least he is drinking a lot of water nowadays. Since I introduced the straw tumbler to him, it is no longer a problem for us. That goes to say again that we don’t have to worry about kids not wanting to drink water if we do not give them water as an infant. Dylan did not have a single sip of water until he is above 6 mths. Below 6 mths, he had only 100% breastmilk, no water and no solids. Yeah, it was a little challenging when we started to intro water to him, but we’re over the hurdle.

When it comes to food, we are certainly less strict with this guy compared to Bryan. Why? Because he wants to eat what Bryan eats. For eg, we have never let Bryan have fries with ketchup until LAST SUNDAY. But when Bryan has his fries with ketchup, Dylan gets to try it too…. Guess he is really lucky to have a gege

Vocabulary & conversation skills
New words added this month

• Star
• Book
• Ge Ge (brother)
• Ah Chor (Great grandma), he says this in a very funny way…the chor is pronounced very rapidly
• Rabbit
• Bird
• Fan
• FWog (Frog)
• Wahwer (flower)
• Bahbai (Butterfly)
• Fwog (Frog)
• Cold / Lern lern (this boy starting to speak in dual language)
• Chou le (Gone already)
• Pu yau (don want)
• NO
• Na (take)

Fetches things for us upon instructions

It is really fun to talk to him now as he is starting to “converse” with us already. Last month, when he said certain words, we weren’t sure if he knew the meaning of the words we said, but now it is really obvious that he knows.

A few weeks ago
Mummy: Do you want nen-nen?
Dylan: Mei You (shows no more sign)
Haiya..it is “Pu Yau” or don’t want la, not mummy don’t have milk. Yeah, occasionally, he will still get confused.

Last Saturday at SIL’s house, he was playing with his cousins, then realized that I was no longer in the room. So he wandered to the living room and said,
“Mahmee leh? Mahmee leh?”

Motor skills

• Able to run and brake to a stop
• Learning to climb my cabinets
• Learning to use the spoon to self feed
• Want to use the chopstick as well…. *faints*

Other skills

• Recognizes our car as we approach

*Sigh* I really feel he is growing up too fast. I oredi miss my baby.

My Little Picassos

The best part of having an elder brother is – you get to do whatever that he gets to do.

As usual, after breakfast, it is outdoor time before their morning bath. This time it is painting. The last time Bryan painted, Dylan was still confined to his Bumbo seat. But this time, you think he will quietly sit and watch his gerger have fun meh?

Even the last time he was already making noise wanting to join in.

Looks like Bryan is right handed & Dylan is left handed right? And not bad for Dylan’s first time attempt huh? Got design sommo..like some abstract painting.

But no, Dylan draws with his right hand too…still too early to tell.

The boys look so happy, enjoying their painting hor. But when it comes to kids, it is not always smiles one la…sure got cry oso one…

My porch was a complete mess by the time the kids finished playing. And Bryan smudge paint on my cream colored leather sofa on the way to the bathroom too. Luckily the paint comes off the sofa easily, otherwise sure kena from his dad.

The key element for the kids to have fun is that we parents must learn to keep one eye close. If everything also cannot, then no need to have fun liao.

Bryan got paint all over himself, face, hands, legs and needless to say his PJs. I do have a paint apron but since he is painting on the floor, I doubt the paint apron can provide good “protection”, esp on his pants, so no need la. It is more hot to wear an apron. Anyway, it is just water color and is washable. Just need to dab detergent on it and wash it immediately and it will come off. BUT I did not wash it immediately, but instead waited until the end of the day to wash with the rest of the laundry. So now his PJs got extra designs but who cares?? I know I don’t.

The Best Gift

Long time ago, I wanted 2 kids – a boy & a girl,
Min 3 years different, 5 even better, cause I am scared that I can’t manage.

Years later, I have 2 kids,
A boy and then another boy – and just 2 years 3 months apart

A year later, baby is now grown up,
Didi loves Gege,
Gege loves Didi.

Sleeping, eating, playing and bathing together,
Scold one and make one cry,
The other one will cry as well,
Missing each other when the other is not around,
Boy it is so much fun to have a brother.

I am so glad that I have 2 boys,
Even wished that their age gap is less now,
So that they can do even more things together.

I am so glad that I have 2 boys,
Cause the best gift that I have given my son,
Is the gift of a brother.

Bubbly splash

Bryan loves bubbles, loves bubble bath. Dylan loves bubbles too, but has never had a bubble bath.

Until recently, only Bryan gets to play bubble bath, cause hubb said that the tub is too small to fit both kids.

Last Saturday, hubb went out for dinner and I took care of the boys alone. As usual after an early dinner, I will let the kids out to play. Unfortunately, it started to drizzle, so I let them play at the porch instead. There were puddles of water at the porch and Dylan got on his fours and started to splash the water around with his hands.

I din really care, coz I am planning to give them a bath later.

Hmmm…bath? How about a bubble bath?

So I squeezed both kiddos into the small baby bath tub. Add some bath toys & empty containers. And here comes some fun…

Yes dearies, Mommy will definitely let u guys play this again, and mommy will also get u a bigger tub.

Walk & Be Happy

Both boys slept until the late evening yesterday. They only woke up at 630, and that also because I woke them up. If I had left them to nap…they may sleep well past 7pm.

Anyway, I have their dinner ready and we promised Bryan that we will take him to Sunshine Square’s McD for apple pies & Milo once he finishes his dinner.

Both boys were angry to be waken up. And both cried and protested. So we took them downstairs, and I proceeded to keep my laundry that I had hung at the porch to dry. Dylan waited for me at the main door, and he heard some dogs barking. So he was excited and said, “Dog, wou wou.”

I told husb that since both boys are grouchy, we should go for a short walk before dinner. Just around the neighborhood. Hubb was lazy and doesn’t want to get out from the house. But I insisted.

So we put D into the stroller and off we go. I can see both the boys mood lifted as soon as we got out of the house. It was just a short walk, for them to see some birds, the neighborhood cats, dogs and a rabbit. Someone kept a rabbit at an empty house, and we always make it a point to stop at that house for the boys to look at the rabbit each time.

Then we took the back lane next to hills back to our house. Hubb saw something scurrying in the bushes. It could have been a squirrel or a monitor lizard. I have spotted huge monitor lizard, probably 5-6 ft long once. Anyway, Bryan got scared…can see his funny scary face. Kakakkaka… And when I wanted to carry him closer to the edge of the bush to look at some wild banana trees, he was so frightened. I showed him a little red insect on a leaf and he was frightened too.…. Haizz..my little city boy!

But this mommy is very notti one. Scared also insist on showing… Haiyo, no need to little bit little bit scared one mah… I also grew up in the city, but I am not scared of this and that also la.

Anyway, he eases up a bit when I assured him that there is nothing to be frightened about.

It was probably just a 10 mins walk but the boys got home in a happier mood. And both of them finished their dinner in a jiffy as well, and we left for Sunshine Square after that. And Bryan ate 2 apple pies, French fries & almost an entire cup of Milo at McD. You would think that he did not have his dinner earlier (vegetable soup with alphabet pasta & millet)

Hubb, remember he was grouchy to get out of the house…he got stung by mosquitos on his arms & legs. He swore that the mozzies was trailing and attacking him the entire way.

Neither me nor my boys got stung…. Hahahaha…serves him right for being grouchy!

My charming baby

Yesterday, hubb waited in the car while I went upstairs to fetch Dylan from my mother’s house. When he saw me…he said, “Papa there…Papa there”..and pointed to the door.

Hmm…I think he meant “papa where” or he thinks that his papa is outside the house.

Anyway, when we got downstairs, hubb carried him and placed him in the car seat, and he said “Papa papa papa” while patting hubb’s chest.

For a while in the car onwards, all Dylan said was, “papa papa papa” while giggling happily.

I told husb, “Wah, today he very syiok you hor.”

Then soon, it was “Mami, mami, mami”

Husb said, “Your turn now”

After a while hubb and I resumed our regular conversation and ignored our baby at the back. We have not fetch Bryan from school yet. So I guess Dylan was feeling a bit lonely at the back, cause the next thing he said was,

“WOAI, AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

Yes dear yes dear, we are still here….*tickle tickle* *peekaboo…chak*

Family photographs by Ming & Mich

When Bryan was 1, we went to a photo studio for some professional shots of him and one of the family. Though the photos were nice. They had a “fake” feeling to it. I still prefer photos taken outdoors than in a studio.

So when Dylan turned 1, we want some professional shots as well. Of him and most importantly of the family. Since I have a DSLR, I can always take nice photographs of my kids, but I need someone else to take nice photographs of us..with ME in it.

So I turned to Ming&Mich, 2 of my close photo buddies who had just ventured into freelance commercial photography.

The photos were taken a few months ago, but their website was not ready yet, and when their’s was…I did not have the time to write about it.

Of course, we also took the kids’ potraits. How can i miss that opportunity right?

More photos here .

I liked the photos A LOT! Too bad the kids were not very cooperative. They were too busy with the grass..with the dried leaves…wateve than to focus on the 2 pretty photographers.

My poor frens had to sing songs, act funny, use funny voices etc to attract their attention…but still the grass is more attractive,…esp to Dylan. Hehe..can’t blame him coz that’s the first time we put him butt naked (well, almost) on the grass.

If you are interested for some professional, non studio photographs of your babies, your family or yourself, do contact Ming&Mich.

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