Mama away from home

First time away from little man, he seems to be doing fine but not Mama. Mama slept past midnight for the first time in months and got up at 6, as usual.

Papa joked about Mama enjoying the bed all by herself, without fear of night awakenings. Mama is trying to enjoy my 2 nights in Bangkok but have made 2 calls back home already (and it is only 8 a.m.!)

Travelling for work is not going to be easy. Ever.

Food of love for the little man #7 - quinoa

Little man started quinoa 2 days ago. This morning's brekkie with the nutty flavoured seed:

 

1/4 cup of quinoa cooked in 1 cup of water for 20-25 minutes. Fluff with fork then add applesauce and pureed pear (1 cube each), then serve!

The boy in his spiderman suit from Auntie Samantha. The little man has outgrown yet another baby wear, the spiderman wannabe can barely fit his thighs through the bottoms (and this is a size 80!)

 

Getting the little people to like their brown rice porridge

Yesterday's dinner was brown rice porridge with pureed pumpkin and green pea. Little man took it with no protest and was for the first time screaming (literally) for more. Granny cooked 2 tablespoons of ground brown rice in 225ml of soup stock for more than half an hour over a low fire and the texture was extremely smooth. And so, Mama knows now that little man is actually okay with his grains, just that time is the essence.

Food of love for the little man #6 - oatmeal cereal (with pics)

A thawed frozen cube of pureed peach and 1/4 cup of ground oatmeal.

 

 

 

Little man took his breakfast heartily in record time!

Food of love for the little man #6 - oatmeal cereal

Finally started oatmeal this morning. Man, this should be done way earlier. Little man gobbled down and finished his food in less than 15 mins (this is record time for brekkie. On some dreadful mornings, Mama spent close to 45 mins at the breakfast table with the little one, whose impatience shot up as the clock ticked).

Recipe for morning's brekkie
1/4 cup of ground rolled oatmeal
1 cup of water
1 oz of peach puree

Method
Simmer 1 cup of water and as it boils turn to low heat and add in the ground rolled oatmeal. Keep whisking and cook till desired texture (should be done for more than 10 mins for oatmeal to be well cooked for the little tummies). Add in 1 cube of peach puree and serve!

Sidenote: Mama's Mama is here (FINALLY!) and she did the feeding this morning. Mama's Mama is happy (for seeing the cute little one), Mama is happy (for the 1 month worth of home cooked food), Papa is happy (for longer mornings spent in bed) and the little one is happy (for the company and the love!)!

Hip hip HORRAY!!!

Food of love for the little man #5 - wheat germ

Little man's brekkie this morning: 3 tablespoon of brown rice cereal with 2 oz of breastmilk, a tablespoon of wheat germ and his all time favourite - banana!

Food of love for the little man #4 - salmon

Little man getting his fish treat: 1oz of salmon + 1 cube of green pea + 1 cube of pear

Food of love for the little man #3 - brown rice porridge

Little man's breakfast (looks more like risotto than congee): 2 tablespoon of ground brown rice cooked in 225 ml of soup stock (pork round, carrot, sweet potato and pumpkin slow boiled for 3 hours) and broccoli florets on slow heat for 15 mins then top with mild cheddar cheese. Unfortunately Utt seems to not really enjoy grains.  He took almost 45 mins for his meal. He still prefers his applesauce, pear and banana. Next on the food adventure list is salmon fish!

 

About how a (going to be) 8 month old has changed our marriage

It has been  long time since I blogged about anything that is non-Utt related. It is hard to believe how our lives have been over the last few months, revolving around the young chap at least 90 percent of the time. Papa said time over time that our lives have changed - not essentially a bad thing but well, Mama couldn't agree more with him. On the other hand, Mama seems to have forgotten how things were previously. Things didn't just change in a snap of my fingers but the forced transition has come in a rather predictable fashion (though loaded with much unpredictable events). Mama also find myself loving Papa abit differently now. Well, this is again not something bad. It is just part of growing up (old) with someone who would be in your life for a long time. We still do silly things and make silly jokes together, but we definitely have less time for them now. And when we decide to visit a new restaurant our main concern would be whether it is kids friendly (i.e. whether we can save the rest of the diners from a possibly fussy baby). The last time we were out shopping, we ended up in the kids' section.

Mama is still resisting the idea of co-sleep. Papa is so not going to like it because sleep is very high on his priority list in life. As for Mama, I am a super light sleeper and with the little one on the same bed would mean lots of sleepless nights. The sleeping arrangement is still working out ok for now and I don't know how long this is going to last because I heard about how bad things are when the tiny ones start standing up/ walking and make the biggest fuss ever when trying to get out of their crib. The moments before heading to lala land is also the time I spend doing my last chat of the day with Papa so this is a treasured time.

With the little one, life seems to involve many plans and ironically many uncertainties. This is probably what makes parents beam when sharing experiences of parenthood.