Rewards of motherhood

When Lara gives me one of her melt-your-heart smile when I go to get her in the morning, like she is extremely overjoyed to see me and I'm the only person she wants to see.

When Lara's tired, she holds her arms out and presses into me. Sometimes Husband holds her, but she whinges and looks to me to hold her. Of course, this behaviour is not openly encouraged (because I don't want her to be too clingy) but it's secretly enjoyed (it's my one-sided thought that maybe Lara did remember all these times I got up to feed her in the middle of the night!)

When I cough, Lara copies me by clearing her throat and doing a fake cough as if to say "oh poor mummy I hear you." Grandparents saw what Lara did last weekend and suddenly, everyone had an itchy throat...

When Lara eats all her meshy food and looks like she really enjoys it and wants more.

When someone pays Lara a nice compliment.

When I go into Lara’s room to check on her, usually after she sleeps for too long. She's at the top of the bed, maybe turned around, maybe on her tummy, clinging onto the corner of her blanket, still fast asleep.

I see them as my rewards of motherhood. These moments don't come often enough, but when they do, you forget your sore arms, achy back, lack of sleep and all is worth it.....

The cooking bug

The cooking bug stayed in our house for the last couple of weeks!
We have made a few "new" things:
Husband did orange shortbread (twice), pizzas (again) and his own pasta.
I made wontons and zucchini slices (yummy, everyone likes it). Baked a lemon yoghourt cake (nice), a mocha yoghourt cake (it's more like a chocolate cake, can't really taste the coffee) and a loaf of banana walnut bread (using our bread-maker).

There are many other things I want to try in the next few weeks. On the list of desserts to try are Cream caramel, Lemon Delicious, Carrot and pineapple cake, and Lemon tart.


Photo: Banana walnut loaf. Nice to have with peanut butter and honey or marmalade.

[37 weeks] First wave?

In the last few days, when we waved at Lara, she would rasie both of her arms as if to wave back at us. It also looked like she was dancing.



This is her waving with one arm.

Lunch at Temasek

Lazy Sunday lunch at Temasek in Paramatta today. Yummy!

Mixed Entrée.


Husband's Mee Go Reng.


My Prawn laksa.

View from a Retirement village

This photo was taking from the balcony of a 2 -bedroom retirement home.



Last weekend, we went to an open day of a retirement village near our house with Parents-in-law. "Village" is the good word to describe this place, it is huge and still expanding. There is a cafe, a beauty salon, a cinema (20 odd seats), a swimming pool and a gym, all within the premises. The place was buzzing with people on a beautiful Saturday.

We looked around three display homes, two were new with good views but very small for their huge price tags in my opinion. It wasn't a bad way to spend a couple of hours - we had nice sausages for lunch (free courtesy of the retirement village) and Lara was happy looking around with her Grand-parents. However, I just can't get rid of the sad and depressing feeling this place made me feel.

Parents-in-law have been talking about downgrading to a smaller place so there is less work to do around the house. Father-in-law plays golf and still goes to the gym and Mother-in-law enjoys ceramics, sawing, and gardening. They are hardly the types of people I associate retirement or nursing homes with. We couldn't hide our surprise when the subject was first mentioned. The main reason Parents-in-law gave us for thinking about this option was that "they don't want to burden their kids in the future".

We didn't like the idea at first, but after listened to the particulars of this type of arrangement, like the idea even less. The entry expense is not small. The on-going expense is huge. And when you leave the place (voluntary or involuntary), there are different rules on how much 'capital gains' they are entitled to take away from you. If you want more attention or special care, it will cost you a fortune on top up that, and that's no guarantee you will get what you pay for. No wonder, the shares we owned on companies specialising in retirement homes were doing very well. BUT WHY are we robbing our elders??

Luckily, after last week's visit, Parents-in-law are actually put off by the idea now. Even though most people visited that day looked fit for their age, we did see a few frail people - people walking around on walking frames and being pushed around in wheelchairs. Mother-in-law decided afterwards "I don't feel old yet. I'm not ready to go into this type of accommodation". Thank god!

That's life, isn't it? It's joyous to watch your baby grow, on the other hand, it's so sad to watch your parents get old.....

Morning bliss

It has become a nice routine since a couple of weeks ago. In the morning when Lara starts babbling, usually the first sign that she is awake, we bring her to our bed for a few minutes of lie in and some cuddles before feeding her in bed.

Believe it or not, Lara didn't like (maybe "not used to" is more accurate) lie-down in bed with us. Lara has always slept in her own room. The first night she was home, we wheeled her bassinet to our room. As all new parents, we worried that she would stop breathing, we thought we could hear better if she was next to us. We stirred every time she breathed a little louder, needless to say, we didn't sleep much. On the second night, we wheeled her back to her own room and she has been sleeping there ever since.

We adopted Mother-in-Law's suggestion of early morning feed in bed because we thought it would be nice if Lara is used to lie down with us in bed. It is a very special time, when we just start to wake up, to have just a few more minutes of lie in snuggling up to Lara. It is becoming one of my favorite time in the morning!


Photo: Lara falling off to sleep in her pram.

Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday was our 8th wedding anniversary. We were going to go to an Italian restaurant that received a good rating from 'The Good Food Guide' but at the last minute decided to go to the Sydney Botanical Garden in Circular Quay instead. It was such a warm and sunny day that it would be a shame to do anything else but spend it outdoor.



We left home just before mid-day so the first stop was a lunch stop at a Japanese restaurant in China Town. I had nabeyaki udon (or seafood noodles) and Husband had katsu don (or fried chicken on rice). Lunch was nice and very good value. One small thing to note - While we were at the restaurant, there were these 2 ladies eating at the next table. Just before they left, one of them (might be the daughter) came over and told us that Lara was the cutest girl she had ever seen. It was unexpected but a nice comment! (It made one not-very-modest Mummy very happy!)

We walked to the Botanical Garden via the Domain after lunch. It was a pleasant walk. Lots of people were out and about. By the time we were close to the Botanical Garden, Lara was asleep. It was perfect time for a cup of coffee! After coffee, we crossed the road to go to the Art Gallery of NSW. We didn't spend too long inside as Lara started to make loud noises. We then made our way to the Botanical Garden a couple of minutes away.



The garden was more beautiful than I remembered with colourful blossoms. You can feel 'spring' in the air.



We lay on a piece of grass where we could see the Opera House, Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Tower. Lara was very happy on her tummy looking at the blue sky. It was a little breezy though.



We did heaps of walking - from Central Station (where we parked our car) to Botanical Garden and back. I felt tired and had sore feet but it was a satisfying kind of tiredness. We are already talking about going back!

[35 weeks] Favorite blue toy

Airing of the toys

Braidwood is one place I wanted to go for a little while for its annual "Airing of the quilts" festival. The festival is held at the end of November and this year is the 12th year of this quilt event.

I love the idea of seeing around 500 quilts hanging outside various heritage buildings in town plus shop windows, cafes and an indoor exhibition centre. We are planning a trip there this year, it should be fun. For more information, check

this out.

For the moment, I am content with my own 'airing of the toys' ....



"Airing of the toys" event is held fortnightly at our backyard, usually on a sunny day (postponed if it's raining). It normally starts after my return from the toy library. Of course, the toys will first be giving a hot warm soapy bath. Some toys will even get some special scrubbing attention. Then all the toys are lined up outside to be aired dry.

There's nothing better than the warm sun and cool breeze to give the toys a clean fresh feel.

[8 months] Busy girl

The greatest advancement in Lara's development this month is mobility.

I'm not referring to crawling - she can't crawl yet, at least not in the right direction - I'm referring to the various movements of her body. There are lots of head-lifting, head-tuning and body-twising to see what's going on around her. There's constant leg-kicking. When she sit and play on her mat, she's persistently reaching out towards toys in sight. She also starts to show a liking for board books, touching the pictures and turning the pages.

When Lara is awake, she's one very BUSY girl!





Photos: Lara on her play mat. She moved from the position in the first photo to the second photo (note where the green couch was) in less than a minute.

Other things to note at 8 months:

Weight: 9.4 kilo
Height: 69 cm
Head circumference: 45 cm

Mental development -

• Generally very happy. Smile and chuckle a lot.


• Make distinct cooing sound when she likes something.


• Have demonstrated:


• Affection- Lara would pull me towards her or move her body towards me usually at night or early in the morning. I read that she's "pressing in" and 'cuddling' me to show affection. Daddy is a little jealous because she only does it to Mummy.


• Persistence - Anything illegal generates lots of interest.


• Preference- Like the colour "blue". We have some blocks of different colours. She picked the blue colour ones out first. She watches the weather report on TV because it has blue background.


• Anticipation- Expect the tickling bit at the end of 'round and round the garden'.

Physical development -

• Still put everything in her mouth.


• Eat well. Started on protein (lentils only, will start on meat/fish soon).


• Sit well. Fall over a lot less.


• Can open windows (flaps that look like "windows" on her toys).


• Good bowel movements - generally twice a day (occasionally 3 times).


• Drinking water off a training cup/bottle. Practicing to hold the cup with Mummy's help.

On the eve of her 8-month birthday, Lara "officially" rolled over. I think she had rolled over before. But Husband said it didn't count because either it was from her tummy to her back (it only counts if it's from her back to her tummy) or it was by accident, not intentional (such a hard taskmaster Daddy is). Well she did two 'controlled' roll-over from her back to her tummy yesterday- even Daddy had to admit it was a roll-over.

Lara is no longer being wrapped at night.

ps. Thanks to Snoozen who lent us the lovely play mat featured in the photos.

Lemon meringue pie

Photo: Our lemon tree.

Citrus trees are doing very well this year, unlike in some years when you could count the lemons produced whole year with your fingers. There are lots of nice-looking lemons and oranges in people's gardens everywhere we walk. Fortunately, the lemons don't get ripe all at the same time so we get a constant supply of lemons. I have been searching for and trying different lemon recipes.....

This week I did a lemon meringue pie. There were three parts to this dessert: the pie crust, the lemon curd and the meringue top.

I had attempted a pumpkin pie a few weeks ago with homemade crust. The crust was rock hard so I thought I would try the pre-made supermarket version this time. The meringue top was something I wasn't too sure about, worried that it would collapse or crack.

The meringue turned out nice and not too difficult to do. The lemon curd was delicious. But the pie crust was still too hard. It looked uncooked so I baked in the oven a lot longer than the recipe specified. Also I used 3 sheets of pastry and it was too thick. Parents-in-law came over for lunch and they kept comforting me by saying it wasn't too bad for a first attempt. Anyway, it will get better I'm sure.

Barbecue in the park

We made it to the lovely park again last week and this time we had sausages, snacks, drinks and books with us!



Husband cooked lunch while I played with Lara on the grass. Lunch was sausages and onions with crusty bread rolls and salad.



Lara was fascinated with grass. She spent a long time looking at it, touching it and yes you guessed it, eating it. Well, she hadn't eaten any (I hope) but she certainly tried. I had to stop her from putting grass in her mouth every 5 seconds. The books say it is at around 7-9 months that babies start to show determination. She certainly had plenty of determination as far as grass was concerned.



After lunch we sat on the grass and enjoyed the warm afternoon sun. There were a couple of dogs walking with their owners and Lara was interested in them all, especially a big Chow Chow. It was a shame that Zeb was not with us in the park. We had to leave early because Lara started to show over-tired signs and wouldn't go to sleep when Husband walked her around in the pram.



It has been raining in the last couple of days. It cheered me up looking at these 'sunny' pictures. It's starnge that I seem to have less energy in the rainy days? I read the other day that "Bad weather always looks worse through a window". Have to try to remember that. I wonder what we can do especially with a little one on rainy days?

Pizza tonight

Husband has been saying he wants to try bread-making for a long time. The last homemade bread I did was about 2 months ago in our bread-maker. Husband prefers the 'elbow-grease' version. He likes pizzas so he decides to start with pizza dough today.

These were what we had for dinner tonight. One was cabanossi, the other pepperoni. The other toppings were: mushroom, mixed olives and cheese. Husband spreaded finely-chopped fresh tomatoes with mixed herbs and crushed garlic on top of the base (inspired by Jamie Oliver) instead of tomato paste usually seen in the shop-bought version.



The verdict: delicious! The pizza base was so nice and fresh it beat 'Domino' pizzas anytime! Husband says he is going to try 'sweet chili and cheese pull-apart bread' next time. Can't wait!

ps. Husband used Jamie Oliver's basic bread recipe.

[33 weeks] "Bath" too small

I'm sure all new parents have photos of their babies at bath time. This is Lara in her blue bath tub. She only just started using it even though it was one of the first things we bought prior to her birth.

After a couple of uses in the first week, and seeing the amount of water needed to fill the tub and how short Lara stayed in it, we decided that it would be more economical to wash her in the bathroom sink. It not only saves water, but also easy to drain. The sink became her bath for the last seven and a half months. Unfortunately, the sink is getting too small. Her feet and part of her legs hang out of the sink when she stretch. We still use it occasionally to wash her pooey bottom. Very soon, she will not be able to fit in it at all.



Bathing Lara is one of those activities that is best not to perform alone. I still remembered the bathing class we attended in hospital, when you really felt like you needed more than 2 arms. We still feel a little flustered sometimes even with two people. The key is preparation I think. The better we prepare for the bath, i.e. have what we need at hand, the more relaxed and enjoyable it is for Lara and us. Lara was a little scared going from the sink to her blue tub at first. She was all stiff and held onto the side of the tub very tightly! She now enjoys it more so we leave her in the water a little longer.

I heard all babies like to suck on flannels?

Stranded teddy

I came home from swimming one morning, and found one teddy bear stranded on top of a wobbly tower, unable to get down . It brought a big smile to my lips - this colourful tower is the highest I've seen so far .....

We like to play with Lara's toys, especially Husband. He likes to stack toys up high. I have to say he's quite imaginative. He can usually build something fairly high with toys that you don't realise are stackable. Every time I turn my head, another "skyscraper' is being built ... And when you hear a loud sound coming from the lounge in our house, you know the "skyscraper" just crashed....