7 years later...

I was rather heavily pregnant, running around town, planning my son's 6th birthday party, which was to be held at school and also at one of his favourite restaurant... and then, just in a blink of an eye, here we are celebrating his 7th Birthday. 

I can still feel myself waddling around with the baby in me kicking.. and now, baby is already 9 months old going 10 months old and my firstborn turns SEVEN.

This year, it was much more of a simpler affair.

I stop ordering GFCFEF (gluten free / casein free / egg free) cakes for him this year. Instead, I took a chance and just ordered cupcakes for his school birthday celebration and a proper birthday cake in theme with Roary the Racing Car cartoon. 

This year, I am not happy with my planning as it was almost too last minute. I remembered asking Hubby if we want to order custom-made cakes or just any cake from the bakery and he said simple will do. Turned out, I 'misunderstood' him. (WHICH I SWEAR is TOTALLY NOT MY FAULT!) 

Anyway, I found a baker who took my order but since it was a rushed one, and to accomodate my order, there is only that much that she can do for me, which I am totally grateful for, for her cakes were yummy. If you are looking for a baker, then let me recommend you Pinkies Cupcakes.

We celebrated his first party at school on the 26th September (FRIDAY). All I did was collect the cupcakes from the baker, bought about 6 balloons, party hats for the children and off we went to school. 

I was excited for Jaden as it would be his first after such a long time, having a normal cake, just like any other child would have. 

His teacher did quite a good job too, dressing up the area for a party feel. 

Jaden stood in front of the cupcakes, while his friends surrounded him and we all sang him the birthday song.. and soon, the kids were all over choosing which cupcake they wanted, as some cupcakes had the Roary print on them. 

Jaden absolutely loved blowing out the candles. This year is special in a way as he had another family member to join and celebrate his birthday together. Mason.

It was Mason's firsts too.. celebrating a birthday for his big brother who loves him very much.

The grandparents came down from Penang on Saturday afternoon to celebrate his birthday which falls on Sunday, 28th Sept.

This year, 2014, we held Jaden's birthday party at home. 

Food, we catered some Briyani, Prawn Masala, Tandoori Chicken and Fried Tenggiri Fish. Other than these, we ordered a Lok Lok truck to our premise and well, lets just say my guests were just very happy with the Lok Lok truck style.

This year, was quite a small and intimate affair which was rather stress free as Jaden was contained in a controlled environment, which he got to watch his videos, eat.. (grandparents were just feeding him whenever he wants food) and Mason, fast asleep napping away on my back, until it was nearly time for the cake cutting session. 

Decorations were DIY cutouts (inspired from Pinterest) and upside down balloons tied, which would not have been possible without the help of our lovely friend, Josie. 

I ordered Bacon Jam in mini jars to be given away to Jaden's birthday guests as party favors. For the children, each got a cartoon keychain and a bubble bottle. 

Jaden loved his candle blowing session and of course, the cakes he got to eat during the whole of that weekend.

It was indeed a happy weekend for him as he was KING for three days and with the grandparents down here in KL with us, he was pampered max by both of them.

This year is also going to be a little different for me as this year onwards, its planning for two birthday parties in a year. No longer just one birthday party planning. 

Happy Birthday, my love. Please know that despite all the scoldings and naggings, I love you very very much and my wish for you is to be able to grow up healthy, happy and be a good person.

Jaden and Mason... updates

Its been quite a while since I had access to the comp or the net as the laptop decided to heat up and we have yet to get internet connection from TM.

First, updates on Jaden:-

Jaden is progressing rather well in school, picking things up fast and he is showing much more awareness and emotions.v

He adores his little brother and will initiate play from time to time, kisses his brother, wipes his brother's drool away, share toys. In a way, Mason has triggered Jaden to observe and learn. In fact, Jaden is imitating almost every action that Mason does. Wondering will speech in him be awaken too?

Jaden has finally mastered nodding and shaking his head for yes and no although he is not using them appropriately yet. I know he understands but sometimes he just simply shakes or nod as an easy way out without thinking first. 

Every teacher/therapist of his has commented that as long as he takes his time to look and think just for a while, he gets almost every questions or task done correctly. *sigh* but he just can't wait and wants to rush things through and that brings us back to doing the 'wait' program for him once again.

Mason:-

Mason is now almost 7 months old. We started feeding him solids last months when he turned 6 months old. I started off with pureed apples and he did not show any sign of reflux and ate his food like a pro.

I was actually eyeing Beaba Babycook but a friend commented that our kids are not going to be eating pureed food forever, therefore there is no such need to get such a pricey item. It was going for about RM600-RM900. I then came across this blog and the mother bought Little Bean food processor and it seemed to work just as fine and the price is wayyyyy cheaper. So, guess which food processor I ended up with to prepare Mason's solids?

Mason has tried apples, avocado, pear, mango, strawberries, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, beetroot, sweet peas, beets+pear and bananas. 

He loves his mangoes and bananas and beets+pear. He was pretty much ok with all the food I gave so far except for beetroot. Guess the beets have to be paired with something sweet.

His bowel movements are looking great so far. It indicates what he ate the day before with the colours that comes out. 

Mason is very very attached and sticky to me. He still would not let others carry him especially when I am around. He tends to look out for my whereabouts and if I am a second out of his sight, he goes bawling for me. 

There are many controversial studies about putting babies in walker that will delay or interfere with their development but since we already owned one, we did put Mason in and boy, he mastered moving in it real quick! He keeps coming to the kitchen to look for me. Usually he will sit in it and move around near me while I quickly whip dinner up. It is just lately he would act up and cry himself silly, driving all of us crazy at home and instantly quiet down and smile the moment I give in and carry him. 

Sometimes I rather have it easy and just babywear him like a backpack. It kills two birds with a stone. He will nap away nicely while I get to get things done. The downside, we both sweat!

Manduca has been a really good investment. In fact, I think its one of the best investment I made so far when it comes to getting baby stuff. It has helped me in so many ways, from being alone grocery shopping, or handling both my boys outside alone, moving house, packing and unpacking.. preparing my cooking ingredients.. 

Mason has started to be much more verbal.

He has been mouthing " Ma Ma / Ba Ba / Ta Ta Ta / Eh and lots of other baby talk in between. I am just keeping my fingers crossed right now and hope not too high.. just in case.. just in case.

He knows where to look for milk, which is really cute.

He loves his bathtime now. Usually he is ready with smiles for me. 

Mason is now a wriggly worm when it comes to changing or putting on diapers. *sigh*

He started eating his feet last month at 6 months 20 days old.

He has just recently started to get up on all fours and now attempting commando crawl forward to reach for his things. He cries as if people abused him when we take things away from him (things he is not supposed to be holding on to).

**end of blogpost as this was supposed to be a drafted piece and I totally forgot all about what I needed to continue to finish this blogpost..**