Selamat Hari Raya!

This couple was the host for the Hari Raya celebration. The place was packed like sardines with about 30-ish people. Elle didn't mind the crowd at all, buzzing like one little busy bee in the party. Practically, Hin and I were baby-free for most of the time. She was passed around like marshed potatoes served in a thanksgiving dinner. Perfectly happy in the hold of others and found the crowd fascinating. No cry, nor fussy. Acting like a perfect baby one can ever dream for.

Elle conked out immediately after we left the party. Her little mind must be overstimulated.

Autumn farmer market

A god-almighty-huge cauliflower picked up at the farmer market this morning. It is as big as a watermelon.

The farmer market is showcasing the bounty of autumn's harvest right now: apples, pumpkins, cranberries, indian corns, chestnuts, just to name a few. We also picked up a few acorn squashs, making an awesome autumn meal for Elle.

Tabblo: Autumn farmer market

Office grapevine

"You're a HORRIBLE, HOOO..RIBLE mother!". I am doomed for this kind of derision simply because I do not have a picture of my little wee one in my cube.

It's funny to see the way my coworkers reacted with no baby picture. One of my coworker drew a picture of a baby (my baby) on my whiteboard, with two ribbon-tied pony tails. After Elle got her hair shaved, the pony tails got wiped off and replaced with a shinny bald head. Another coworker dug out a photo frame she used to display her baby while she was packing for the office move. She gave it to me. OK. I got the hint. I have no excuse not having a baby photo in the office anymore. However, this photo frame is still displayed as a blank canvas after moving into our new office building.

It must be legitimate to get tsked and scoffed at as long as no sight of baby photo. Yesterday, I got another one again so I realize it's about time to act up. It is going to be a mindblowing task to shuffle through those gazillions of photos, picking the one that reminds me how little and delicate the baby I once held, growing up so fast each day.

Nasty parenting talk

Elle's stuffy nose off and on since the labor day weekend. Somehow it doesn't get any better that her stuffy nose turns into a drippy nose. Her daddy brought her to see the pediatrician this morning, hoping that she will be given something magical that will kick this nasal nuisance's butt. Aside from getting a peace of mind, we felt pretty ripped off for the amount of insurance copay we paid for the examination. The usual suspect advice we got is "It'll go away on its own." Surprisingly, Elle's weight still remains in 90th percentile. She is 17 pound 12 ounce without undress.

It's amazing how Elle can constantly surprise us, even with her poop. We thought we have seen all until she dazzled us with her Play-Doh-like poop yesterday. They're round and solid, looked pretty funny and lonely on the diaper, compared with those messy explosive poops she always have. Remember Elle's bottle striking? She has been drinking like a 2 months old for the past few days. This, together with her baby food intake, contribute to these almighty Play-Doh poops. Seeing her making a constipated face to shoot out these "Play-Doh" is priceless! I hope she will start learning from her lesson: "Bottle, or else Play-Doh".

This photo was captured today when Elle's daddy was fooling around with her and putting his cap onto her head. She looks pretty cool in his smelly cap.

5 months old

Happy 5 months old, sweetie! We're looking forward to all the curveballs you're going to throw at us for the coming month.

C’mon, already. Just drink it!

It puzzles us a lot how on earth does Elle grow into her 90th-percentile weight. After been daycare for 2 months, bottle striking is still going on strong. Elle scores so many "DIDN'T WANT" on her daily care sheet at the end of each day that we have no problem making them into a "Wall of Fame".

It has never been a problem at home, until recently. For some reasons, Elle refuses drinking her milk at home. We have tried forcing and coaxing this stubborn little thing. In the end, it's always her way or no way at all. She is just one feisty baby to fight with.

She purses her lips and jerks her head away, twisting, screaming and kicking, like we're trying to feed her poison. She strikes in silence when she is fade up of fighting back. She holds perfectly still, lets us keep the nipple inside her mouth, but no sucking action whatsoever, stares at us eye-wide or closes her eyes pretend sleeping to declare a stand-off.

Bottle feeding has become a trial of wills and patience. Ours wear thin.

Mealtime

Elle's first encounter with food is Michigan peaches. Her face was all scrunch up after her first taste of peachy tartness. She smacked her lips and stuck out her tongue wanting for more. We were amazed of her using the gum to suck off the juices and the wedge was half gone by the time we pulled it out. She absolutely loves peaches! It's cracking us up seeing her screaming and yelling when we walked away with her newfound food. She was 3+ months old then.

Since a couple of weeks ago, we have been spoon-feeding Elle rice cereal and sweet potato. Elle makes "hmmm..hmmm..hmmm.." noises when licking off the food from the spoon. She is one happy and messy baby when a meal is served.