Gimme!

Gimme!, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

... so young, and so demanding already.

He can be really stubborn when we try to put him to sleep; he has such great persistence that he can wail and scream and struggle for up to half an hour. The only reason we've not timed him going for longer is because we gave up and eventually did something right by him.

Not as if we were simply ignoring his cries. We will shush pat him, pick him up, put him down (yes, Tracy Hogg's methods), make sure his diaper is clean, and he's not hungry, all that. Besides the rash on his face, he has no physical need. He's just (from our perspective) being difficult.

How do we know he has no physical difficulty affecting his sleep? Change the soother from me to Serene, and he co-operates, progressively fussing less, until he falls asleep.

I dunno. Any ideas?

ReNe: starting solids

For a while now, we've been involving Ryan more during our mealtimes, showing him (in exaggerated motions) how we chew, letting him see what we're eating, and so on. Once in a while we would bring the spoon to him to see if he's interested. Initially, he wasn't.

Then a couple of weeks back, he started to exhibit a greater interest in our foods -- looking intently at our food and opening his mouth. So we stopped offering him our spoon (no sense in frustrating him because we're clearly not going to feed him what WE are eating) and started to prepare some foods that he can eat. So far we've let him try prune juice, white grape juice, banana, apple, pear, sweet potato (all mashed) and oatmeal. Thinking about it now, that sequence may not have been the best -- some say we should start with bland foods and work up to the sweeter fruits. Some websites also say we should cook the fruits and not offer raw fruits until later. Oops.

Most current literature advises waiting until the baby is 6 months old (he's 4.5 months now) before introducing solids. Mostly because his digestive system isn't ready for solids yet. However, about the same time he started to exhibit an interest in our food, his diapers also started to stink, so I figured some enzymes must have woken up.

I had also let him lick a couple of Ricola sweets, which he liked very much. In fact, when I offered him the second sweet to lick, he *lunged* forward. I think I shouldn't do such things any more.

Initially, he would spit up everything we gave him, whether or not he likes it. He would go through the chewing motions he learned from us, but he hadn't figured out how to swallow. After a few times, he's now much better at it. His current favorite is sweet potato, followed by apple and pear. He likes these foods so much he would lunge for the spoon after tasting the first mouthful, and cry out angrily when (once he has finished) we remove his utensils and bib. And he does finish all of his food. We were feeding him about 2 teaspoons and today we increased it to 4 teaspoons; he finished everything eagerly.

recalls a fluid pugilistic manoeuvre

recalls a fluid pugilistic manoeuvre, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

Nice picture. Nothing else to say. :)

mmm. tastes like chicken

mmm. tastes like chicken, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

So, Ryan's been eating solids. More like he's sampling food that we've been feeding him. We realised recently that he was ready to try new foods when he started to lose the tongue thrust reflex, the reflexive urge to spit out anything that comes into his mouth. Also, he was quickly becoming extremely curious with regards to the food we eat - he'd stare intently as we ate, and almost had that "gimme some of that!" look on his face. And it was nearly time anyway - one gauge that paediatricians go by is the doubling of birth weight, and yes, he's doubled.

So we started preparing foods for him. Apples, pears, sweet potatoes, boiled, steamed, and then macerated with a mortar and pestle. He loves it!

This one time, I was preparing dinner for ourselves, and as usual, we'd like to plop him up on his high chair as he watches us cook and potter around the kitchen. In what seems like a pattern now, we'd turn our heads away for a minute to attend to something, and then we'd turn back, only to notice surprise us. This time, he was slumped over and tasting the high chair. I wonder if he was feeling hungry, or he's at the stage where he's exploring his world with the new sense that has woken up - his sense of taste...

Because blogspot.com's pictures suck

Baby sits up, unassisted, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

That's why I'm posting this picture from flickr instead.

The resizing algorithm degrades the image quality quite significantly. Flickr does a much better job, sometimes to the extent that it becomes over-sharpened.

Oh well.

ReNe: sitting up unassisted

As the title says.

For the past month and half, Ryan has been able to sit upright if assisted, whether in his high chair or stroller, though he tended to list to one side. Recently, his progress accelerated abruptly. Perhaps it was the increased amount of tummy time?

Last week, he was able to sit up when partially propped by pillows.

He was also able to use a stuffed toy for support.

Two days ago, he started to sit unassisted for a few seconds. He'd hold himself rigid, fingers sometimes clenched tightly to his toes or arms held stiffly in front, but will topple over quickly. He tended to topple to his front.


Yesterday, he discovered if he pulled himself upright, balancing his head over his center of gravity, it helped greatly. Here, he looked more natural and not so rigid, and he could sit up for a few seconds.

Today, he's able to sit unassisted for a couple of minutes. And look at the camera instead of concentrating hard in front of him.

And in the next scene...

tummy time..., originally uploaded by mike.tan.

Can you predict what would come out of our brilliant idea?

You see, he's been resistant to being on his tummy, vastly preferring instead to be standing up, supported by us, of course. Which is tiring. On a day with a good mood, he'd allow us to plop him face down on the mattress, then he'd squeal for a couple of minutes, before squeals becomes fussiness which become all out cries: "Let me up! What makes you think I like to be on my tummy? It's so boring down here!"

So today, when we were re-arranging the furniture, we lowered his mattress height, and got out the alphabet tiles made of soft foam. When we were doing this, he looked very interested and curious, no doubt attracted by the snazzy colours and big blocky shapes. So we thought, why not put him on his belly overlooking the edge of the bed?

Which worked.

Well, kinda. He was happy, not fussing for quite some time, staring at the colourful new things he'd never seen before, and then we turned our backs to do some re-arranging and packing.

Then we heard a dull thud, and then a scream. He had fallen over.

Fortunately for us, he seems to have a high pain tolerance; picked him up, cuddled him for a bit, and he was back to normal, looking like nothing had happened to him. Guess he was more shocked that something strange happened to him, than actually hurt. I guess the padding helped.

ReNe: 1st public meltdown

So far, we've been lucky. Ryan can scream like a banshee at home but he will hold in his frustration while outside. At most, he would fuss a little. Until today.

We went to Ikea today and he just wasn't able to nap properly. Perhaps it was the crowds and overstimulation, or perhaps it was the different stroller -- a friend gave us their old stroller and we tried it out instead of his usual stroller. In any case, by the time we finished lunch and were shopping, he was starting to get tired and fussy, demanding to be held and refusing (loudly) to be strapped into his stroller. By the time we paid, he was wailing away. We settled onto one of the couches in the lobby while waiting for the shuttle bus that would bring us back to the subway station, and he managed to sleep for about 20mins in my arms. It was hardly enough and he woke up as we got down from the shuttle bus. For a while, he was quiet and ok, then on the train back, he started to fuss and then, proceeded to have a total meltdown, ultrasonic screams and all.

Standing (because he screams louder if I sat down) and jiggling him with all the stares of the other train passengers on me, it was, for me, a little embarrassing. When I was single, I would not think too kindly of parents with screaming kids in public; now I am much more understanding of their plight.

ReNe: buskerfest 2009

Toronto's Buskerfest (27-30 Aug) was on last weekend, in front of St Lawrence Market. We strolled down the first evening (Thurs), and even though we didn't see anything very much, we liked it enough to go back down the next evening. Actually, it was also because we didn't see anything that we wanted to go back again.

The great thing about street performances is that it's free (of course donations are welcome) and the atmosphere is fun and lively. The not-so-great thing is that unless you're there early to grab a good spot, it's hard to see what's happening...

Festive and quite crowded. Lots of booths in addition to the buskers. I got a free women's razor.


A 'sculptor clown' called Pedro Tochas.


We heard about this Alakazam guy -- he's able to squeeze his body through a tennis racket, squash racket and toilet seat -- but the crowd was so thick we weren't able to see his performance. In this photo below, that's a squash racket around his waist!


We managed to catch a front row performance for the Piano Juggler's performance. It was humorous and well-paced, and Ryan apparently likes it as well. I was quite surprised he watched the entire half hour long performance quietly; then again, he does like watching things being thrown in the air. When we toss his toys in the air, he usually laughs. I suppose this 'like' is cute now but it won't be a year from now when HE starts to toss things into the air...



I've never been a huge fan of street performances but since coming to Toronto, I'm starting to appreciate them more. The piano juggler's performance was the first for which I sat through from start to finish, and actually left a small sum of money at the end. =)

At the playground

At the playground, originally uploaded by mike.tan.

We've established a daily routine of sorts. He'd wake us up early in the morning (even though we're not ready), and then we'd play with him and have breakfast, until it's time for his nap. Then he sleeps until our lunchtime, during which we'd do our own thing.

After lunch, small playtime, followed by a nap. And depending on whether we feel like a small or large outing, we'd either let him nap at home, then walk out after that, or let him nap in the stroller.

This last weekend, we went to Kensington Market, a good 40+ min walk, just the right time for one of his sleep cycles.

This photo was taken at the playground near the Market.