Godma and Uncle Justin's visit

Dear Izzy,

You had an awesome time when Godma and Uncle Justin came for a visit. We went to sooo many places with them...shopping, dinners, to the beach, Godma joined us at your dance class etc. It was a week of activities!

It was great having Godma and Uncle Justin visit. The next time you see them will be in January!

Love, Mom

Dinner at Lawry's prime rib house. As usual, you were being all cute and the waitress gave you free food and ice cream!

At the beach! Our last beach day of the summer...

Happy 4th of July!!

Dear Izzy,

Happy 4th of July to my American girl! You were allowed to stay up a little later today because you had a couple of good naps. So you could also celebrate Independence Day and enjoy your first BBQ prepared by Daddy! Mommy loves it when we get to eat at the table as a family. You enjoyed munching on the corn and chicken wings. They are delicious, aren't they?

Love, Mom

Happy 14 month birthday!

My dearest Izzy,

So you've turned vegetarian?! You haven't really been eating any meat these few days. Mommy tried to make you chicken, beef and even meatballs in tomato sauce but you wouldn't eat them. You only eat your broccoli, carrots, peas and pasta! Those are your favorite vegetables. You do like your seafood though...you enjoy shrimp and fish. But still, Daddy's going to be very sad if you really turn vegetarian on him because he is looking forward to cooking you many of his recipes from his repertoire.

On another note, you have totally weaned yourself from nursing. A couple of weeks ago, we were down to your bedtime feed and the early morning feed. You phased out your bedtime feed first. You would rather roll around in the bed while Mommy reads your bedtime stories than nurse and then a few days later, decided to phase out the early morning feed too. You used to wake up around 5am and Mommy would nurse you and you would go back to sleep for an hour or so. For a few days, you would wake up at 5am, but push Mommy away when I try to nurse you. So I would just put you back down in your crib. Nowadays you don't wake up at 5am anymore! YAY...you would sleep till around 6-6:30am. Mommy is very glad that the weaning went well and there were no struggles but also at the same time quite sad that our nursing sessions are over for good. My baby is truly growing up.

What Dr. Scott said was true. Once the nursing session stops, your milk intake will increase. You've been drinking more and more milk after you weaned yourself. I think we are up to about 8-10 oz of milk a day now, which is a great improvement! But you still like your milk a little bit sweet (I don't blame you after being exclusively breastfed) so we have to mix it with a bit of yogurt drink.

Trying to run is the new skill you are practicing these days. You can walk quite well now and always want to be put down when we are out. You have extremely "itchy" fingers and try to touch everything within reach. When you try to run, it's funny because you would walk really fast and throw yourself into open arms. You understand so much more words that you can say and can follow simple instructions. The new words that you've been saying this week are "hi", "wow" and "weeeeee".

Since we are in Vancouver, in the mornings when you wake up, you would go into everyone else's room and wake them up. You go to the side of the bed where they are sleeping and scream/laugh and point at them until they wake up and pay some attention to you. You are such a menace! No one is allowed to sleep in when you are around. Also, when Ah Kong takes care of you, you climb up and down the stairs, take dirty clothes from the laundry room and throw them all over the house and sometimes you walk him to the front door and point to it. You do that because you are asking him to take you to the park across from the house! You tire both Ah Ma and Ah Kong out. They are going to have a vacation when we go to Toronto for a week!

You are so much fun now...I knew you were a cheeky one but didn't expect the cheekiness to emerge so soon. Mommy really doesn't know what is going to be in store for her when you enter your terrible twos! Actually, I think it already started!

Love, Mom

Happy Dance!

Izzy,

You are such a little entertainer. Here you are doing the shoulder shimmy "Happy Dance". You usually do this after a good meal! You're just like Daddy, you love your roast pork and BBQ duck!

Love, Mom

Happy Easter, Izzy!

You've come a long way! Look at how much you've grown...

This is your first Easter that you we able to enjoy! We went to an Easter Egghunt party on Friday and you had a great time with your little friends. Mommy put on your Hello Kitty tunic dress for you and you carried your Hello Kitty Easter basket to the party. You picked up so many Easter eggs containing so many goodies inside. Then we sat on the picnic mat under the tree and had a great potluck picnic. Mommy made hazelnut cupcakes with Nutella buttercream frosting...yummm. It turned out well! Mommy can make those for your future school events! Mommy is starting to get the hang of the whole Suzie homemaker thing and I am starting to enjoy it...hahaha.

On Easter Sunday you got an Easter basket from Mommy and Daddy containing a whole bunch of new toys...all Hello Kitty! You had yourself a fabulous Hello Kitty Easter!

Love, Mom

Mommy's cupcakes

Izzy looking for Easter eggs

Mommy & Izzy

Brunch for 3!

Izzy,

You are getting so big now that Mommy and Daddy have to order you food off the kid's menu. Daddy was so tickled by this when we went to brunch. No longer do you share off our plates but you get your very own meal! Your first ordered meal at Morels French Bistro today was Grilled Cheese sandwich with Aged Chedder and Granny Smith apple slices. But it seems you are a fast food addict...you wanted french fries! But you did eat half of the sandwich and some apples.

At the restaurant, you also captivated the interest of a much older boy. Mommy always thought that older kids (older than 5) usually don't have that much interest in little babies but you caught his attention and he shared his french fries with you the whole time.

I see the makings of a heartbreaker already...but don't grow up too fast!

Love, Mom

Grilled aged chedder cheese sandwich with Granny Smith apple slices

Fast foodaholic

Izzy and her much older friend

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Dear Izzy,

It's Daddy's birthday today! You were supposed to share Daddy's birthday but because you had a mind of your own (and also maybe you don't like to share) you decided to come into the world early last year.

We went out with Godpa Dan for a small celebration dinner for Daddy's birthday. I think you had more fun than anyone else! You were so talkative and cheeky this evening, playing with Godpa Dan and the wait staff at the restaurant. You got to try duck confit, scrambled eggs with caviar and mussels in white wine sauce. Daddy is having a blast feeding you different stuff after Dr. Scott's OK. You really enjoyed the scrambled eggs and caviar! You are going to grow up with one hell of a palette. Your future boyfriends are going to have a hard time impressing you at restaurants, much to Daddy's delight!

Happy 34th birthday, Daddy! We know you've been very busy preparing for your competition in April so after it's over, we should have a big celebration!

Love, Mom

Cheeky face is at it again...

Izzy trying to blow Daddy's candle

1st Birthday Party

Dear Izzy,

Daddy threw your 1st birthday party today and boy was it fancy! Mommy almost thought he was planning your wedding or something. Daddy's theory is "Go BIG or go home" so he went all out. First, the venue was spectacular...it came all decked out with a pretty red chandelier. Eve on Nemo had a beautiful kitchen, spacious indoor space and modern outdoor patio. The was a chance of rain today but the weather held up very nicely...the sun even peeked out!

Daddy has been busy prepping for your party for the last 2 days that's why you haven't seen him at home. But now you know why because the food was impeccable! We had about 40 guests who joined us in celebrating your 1st birthday. Your little friends came as well...you had a blast!

The theme of your party was "Hello Kitty" and you were decked out in your Hello Kitty tunic dress. We had Hello Kitty candy and also a Hello Kitty cake! You ate your first lollipop and some cake today and so you were running on pure sugar all afternoon.

You absolutely loved it when everyone sang you "Happy Birthday"...even clapped to yourself when they finished. You were also serenaded by Markie, he sang you his own version of "Happy Birthday" and you were mesmerized by him! It was the cutest thing ever.

All in all, it was a great day and we are so lucky to have so many friends and family who made this day EXTRA special with their presence. You received so many gifts and now our living room has been taken over by all your new toys. You also received monetary gifts that have been deposited into your savings account for future educational use.

You will never remember this day but hopefully with all the photos we took, will be able to relive it.

Love, Mom

Izzy looking at Daddy in appreciation for the birthday party he catered

Happy 49 week birthday!

Dear Izzy,

My oh my, your stubborn streak has surfaced BIG TIME! You shake your head "no" to everything! You used to be such a good eater, now you are on a food strike and shake your head and close your eyes to everything Mommy offers you. You haven't really had a full meal for the last few days. I hope this is just a phase and you'll snap out of it soon!

You also haven't used the potty too. Every time Mommy puts you on the potty, you whine and crawl off. Then you arch your back so Mommy can't put you back on. You then proceed to pee on the floor while Mommy grabs a diaper to put on you. Is this some kind of a control issue?

On the up side, you are always standing independently and a couple of occasions, you've take a step. Your legs are getting strong because it takes very little effort for you to stand and stoop. You zip around the apartment with your stroller walker. Mommy's life is going to change forever when you start walking!

Ah Ma is back in town helping Mommy out. We are going to be super busy this couple of weeks planning and getting your party ready!

Love, Mom

Hosting Your 1st Playdate

Dear Izzy,

We hosted our first playdate at our house today. It was a brunch playdate that started at around 11am. Although it was pouring rain out there, it was so much fun. We were supposed to have 5 friends over but because of the torrential rain, only 3 could make it...but still, all the babies and mommies had a blast!

As usual, because Daddy wanted us to look good, he made nutella and banana mini french toast topped with vanilla creme fraiche and marinated "Harry's berries" strawberries. It was delish and everyone enjoyed it! You had one toast all by yourself, not to mention, in addition to the (how many?) others you had the night before when Daddy was preparing it.

Your friends who came were Caitlin (11 months), Nicole (10 months) and Max (15 months). Max tried to feed you puffs a few times, it was so sweet! And all of you played house together. After your little friends left, you took a 1 hr 15 min nap! Woohoo...I guess we will have to plan more of these playdates in the future!

Love, Mom

Nutella and banana mini french toast, vanilla creme fraiche, marinated "Harry's berries" strawberries

Waiting for her little friends...

Yay, they are here!

Max tried feeding Izzy some puffs

Practice Makes Perfect!

Izzy, Izzy, Izzy...

You've been blowing raspberries all day, everyday, for the last few days. When you eat, when you take a bath, when we meet new people... You think it's so funny! Sometimes you do it till you are red in the face! I guess you just want to practice until you get it perfect? You silly goose!

Love, Mom

Who Says?

Who says baby food is mostly pureed peas and carrots? Obviously those babies did not have a Daddy like yours! You are so lucky that you haven't even had to touch a single jar of commercial baby food. And as much as we can, we try to only give you organic food.

Daddy has been busy in the kitchen making you all sorts of delicious food! And he is thrilled that you are not a picky eater either! You are pretty sick and tired of just the regular pureed vegetables so Daddy has concocted other yummy and chunky combinations for you. Also, instead of pureeing your food up with water, he infuses homemade stock (which he simmers for hours on the stove) into them which makes it oh-so-good for you!

And as for your taste for foods, you eat anything and everything! When we go out, you eat most of our table food too. I think your favorite is dim sum, just like Mommy and Daddy! Also, you seem to enjoy your dairy and Daddy can't wait till you are old enough to have cheese courses with him when we go out for fancy dinners because he always has to have those by himself.

Your normal day-to-day menu is as follows:

• Breakfast (around 7:30 am): oatmeal cereal with a dash of ikan bilis powder, 1 egg yolk, cheese cubes, juice
• Morning snack (around 10: 30 am): fruit mixed with yogurt, water
  
• Lunch (around 1:30 pm): cereal and yogurt, avocado cubes, water
• Dinner (around 5 pm): vegetable mixed with soft tofu and cereal, juice

You nurse between each meal, before you go to bed and 2 times at night. And since you are a puff-a-holic, you snack on puffs all day long as well! I wonder if you will even put on some weight or are you just like Mommy who eats and eats but can't seem to put on the pounds?

Love, Mom

This weeks menu: carrot, chicken & mushrooms; green beans, brocoli, spinach & chicken; cauliflower & salmon

Happy 35 week birthday!

Dear Izzy,

Oh you little troublemaker...you enjoy pulling up on everything! But you are not steady yet and so you have fallen quite a few times but you take it like a pro and you usually don't shed any tears! You love climbing all over, up and down the sofa. You are quite the monkey!

You also love to imitate people and when you do, you find it so funny! You are learning so fast, it's amazing. You respond to your name almost every single time now as well.

Your favorite food right now is avocado. You can eat a couple of slices by yourself at one sitting! It's awesome because avocado is so good for you. You also love your puffs and always shove more than one in your mouth at a time! Your appetite is getting bigger...you have started to eat more than 2 ozs of food at a sitting. Hopefully that means you'll be putting on some much needed weight!

You are also back to your regular sleeping schedule now after having visitors, going on vacation and getting sick, all in the last few months! Daylight savings didn't really affect you because you went to bed so late on Halloween. So it kind of helped you because although we gained an hour, you slept almost an hour later and woke up at your regular 6 am wake-up time the next morning. Mommy wonders if you will ever sleep in a little, maybe at least until 7 am, because our day always starts so early!

Ah Ma arrived yesterday and will be here for a couple of weeks. She is helping Mommy keep an eye on you while we finish putting the apartment together. It has taken us a while because you were so sick before and now you are better, we have to finish up unpacking!

Love, Mom

What a Way to Drink Water

Dear Isabelle,

We can't give you water in a bottle anymore because all you do is hit it away! So we have resorted to feeding you water with a spoon...but what do you do? You blow it all away! You are hilarious...are you a comedian in a baby suit?

Love, Mom

Mommy's Cooking

Dear Isabelle,

Mommy had to be resourceful and make you some fruit purees this week. It's probably not as good as Daddy's but you still loved it! Mommy made pear, plum and blueberry puree and Ah Ma will be making you some chicken and carrot puree. Mommy is actually enjoying cooking for you!

Love, Mom

Pear and plum puree with some pear and plum water we saved to make your oat cereal

Happy 27 week birthday!

Dear Isabelle,

Mommy is not a jungle gym. You are so active now, Mommy really wonders how I am going to handle you in your toddlerhood. You love to jump on Mommy's belly...when you were in Mommy's belly, you really loved to jump, jump, jump too! You climb all over Mommy when we are on the mat with you. You love hanging upside down across Mommy and the other new thing is you do is pulling on Mommy's nose and poking Mommy's eye...OUCH!

You really are fascinated by water! After each meal, we take you to the bathroom to wash your hands and mouth and you get so excited. You babble and kick your legs. And when we turn the tap on, you want to "catch" the water!

This week on the menu you had applesauce, pear, butternut squash and corn puree.

You are getting to be so much fun now. Daddy loves it when you are awake before he leaves for work (Mommy doesn't like it too much because sometimes it's at 5:30 am in the morning!) and he tries to come home before you go to bed so he can spend some time playing with you.

Love, Mom

Daddy and Izzy

Happy 26 week birthday!

Dear Izzy,

You are 26 weeks old today. So what have you been up to lately?

You like to splash, splash, splash in the bathtub. Mommy always gets wet nowadays when we give you a bath. You are too long for your infant tub and you like to kick your legs like you are swimming! Sometimes we put you in the pail because you always want to sit up now. Also, you really like to suck on the wash cloth...what's up with that?? Is bath water really that tasty?

You cannot keep your hands to yourself, within seconds, if Mommy doesn't have her eye on you, you grab things and they always end up in your mouth. You have started raking things towards you and the using your pincer grasp to pick them up. You are able to pick up smaller and smaller things now which is scary because they can be choking hazards!

As for your food menu, looks like you are more of a fruity girl than a veggie girl. You definitely have a sweet tooth! Just like Mommy when we were carrying you in my belly. So far you have had oatmeal cereal, rice cereal, bananas, peach, sweet potato, potato and carrot.

For the past week, you have been such a great sleeper! Bedtime is around 6:30 pm and you barely have any night awakenings now. Only one and usually it's around 2:30 am-3 am. This is when Mommy feeds you, in addition to the dreamfeed, which we do at around 10 pm. Then you sleep through till about 6:30 am or 7 am. Naps have been good too...sometimes you sleep up to 1 hr 15 mins! Yesterday you had one LONG 2 hour nap but I think it's because you were super conked out from the shots.

Till next week!

Love, Mom

Izzy & Sophie

Milestone: Hello Solids!

Dear Isabelle,

Today you had your first encounter with solid food! Daddy made you some yummy sweet potato puree for your first taste of solids.

We started off the day with going to the farmers market to pick out some fresh organic sweet potatoes. Daddy wants you to know where all your food comes from. At first, we thought we would start you off with peas but since it is not in season, we decided to go with sweet potatoes instead.

Daddy picking out the sweet potatoes for you...

You holding on to your own sweet potato!

While we were at the farmers market, you also had a taste of peach and nectarine. You really LOVE your fruits, I guess it's because it is sweet like milk! You were sucking onto them and even wanted more when Mommy took it away from you. You are starting to enjoy your trips to the farmers market!

Tasting a nectarine...

...and a peach!

Before your meal, Mommy nursed you (because milk is still going to be your main source of nutrition) and then we sat down at the dining table (Ah Ma was watching on Skype) and fed you. I think for your first try, you did very well! At the first couple of bites, you didn't know how to keep the food in your mouth but after the 3rd spoon, you started to get the hang of it. Mommy gave you your own spoon to feed yourself...you are such a smart cookie, you knew to put it straight to your mouth! You even wanted more after we gave you your own spoon.

Messy eater!

It was a great day and Daddy cannot wait for you to taste his cooking...but for now, he's not looking forward to the next poopy diaper change!

Love, Mom

First Foods for Optimal Growth Workshop

Dear Isabelle,

We went to the First Foods for Optimal Growth workshop at the Pump Station today and got TONS of valuable information! This has also reassured and solidified the baby-led approach Mommy has been researching about.

The developmental milestones we are supposed to watch for that are indicators of your readiness to begin solids are:

• your ability to stabilize your head and trunk and sit without support–this is a prerequisite to using arm and hand movements during the self-feeding process.
• your ability to remove food from the feeding spoon with your lips, without spilling too much–this will reflect higher intakes of foods, vitamins and minerals
• your interest and reaching out for food–this signals a readiness to grasp food and find your mouth

So once you are ready, what are we going to feed you first? Recent research has supported starting with green and yellow vegetables as they are easier for digestion and may reduce the risk of food sensitivities and allergies. So as recommended by the metabolic nutritionist, we'll start with peas, sweet potatoes, yams, squash, and yukon gold potatoes. She gave us a sheet with a food variety timetable to follow. We'll pass that on to Daddy because he will be making most of your food. We hope you'll like them!

Love, Mom

Baby-Led Solids

Dear Isabelle,

Since we've been going to quite a few of the breastfeeding support groups at the Pump Station, we've been introduced to the term "baby-led solids". The more Mommy does her research on this topic, the more we are convinced that this should be the way to go. It seems very logical and natural as that has been the way you've been eating since birth.

The approach states that:
"Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first six months of life. Breastfeeding is the ideal preparation for self-feeding with solid foods. Breastfeeding babies feed at their own pace – indeed, it is impossible to force them to do anything else! They also balance their own intake of food and fluid by choosing how long each feed should last.

Many parents worry about babies choking. However, there is good reason to believe that babies are at less risk of choking if they are in control of what goes into their mouth than if they are spoon fed. This is because babies are not capable of intentionally moving food to the back of their throats until after they have developed the ability to chew. And they do not develop the ability to chew until after they have developed the ability to reach out and grab things. The ability to pick up very small things develops later still. Thus, a very young baby cannot easily put himself at risk because he cannot get small pieces of food into his mouth. Spoon feeding, by contrast, encourages the baby to suck the food straight to the back of his mouth, potentially making choking more likely.

It appears that a baby's general development keeps pace with the development of his ability to manage food in his mouth, and to digest it. A baby who is struggling to get food into his mouth is probably not quite ready to eat it. It is important to resist the temptation to 'help' the baby in these circumstances since his own developmental abilities are what ensure that the transition to solid foods takes place at the right pace for him, while keeping the risk of choking to a minimum.

Baby led introduction of solids involves trusting the baby to know when he/she is ready or able to eat, and to know when he/she has had enough."

DOs and DON'Ts for baby-led introduction of solids: (as taken from Borstvoeding.com)

• DO offer your baby the chance to participate whenever anyone else in the family is eating. You can begin to do this as soon as he shows an interest in watching you, although he is unlikely to be ready to put food in his mouth until he is about six months.
• DO ensure that your baby is supported in an upright position while he is experimenting with food. In the early days you can sit him on your lap, facing the table. Once he is beginning to show skill at picking food up he will almost certainly be mature enough to sit, with minimal support, in a high chair.
• DO start by offering foods that are baby-fist-sized, preferably chip-shaped (i.e., with a 'handle'). As far as possible, and provided they are suitable, offer him the same foods that you are eating, so that he feels part of what is going on.
• DO offer a variety of foods. There is no need to limit your baby's experience with food any more than you do with toys.
• DON'T hurry your baby. Allow him to direct the pace of what he is doing. In particular, don't be tempted to 'help' him by putting things in his mouth for him.
• DON'T expect your baby to eat any food on the first few occasions. Once he has discovered that these new toys taste nice, he will begin to chew and, later, to swallow.
• DON'T expect a young baby to eat all of each piece of food at first – remember that he won't yet have developed the ability to get at food which is inside his fist.
• DO try rejected foods again later – babies often change their minds and later accept foods they originally turned down.
• DON'T leave your baby on his own with food.
• DON'T offer foods which present an obvious danger, such as peanuts.
• DON'T offer 'fast' foods, ready meals or foods that have added salt or sugar.
• DO offer water from a cup but don't worry if your baby shows no interest in it. A breastfed baby, in particular, is likely to continue for some time to get all the drinks he needs from the breast.
• DO be prepared for the mess! A clean plastic sheet on the floor under the high chair will protect your carpet and make clearing up easier. It will also enable you to give back foods that have been dropped, so that less is wasted. (You will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly your baby learns to eat with very little mess!)
• DO continue to allow your baby to breastfeed whenever he wants, for as long as he wants. Expect his breastfeeding feeding pattern to change as he starts to eat more solid foods.
• If you have a family history of food intolerance, allergy or digestive problems, DO discuss this method of weaning with your health advisers before embarking on it.
• Finally, DO enjoy watching your baby learn about food – and develop his skills with his hands and mouth in the process!

Mommy thoroughly enjoys our nursing sessions and we are definitely going to wait until you tell me that you need more. And when you do, we shall experiment with the baby-led approach. At that time, your digestive system would have matured and you would also be developmentally and physically ready for solids!

Love, Mom