Use Whatever

Q: Shouldn't you put the pig in front of the baby?

A: ... the pig is just a back support for now.

Q: How is the baby liking the play pen?

A: Not liking it because the bottom is too soft and the sides are too high.

Q: Are there other better alternatives?

A: Yes.



Q: ... なにこれ?

A: ...

☆笑顔満開☆

Fun and unique

Whenever I see home sewn toy like this, I get goose bumps. Good goose bumps.

On one hand, I barely passed my sewing class when I was in junior high... More than half of the homework was either done by my mom, or I reused my sister's old homework (which was also done by my mom) or a friend who likes to sew in my class will help me finish the work on the day the assignment was given! (I still remember her name since she was a life-saver.)

And on the other hand, I LOVE hand-made organic-like soft toys and would like to try to make one. This car literally jumped out from a kid's drawing. This mom I read on the internet is so gifted at sewing that she can sew whatever her kids drew. I wish I could be like that.

Oh that reminds me... my mother-in-law is (was?) a terrific seamstress. She can make a professional wedding dress from scratch! (*No, she did not make my dress... )

ココアマーブルクッキー

These have always been my favorite cookies and it has been a while since I last made them. Last year, people at work really enjoyed them and I had pictures to prove (not posted though). But this year, I am going to go with the marble style instead of the equal swirl and I am going to add almond powder to the butter dough and add a little more sugar to the cocoa dough.

Too bad my little girl can not eat cookies yet, we'll just have to eat them all. :-)

National Spelling Bee

I am not good at spelling but I am completely hooked on watching the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee every year. The final is always so intense for the kids. You see the agonies and tremendous stress they go through when it's their turn and then the expressions of overjoy when they get the spelling correctly for the trickiest words in the dictionary. Some of them came with 7 years of preparation going through the encyclopedia version of the English dictionary, not once but 7 times!! It started off with about 11 million spellers and then all the way down to just 12 finalists. It just blow my mind seeing what these 12, 13 year old kids can spell. I jump up and down for them when they get it right and shed a tear or two when I see their disappointment getting the ding (which means it was spelled incorrectly). Yes, it gets very emotional!! I am sometimes amazed by the poise and charms of these kids. Other times, I feel it's just too much for them. Take a look at the words tested in one of the rounds. To be honest, I have no idea those words existed!

Despite all the excitements I get from watching the final, almost like a parent to those kids, I will never want my kid to go through the same.

On a separate note, I wonder why they don't use the same list of words for all the kids just to be fair? To me, some words are just trickier than others... Well, I guess life is not meant to be fair and it's a true test of what you are capable of.

Here is one of the highlights I enjoyed... (click to see the video)

"Numnut?" asked the kid.
"Numnah" said the proctor.
"OH! Numnah!" "That's a relief!!" said the kid.

And the kid went on to win the competition! Congrats!!

Same thing

Everyone knows how prices are easily doubled or tripled when it's a wedding related expenditure. Similarly, anything created for babies has the same effect on the price tag. For a tiny pair of leg warmers as seen above could run from $12.00 to $22.00, while an adult pair sells for $5.00 to $12.00...

How about this plastic chair? It should be no more than $10.00 in my opinion, but look at the price. A whopping $40.00!! No wonder they say it take US$500,000.00 (or HK$4 mil.) to raise a kid. They might have really tabulated everything involved.

Living Room

Here is the ideal living room where you can really relax, watch a movie, read a book or magazine with your favorite drink on the coffee table. No clutters. No baby bouncer or saucer on the floor. Just space and more space. I shall revert our living room to this after baby turns 3!

iPhones

With all hype on iPhones, here is a post I really enjoy reading, haha!
http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2008/06/confession-i-secretly-despise-idiots.html

*Oops, wait... I was interrupted and did not get a chance to read the very last paragraph... No, I don't condone the language used. Skip the whole last paragraph and have a laugh if you are new to the Fake Steve Blog and find it offensive.

Chubby feet

I was almost going to say baby's cute chubby feet bring out the foot fetish in adults. But on second thought, knowing how I was deeply influenced by my swimming team teammates back at a very tender age that "the feet have to be one of the ugliest human body parts" ... I have to be one of the least foot fetish persons on earth, so then the whole idea is flawed.

Anyway, I just LOVE chubby legs and feet - even though my daughter probably is already on the skinny side for babies.

Play

Eat, sleep, wake & play! That's going to be the routine for the next 2.5 years!! Gosh, that's a lot of play time!!!

Yum!

6-month, time to start on solids for this little girl. She likes her carrot puree.
But there is something missing in this picture, can you tell what it is?

Who is Olivia?

I have thought of naming my daughter - Olivia and there isn't a particular reason why. I guess I just like the sound of it. But then I checked the Popular Baby Name List and it has been among the top 10 almost every year for the last 10 years, so it's a no.

When I came across this book in the book store last weekend, it really just caught my attention among a full shelf of all other children's books. I have never heard of Olivia, illustrated by Ian Falconer, but I picked it up and flipped through it. I really like it! It's drawn elegantly with a very clean, simple 3-color scheme. The story itself was not much but I bought it anyway. Then later in the week, I checked Amazon.com to look at some of the reviews. I was gladly surprised at its popularity among adults (and some kids, too) and that it will be featured in Nickelodeon soon. So I guess I bought something that would stay on our daughter's bookshelf for a very long time to come. Good buy, mommy!

More interesting read on Olivia & Ian Falconer here: USAToday

Just too much!!

I have many, many lip sticks, but I only use lip balm these days.
I also have many, many bottles and tubes of lotion and moisturizer. I just keep buying the new products that seem to be better so I never get a chance to finish the earlier products, even though they are still good.
Same with cleanser. I have the strong ones, the completely soap-free ones (which feel useless) and then the many in-betweens.
Same with combs, I have all shapes and sizes combs and brushes, but I really only use 3 out of all.
Pants and tops. I have tons and tons of them but I actually only wear maybe a dozen of them.
Gym clothes. Shorts, pants, t-shirts, tank-tops but only 2 pairs of shorts and 3 pairs of pants and 2 tops I will use. And I even bought a new tank this weekend because I like the color!
White shirts. So many. Loose, tight, fitted, straight... but I don't wear them anymore. I tend to stain anything white with sphagetti sauce or V8 or ice cream. But the real reason is actually I am too lazy to iron.
Jackets - long, short, thin, thick, mid-sleeves, long sleeves, with cuffs, with hoods, with zipper, with buttons... All sort of styles but along the same natural colors or black. But again, I pretty much just wear only a few of them.
Shoes, handbags, belts, blushes, eye shadows, towels, PJs, socks, swim suits ... all the same story.

Should I throw them out to make space or bag them up for donation? My sister-in-law said just draw the line - if I have not used it the last 3-5 years, get rid of it.

But it seems so wasteful!! I am sure some of my friends' moms or older neighbors can use some of the stuff that are still perfectly good. But how do I say it? "I was going to throw these out but wondering if you want them/ but thought maybe you can use them?" How insulting!! I don't know... I guess that's the whole reason why I still have so much stuff. I have serious issue.