There's a song in 李克勤's latest album, "Today Special", which perfectly describes what being a parent is all about. It's a collaboration between 張繼聰 and 李克勤, both of whom became first-time fathers in 2007.
爸爸聲
歌手：張繼聰 李克勤 作曲：張繼聰 填詞：李克勤 張繼聰 編曲：張繼聰
張：好怕 成日無奶粉
李：好怕 成日要打針
合：頭條又話有細菌 嚇到我手都震
李：開奶 容易過掃風
張：扭抱 阿仔你好重
李：明明未學轉身 張：明明未學發音
合：但係識飛吻
合：紙尿片 張：每日去得好快
合：衫褲鞋 李：Size要大
合：我想你乖 你想去街
合：抱抱 錫錫 奶奶
合：Because I'm loving you
簡單一句 Loving you
乜都可以俾曬你 只要你肯乖乖地
李：邊個鐘意飛 張：邊個識放屁
合：半夜靠著我手臂
李：蔬菜 張：全部要有機
張：英文 李：我只記得DHA
合：紅葡萄話敏感 黃芽白話敏感 又話生濕疹
合:偶像派 張：米奇老鼠威曬
合：湯馬士 李：火車最賣
合：我想你乖 你想去街
合：抱抱 錫錫 奶奶
合：Because I'm loving you
簡單一句 Loving you
乜都可以俾曬你 乖仔你肯聽教未
合：Because I'm loving you
簡單一句 Loving you
乜都可以俾曬你 只要你肯乖乖地
李：邊個鐘意飛 張：邊個識放屁
合：半夜靠著我手臂
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sleep Training Struggles
Isaac has been sleeping "through the night" for a few weeks already. The problem? His longest sleeping stretch starts somewhere from 12-3am (lasting 5-7 hours)!
In addition, he was very cranky as the evening progresses on. Adding a very tired Daddy at the end of the day, and the result was a nightly disastrous "squaring off" between father and son, with Mommy helplessly watching.
I've been looking for ways to make Isaac go to bed earlier. At the suggestion of another mom, I borrowed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
from the library. According to the author, Isaac was probably very much overtired in the evening. The book explained babies should be put to bed when they starts to be sleepy but before they're overtired. The list of sleepy signals was a bit of a surprise to me, as I didn't realize them until I read the book. I tried doing that and it worked! Instead of constantly refusing sleep (because we only realized he was sleepy when he has already entered the overtired state), Isaac fell asleep on his own in minutes!
However, other suggestions of the book didn't work as well. Particularly, I was trying to follow the napping and sleeping schedule as suggested by the book. The napping part was fine: Isaac slept through them for the desirable duration in the suggested timeframe. It was the sleep part which was causing headaches: the book suggested putting babies to sleep at no later than 7:00pm, and as early as 5:30pm for sleep-deprived children. (I thought Isaac was probably sleep-deprived, with his dark undereye circles and cranky behaviour.) We tried that, but Isaac just kept waking up even more frequently than during the day. He would sleep for about 45 minutes to 1.5 hours and wake up crying, not knowing how to fall back asleep on his own. Sometimes he wants to be changed, sometimes he wants to be fed, other times he just want to nibble/suck. It usually goes on until 3am, but last night it went on throughout the whole night!
I'm only 1/3 through the book. Hopefully the other 2/3 would help him stay asleep in the evening!
In addition, he was very cranky as the evening progresses on. Adding a very tired Daddy at the end of the day, and the result was a nightly disastrous "squaring off" between father and son, with Mommy helplessly watching.
I've been looking for ways to make Isaac go to bed earlier. At the suggestion of another mom, I borrowed Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
from the library. According to the author, Isaac was probably very much overtired in the evening. The book explained babies should be put to bed when they starts to be sleepy but before they're overtired. The list of sleepy signals was a bit of a surprise to me, as I didn't realize them until I read the book. I tried doing that and it worked! Instead of constantly refusing sleep (because we only realized he was sleepy when he has already entered the overtired state), Isaac fell asleep on his own in minutes!However, other suggestions of the book didn't work as well. Particularly, I was trying to follow the napping and sleeping schedule as suggested by the book. The napping part was fine: Isaac slept through them for the desirable duration in the suggested timeframe. It was the sleep part which was causing headaches: the book suggested putting babies to sleep at no later than 7:00pm, and as early as 5:30pm for sleep-deprived children. (I thought Isaac was probably sleep-deprived, with his dark undereye circles and cranky behaviour.) We tried that, but Isaac just kept waking up even more frequently than during the day. He would sleep for about 45 minutes to 1.5 hours and wake up crying, not knowing how to fall back asleep on his own. Sometimes he wants to be changed, sometimes he wants to be fed, other times he just want to nibble/suck. It usually goes on until 3am, but last night it went on throughout the whole night!
I'm only 1/3 through the book. Hopefully the other 2/3 would help him stay asleep in the evening!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Yay for New TV!
Our new LCD TV arrived yesterday. Yay!
In anticipation of its arrival, we bought a BENNO TV bench (birch veneer) from IKEA on Sunday. (Also bought the long-anticipated POÄNG, off-white leather on birch.)
Loading all four pieces onto the car was not an easy feat, especially when Isaac was crying in the car while we were trying to figure out how to fit everything into our pathetically small Corolla, and it was snowing all along.
Sunday night was spent assembling the BENNO, which was quite a challenge because we had to do it when Isaac was sleeping. It was quite possibly the most complicated assembly we've had from IKEA! We only managed to put together the central piece, leaving the drawers for Monday night.
(Oh, by "we" I actually mean "mostly Daniel." Just sayin'.)
(He also assembled the POÄNG while I was sleeping. Isn't he sweet?)
The TV arrived shortly after noon on Tuesday. It was an LCD TV by LG my dad ordered for me from Future Shop. I was told by the delivery guys not to plug it in until two hours later to prevent the screen from cracking. Yes, it was that cold.
I left the TV unopened until Daniel arrived home in the evening. However, there was something more pressing than unboxing--we had to move the old TV and old TV stand out of the way first. Then, we had to untangle the unorganized A/V & gaming mess sitting below the old TV stand, which included the PS2, the Wii, set-top box, ADSL modem + router (which has to connect to the set-top box), and an el-cheapo speaker system.
With the old stuff taken care of, we moved the new TV bench into the designated spot. After that, we organized the A/V & gaming components into the new shelves. This part took a long, long time, because we hadn't planned how everything should fit together.
Finally, the TV was unboxed. As it was approaching Isaac's meal time, I left the TV stand assembly to Daniel (which he complained was an unnecessarily complicated procedure). Of course, he connected all the wires too, though he accidentally hooked the Wii to component video (which we don't have the wires for) instead of composite.
Now I just have to figure out how to program the TV remote to control the set-top box...
In anticipation of its arrival, we bought a BENNO TV bench (birch veneer) from IKEA on Sunday. (Also bought the long-anticipated POÄNG, off-white leather on birch.)
Loading all four pieces onto the car was not an easy feat, especially when Isaac was crying in the car while we were trying to figure out how to fit everything into our pathetically small Corolla, and it was snowing all along.
Sunday night was spent assembling the BENNO, which was quite a challenge because we had to do it when Isaac was sleeping. It was quite possibly the most complicated assembly we've had from IKEA! We only managed to put together the central piece, leaving the drawers for Monday night.
(Oh, by "we" I actually mean "mostly Daniel." Just sayin'.)
(He also assembled the POÄNG while I was sleeping. Isn't he sweet?)
The TV arrived shortly after noon on Tuesday. It was an LCD TV by LG my dad ordered for me from Future Shop. I was told by the delivery guys not to plug it in until two hours later to prevent the screen from cracking. Yes, it was that cold.
I left the TV unopened until Daniel arrived home in the evening. However, there was something more pressing than unboxing--we had to move the old TV and old TV stand out of the way first. Then, we had to untangle the unorganized A/V & gaming mess sitting below the old TV stand, which included the PS2, the Wii, set-top box, ADSL modem + router (which has to connect to the set-top box), and an el-cheapo speaker system.
With the old stuff taken care of, we moved the new TV bench into the designated spot. After that, we organized the A/V & gaming components into the new shelves. This part took a long, long time, because we hadn't planned how everything should fit together.
Finally, the TV was unboxed. As it was approaching Isaac's meal time, I left the TV stand assembly to Daniel (which he complained was an unnecessarily complicated procedure). Of course, he connected all the wires too, though he accidentally hooked the Wii to component video (which we don't have the wires for) instead of composite.
Now I just have to figure out how to program the TV remote to control the set-top box...
News: Explosion at King's Throne
TORONTO — A massive explosion happened at King Isaac's Throne around noon today, claiming three casualties.
According to King Isaac's spokesperson, Servant #1 Mommy discovered the silent but deadly explosion just before His Majesty's royal lunch. His Majesty was wearing his "Go Fetch" onesies, a yellow "chicken" sleeper, and a non-descript bib. He also had two "rabbit ears" and a blanket on him at the time of the explosion. Both the onesies and the sleeper, along with the pad of the throne, were among the casualties.
King Isaac was reportedly unfazed by the explosion, despite His whole right thigh being affected.
Mommy was having lunch at the time of the explosion. While she noticed an explosion might have happened, she was not aware of the severity of the event until she was about to serve lunch to His Majesty.
Mommy immediate removed King Isaac from the crime scene and began the clean-up at the changing table. After cleaning His Majesty, Mommy moved King Isaac from the changing table, which has since become the secondary affected area, and put clean clothes onto King Isaac.
"This has been one of the worse blowouts I have ever seen," quoted Mommy, "it's fortunate King Isaac was not complaining about the ordeal."
As of writing time, Servant #2 Daddy and Servant #3 Grandma were not yet notified.
According to King Isaac's spokesperson, Servant #1 Mommy discovered the silent but deadly explosion just before His Majesty's royal lunch. His Majesty was wearing his "Go Fetch" onesies, a yellow "chicken" sleeper, and a non-descript bib. He also had two "rabbit ears" and a blanket on him at the time of the explosion. Both the onesies and the sleeper, along with the pad of the throne, were among the casualties.
King Isaac was reportedly unfazed by the explosion, despite His whole right thigh being affected.
Mommy was having lunch at the time of the explosion. While she noticed an explosion might have happened, she was not aware of the severity of the event until she was about to serve lunch to His Majesty.
Mommy immediate removed King Isaac from the crime scene and began the clean-up at the changing table. After cleaning His Majesty, Mommy moved King Isaac from the changing table, which has since become the secondary affected area, and put clean clothes onto King Isaac.
"This has been one of the worse blowouts I have ever seen," quoted Mommy, "it's fortunate King Isaac was not complaining about the ordeal."
As of writing time, Servant #2 Daddy and Servant #3 Grandma were not yet notified.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Baby Carrying Solution (or Why I Love Freecycle)
I have been considering a baby carrier for some time already. Since I don't have a car all the time (a situation which has been somewhat leviated after we bought and installed a second car seat base in my mom's car), and the underground passage to Sheppard Centre is not stroller-friendly (too many steps of stairs), I thought I could use a baby carrier to at least get out of the house more. Plus, we really want to go hiking again in the summer, and a carrier is almost a necessity.
We initally looked at the popular BabyBjorn. However, we found its usefulness is limited in our situation. It can only carry up to 25lbs and cannot be used as a back carrier. If we are only going to use it for hiking, we thought, we may as well buy the full frame child carrier from MEC (we bought one for Daniel's brother a few years ago). If my memory serves me well, it works up to north of 20kg.
But that still doesn't stop me from wanting a baby carrier. I have since learned about the ERGObaby carrier which lasts up to 35lbs, and all moms I know who has one swear by it. Or a wrap, which I later found out about. So I set sail and look up any good deal on quality wrap or the ERGObaby. (I have the benefit of shipping anything to my bro in US and have him bring them back to TO later this month.) However, cheap(er) ERGObaby is nowhere to be found, not even on eBay.
Enter freecycle and similar lists. I posted a WANTED and received a (albeit old) BabyTrekker carrier in return. The BabyTrekker has the added benefit of (supposedly) able to nurse the baby in it, plus it's a Canadian company. I tried it with Isaac this morning and I think he enjoyed it as much as I did.
Now I can take Isaac with me and hit the treadmill (walking)!
We initally looked at the popular BabyBjorn. However, we found its usefulness is limited in our situation. It can only carry up to 25lbs and cannot be used as a back carrier. If we are only going to use it for hiking, we thought, we may as well buy the full frame child carrier from MEC (we bought one for Daniel's brother a few years ago). If my memory serves me well, it works up to north of 20kg.
But that still doesn't stop me from wanting a baby carrier. I have since learned about the ERGObaby carrier which lasts up to 35lbs, and all moms I know who has one swear by it. Or a wrap, which I later found out about. So I set sail and look up any good deal on quality wrap or the ERGObaby. (I have the benefit of shipping anything to my bro in US and have him bring them back to TO later this month.) However, cheap(er) ERGObaby is nowhere to be found, not even on eBay.
Enter freecycle and similar lists. I posted a WANTED and received a (albeit old) BabyTrekker carrier in return. The BabyTrekker has the added benefit of (supposedly) able to nurse the baby in it, plus it's a Canadian company. I tried it with Isaac this morning and I think he enjoyed it as much as I did.
Now I can take Isaac with me and hit the treadmill (walking)!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Root Cause Analysis of a Full Day of Crankiness
It was Siu Wai's birthday last Saturday, and we were invited by his lovely wife to their dig for celebration.
Initially, Isaac behaved well. He woke up and was held by various people without fussing. However, as the night progressed, he became very different from his usual self--he started looking emotionless and giving blank stares. We knew he was tired, so we tried putting him to sleep in a separate room, but he woke up crying, possibly woken up by all the noise from the living room, as everyone was playing Wii, with a lot of sudden screams and laughter. All along, one or both of us had stayed with him inside the room. He just refused to sleep.
After we got home, he became inconsolable the rest of the night and into the next day as well. He would cry soon after we left him in his crib, even if he were sleeping when we put him in there. Daniel became so frustrated by Isaac's crying he yelled at Isaac a few times (which only made things worse). It was a nightmare for all three of us for over 24 hours.
Even though we thought it wasn't quite reasonable, we've decided to blame Siu Wai and both agreed not to bring Isaac to their place again.
Fast forward to yesterday. After we went out for shopping (so many errands, so little time), we decided to go to Daniel's parents' place for dinner instead of having them to come over to ours.
This time again, things went well for the whole meal. After dinner though, grandma decided to pick up Isaac and hold him for a while. Understandable, as she hasn't seen him since last weekend. He eventually woke up, possibly due to vomiting--he's very prone to vomiting, especially after eating too quickly. He's also prone to wake up from vomiting, which usually means he still needs sleep afterwards.
However, as we noticed, he was beside himself again. First of all, he looked confused and alarmed. In grandma's arms, he kept his eyes locked on me. When I stepped out of his sight, he started wailing. But he still wasn't crying loudly, as he usually would at home under the same circumstances (sleepy and the taste of acid in his mouth).
Daniel and I suddenly realized: he was scared of the unfamiliar surroundings, and I was probably the only thing comforting to him.
Everything started to make sense: Isaac wasn't inconsolable for no reason last week. If he was scared at Daniel's parents' place, which was much quieter, where he was the centre of attention, and with people not entirely unfamiliar to him (he still might not remember grandparents well enough though--his memory is short-lived), he probably was scared to the point of shell-shocked last week at Siu Wai's place.
Eventually, he was comfortable/scared enough at grandparents' place and started crying like his usual self. According to the graveyard shift guard Daniel (heh), although Isaac wasn't sleeping too well and woke up a few times wanting to be held, last night was nothing compared to last week's nightmare.
Initially, Isaac behaved well. He woke up and was held by various people without fussing. However, as the night progressed, he became very different from his usual self--he started looking emotionless and giving blank stares. We knew he was tired, so we tried putting him to sleep in a separate room, but he woke up crying, possibly woken up by all the noise from the living room, as everyone was playing Wii, with a lot of sudden screams and laughter. All along, one or both of us had stayed with him inside the room. He just refused to sleep.
After we got home, he became inconsolable the rest of the night and into the next day as well. He would cry soon after we left him in his crib, even if he were sleeping when we put him in there. Daniel became so frustrated by Isaac's crying he yelled at Isaac a few times (which only made things worse). It was a nightmare for all three of us for over 24 hours.
Even though we thought it wasn't quite reasonable, we've decided to blame Siu Wai and both agreed not to bring Isaac to their place again.
Fast forward to yesterday. After we went out for shopping (so many errands, so little time), we decided to go to Daniel's parents' place for dinner instead of having them to come over to ours.
This time again, things went well for the whole meal. After dinner though, grandma decided to pick up Isaac and hold him for a while. Understandable, as she hasn't seen him since last weekend. He eventually woke up, possibly due to vomiting--he's very prone to vomiting, especially after eating too quickly. He's also prone to wake up from vomiting, which usually means he still needs sleep afterwards.
However, as we noticed, he was beside himself again. First of all, he looked confused and alarmed. In grandma's arms, he kept his eyes locked on me. When I stepped out of his sight, he started wailing. But he still wasn't crying loudly, as he usually would at home under the same circumstances (sleepy and the taste of acid in his mouth).
Daniel and I suddenly realized: he was scared of the unfamiliar surroundings, and I was probably the only thing comforting to him.
Everything started to make sense: Isaac wasn't inconsolable for no reason last week. If he was scared at Daniel's parents' place, which was much quieter, where he was the centre of attention, and with people not entirely unfamiliar to him (he still might not remember grandparents well enough though--his memory is short-lived), he probably was scared to the point of shell-shocked last week at Siu Wai's place.
Eventually, he was comfortable/scared enough at grandparents' place and started crying like his usual self. According to the graveyard shift guard Daniel (heh), although Isaac wasn't sleeping too well and woke up a few times wanting to be held, last night was nothing compared to last week's nightmare.
New Dishes at Hello Noodles
Daniel needs new glasses. One lens came off the frame two weeks ago and shattered, so he has been wearing his old pair. Since we're friends with the husband of the owner of Optical Loft via Louis, who wanted to get a new pair of glasses as well, we paid a visit to the store this afternoon.
Actually, we met up with Louis downstairs at Hello, the wonton restaurant owned by the husband Raymond. It's one of our favourite restaurants, and we had lunch there today.
Hello's menu stemmed from it's roots, Jim Chai Kee, and was surprisingly simple. You basically choose from any combination of wonton, beef, and fish balls, then choose from the three kinds of noodles, soup or lo mein style. Fast and simple. And affordable too.
This time, we noticed two new items on the menu--炸醬麵 and 牛坑腩麵. (The first is minced pork in a spicy sauce, and the second is beef brisket.) I ordered the first one, but was slightly it wasn't up to the usual quality of their food. However, Raymond gave us some of the beef brisket pieces to try, and we were immediately hooked! The brisket was very high quality meat by itself, and he managed to make them so tender it almost melted in my mouth!
Raymond just came back from Hong Kong last week, where he found inspirations for the new dishes. He told us he still have some other new menu items coming down the pipe and they sounded exciting to me. I'll visit again after the reveal, and probably write another post about it.
Actually, we met up with Louis downstairs at Hello, the wonton restaurant owned by the husband Raymond. It's one of our favourite restaurants, and we had lunch there today.
Hello's menu stemmed from it's roots, Jim Chai Kee, and was surprisingly simple. You basically choose from any combination of wonton, beef, and fish balls, then choose from the three kinds of noodles, soup or lo mein style. Fast and simple. And affordable too.
This time, we noticed two new items on the menu--炸醬麵 and 牛坑腩麵. (The first is minced pork in a spicy sauce, and the second is beef brisket.) I ordered the first one, but was slightly it wasn't up to the usual quality of their food. However, Raymond gave us some of the beef brisket pieces to try, and we were immediately hooked! The brisket was very high quality meat by itself, and he managed to make them so tender it almost melted in my mouth!
Raymond just came back from Hong Kong last week, where he found inspirations for the new dishes. He told us he still have some other new menu items coming down the pipe and they sounded exciting to me. I'll visit again after the reveal, and probably write another post about it.
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