Tonight,  I ended my stay at home week with Little Foot aptly by eating the leftover mee sua that I cooked for her dinner.

I reflected on the past 6 days over the Al Dante soggy mee sua  (which I must say tasted quite good).

First, a pat on the back for me.

Our initial plans to go to JB for a short getaway together fell apart when Papa Long had to cancel his leave.

So our plans flopped.

I then set a few “agendas” — bring her to an indoor playground, to the library, and maybe for a shopping session in orchard. None of the above happened. My back had to choose to scream in pain late last week too, with the aches shooting to the back of my knees. Bad timing. So we stayed home, even though it got better after acupuncture on Tuesday, the only day Papa was able to take leave.

And so we went into the routine we knew best from our good old times – direct & comfort latching on demand. Probably the last time I will be able to use this weapon for a sahm stint as she is now nearly 16 months old.

Looking back, I think I did well because I randomly introduced new play ideas to her on whim. They were all just things that happened on the spot.

Fun with the magic mop happened because she wanted to play in the balcony and I wanted to make sure it was clean (especially since it’s been hazy). Playtime happened when she grabbed the mop from me.

Ransacking the storage boxes filled with supplies of baby food is another funny thing she seemed to enjoy. Just nice that this spot is in full view of geh bathroom, so she would keep busy throwing stuff out of the box while I prepared her bath.

The fun part of this room is that it also holds my extensive collection of scrapbooking materials. So of cos I thought,  it’d be fun to let her try some colouring. She had fun throwing the pencils around and poking the paper with them.

One of my favourite moments was her discovering magnets. She spent a good hour playing with them, I had time to grab my morning drink and do some washing.

And the next day, she upgraded to pushing the ikea stool, which she placed the magnets on, around the house.

After she got tired of magnets, on Friday, we were back in the balcony playing again and she wanted to peel off the mosquito patches I stuck on the balcony door (a habit I had since I felt it was a waste to throw them immediately after a one – time trip to the playground).  I didn’t think it was a good idea to play with the citronella – soaked stickers, so I dug into my treasure trove and pulled out this pack of stickers. Oh… the amount of time she spent concentrating on getting the hang of peeling, sticking, transferring them. Good for training dexterity!

These kiddy sunglasses amused her quite a bit too!

Of course, she played with her truckload of toys too. . And other random stuff in the house

But in the end,  the most time – consuming activity was eating.

Thankfully, our baby is a born foodie… I feel like she needs a master chef in the house, not mummy who cannot cook properly. .. but I tried my best to be creative and vary the dishes.

Like the egg, cheese and broccoli omelette that I conjured up and the potato and carrot (turned out they were sweet potatoes?!!) pan fried with tomato sauce and olive oil, and today’s vehicles pasta (cheated using prego sauce) with minced pork.

She also had the usual steamed cod with carrots and rice, beehoon soup with baby kailan and threadfin,  mee sua with spinach and cod fish (aka boring baby food). We also had yogurt, cereals, puffs and food pouches. My most outrageous moment was sharing my char siew rice with her (being mindful to avoid the oily and sauce – covered parts).

When the weekend finally arrived,  Little Foot got her first kid’s meal order for herself (I’m not counting the McDonald’s party happy meal since she didn’t eat the nuggets). Mini pancakes with blueberries and cream cheese. Sounds yummy, but she decided she wanted my sweet potato fries instead.

The biggest achievements this week has gotta be Little Foot mastering feeding herself with a spoon on Friday, and able to walk about 10 steps or more without support tonight.

With the spoon,  it was actually a bo bian situation.  She would snatch the spoon from me when I feed her during meal times, so I gave it to her and got a second spoon. Guess what? She took it too! Initially, she couldn’t hold the spoon facing the right way up, so a lot ended on the chair and floor…. by Friday evening,  she knew how to adjust the spoon and aim the food into her mouth! The mess was almost confined to the tray! So proud of her!

As for the walking, I know she has been practising hard lately, but she was always afraid to let go.  So we spent much of our times walking with her holding onto something or my hand. Including over and hour at the playground with her refusing to be carried and refusing to leave. I had to trot around with her surveying the nooks and crannies of the small kids playground (my back is cringing at the memory).

 

Last night, sleepless, she wanted to go walk the corridor. We end up playing by having her walk from Papa to Me and back again to Papa. She was so full of glee whenever she fell into the safety of our arms. My heart was filled with happiness whenever she hugged me and rested her head on my arm. Today at my mum’s place we pulled the distance further and she would squeal and giggle in excitement walking to and fro.

And then night came. .. dinner was over, yet she was restless. 9pm, she crawled out of our bed and insisted on leading me back to the living room.  “Mummum!” She pulled at the load of bread on the dining table.  Ok, I opened it… she played with 1 slice, past back to me.  I decided to get a slice of cheese and added another slice of bread. It was more for myself but I offered her the bread. Little did I know, she would claim it as her own. Lolz…

The interesting part was when she kept standing and walking while holding onto the bread and cheese for dear life and eating away at it. She seemed to have forgotten her apprehension about walking and covered.quite a distance from the playmat to the dining bench.

Oh my Little Foot,  you really thrive on food! With the bread, you found courage!

Oh yes, and she’s had her first shower time in the bathroom outside of the bathtub… Stood for awhile,  then sat on the bathroom floor and poured water over herself with the water scoop.

So much done in this short time together… I feel a sense of achievement that I somehow managed to make good use of the time we had together. How life pans out sometimes.  It was supposed to be Papa’s stay at home dad stint, but circumstances gave me the opportunity to bond with our precious little girl. I wonder how it would be if he had stayed home this week instead of me.

This time is so different from last September.  In a way it is more difficult and easier all at the same time… maybe because she can keep occupied with a certain activity for a period of time, which give me chance to sit down and breathe, but her mobility makes challenging to constantly keep and eye on her. And she doesn’t want to be in the walker, stroller or baby carriers anymore (hopefully a passing phase while she’s learning to walk). Definitely a demanding boss here!.

As with the last stint, my meals are simple affairs, sometimes I forgot to eat till it’s past normal lunch time. I couldn’t be bothered with my hair or putting cream on my face.  As long as I brushed my teeth, washed my hands and showered. A part of me learned to let go and say “it’s ok”… esp with the food pouches and missed naps and bedtimes.

Little Foot will turn 16 months in 3 days’ time… no longer a baby, ready to walk and see the world.

I guess I can conclude by saying “We made it!”

Good night my sweetie 贝贝. Sleep tight. XOXO

P.S. I really loved that incidental tune you played out today on the keyboard. Almost a twinkle twinkle there!

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