Homeward Bound!

It’s time – we are all headed back to the motherland – the Land of the Thunder Dragon. Erik is going back to daddy’s home – Bhutan. Erik is going to meet his great grandparents and plenty of grand aunts and uncles. We will also be celebrating Chinese New Year over there.

Well that’s about all the excitement we have – kind of dreading the long flight there and hoping it will go smoothly. This will be Erik’s longest flight ever. Need help – how do I entertain my son for so long? But you will all find out about that. We will be flying out of SFO (think 14+ hours to HK) – with an hour transit in Hong Kong (which would give us enough time to go to pee and get Erik to stretch himself out). After this we have about 4-5 hours to Singapore. We will have about a 10 hour layover – if our energy is not drained we will head out into the city and take Erik to the aquarium in Sentosa Island and also visit Vivo mall to do some shopping for the little guy. After which – we will have another 4+ hours and will reach Calcutta, India.

In Calcutta – we will be in transit or staying there for a day or two – after which we flow out to Bagdogra – the nearest town to Bhutan – where we will have to take a six hour car ride to Phuentsholing, Bhutan. Just in case we get asked how long and how far away are we headed.

Male Lactation

An interesting blog piece that Chhimi came across, it was regarding that men could actually breastfeed! It is not a hoax but it really can happen and its called "Male Lactation".
I was so interested in this topic that I actually did a search on it and found out that men could really will themselves into producing milk. Of course, the baby would also have to nurse as often as possible to stimulate the mammory glands. Yes! Guys do have mammory glands! (**wished I knew this when I had all the nursing issues in the beginning!**) Although they don't have as much mammory glands as women, but it is still a possibility. So for all our guy readers, would you or would you not be open to that option? Would you be willing to breastfeed your baby?

Also, when we first brought Erik home from the hospital, I distinguishly remember my mother-in-law, Katy, stating that baby boys (and girls) could actually have milk from their nipples too! Kinda weird! And with my hormones raging, I was pretty close-minded and thought my mother-in-law was just the weirdest person for saying that (Freaky was the word, I believe). However, after the above search, it is true! When infants lactate, it is called "Witches' Milk" or neonatal milk. Basically its from all the extra hormones from the mother and it will dissolve within a week or two!

I know this topic is kinda weird and male lactation is not widely accepted in our society. However, I pose this question, we all know that breastmilk is the best source of food for our babies, claimed by all the doctors. So for some reason, if the mom cannot breastfeed, would you dads (or dad to be) out there step up to the plate and try breastfeeding? Maybe in the future, as our numbers of Stay-At-Home dads increases, maybe there would be more dads out there willing to try this method out? LOL!

I posed this to Chhimi and he asked me a few more questions of "how do you get it all started?"...he pondered for a mere moment...but his response was to get back to his online game! So...hmmm...I take that as a "No". But at the same time, I'm no longer at that stage of can't breastfeed Erik. I'm pretty sure if I was in "Nursing Hell" again, Chhimi would have stepped up to the plate!

Blowing Raspberries

Erik's normal bedtime routine on a daily basis is the following:

1. Body Massage to rub away all his stress and worries so he can unwind the day - (**this is optional, depending on if we are running late or if Erik is super tired ** )
   
2. Tickle Time & Blow Raspberries - Daddy usually gets Erik all giggled up and excited for his bath by tickling and blowing raspberries. Erik loves this part and he smiles and laughs anticipating the next sets of tickles. Hearing Erik laugh is the lovliest sound for Mommy and Daddy.
   
3. After that, it is bath time in the big bath tub, either with Mommy or Daddy. In there, Erik gets to read his bath books, play with the water balls, submarines, or just making splashes.

However, tonight, after the bath was when all the fun started for us. We tried a little new routine instead of just reading Erik's favorite book. Daddy bought us a Sesame Sing-A-Long book with CD and it was a blast! Erik was bouncing up and down on the bed and clapping hearing us sing to him and reading the words.

As Mommy laid Erik down for him to sleep afterwards, Erik rolled over and blew a raspberry on Mommy! It was the CUTEST and most adorable thing! He immediately looked up to see what Mommy's reaction was and of course, Mommy was giggling away and Erik smiled his devilish grin and started to blow raspberries on Mommy's tummy once more! He had learned how to blow bubbles in his soup during dinner time (**not sure from where, maybe from all of Daddy's raspberry time**) but he had put two and two together!

Daddy ran into the room wondering what all the giggling about and saw the free raspberries giving so he immediately laid down in bed and Erik got himself a new victim! Hahahaha! Every time Erik would blow a raspberry, he'd look for our approval, as if "Did I get ya?" and we'd giggled and laughed and he would beam so proud and would do it again! This lasted a whole 10 minutes, and at one part, Erik made Mommy giggled for help!! Heeheeheee!

Sigh! No matter how stressful our days were because of outside factors, it is so wonderful to reconnect at such a relaxing and playful manner. Before Erik, Daddy and Mommy would just be vegetating in front of the couch to unwind but with Erik, we actually get a bit more active and still be able to unwind. We love our family time!

I Love You Through and Through

I Love You Through and Through
I love your top side.
I love your bottom side.
I love your inside ... and outside...........
I love you running, and walking, silent and talking.
I love you through and through... yesterday, today, and tomorrow too.

If you have read Tabitha's previous post. (Physical Milestones Update: Pointing, Flipping, and Signing!) Our little son is quite the lil Bookworm. And his favorite book is "I Love You Through and Through." He does have other favorite but this is by far his all time favorite.
Mommy has taught him to point and sometimes we swear he points at the same things we read about and he even turns the page all by himself. Sometimes he just picks it up and pretends/tries to read.. very cute!! :D

The Power of Marketing

Okay, this post has nothing to do with Erik. It's just an observation that I've made. Costco sent out their seasonal passport savings and within it was a coupon for $8.00 off for Huggies diapers and Wipes (must purchase together).

As a frugal mom, of course, I took advantage of it. I usually just buy whatever is cheapest and yes, we've finally switched over to the disposable diapers since Erik has been in day care :-(. Didn't want to do it but day care providers don't like "cloth diapers" even though it really does help the environment! ....okay that's beside the point.

Smart Marketing

Back to my observation. I noticed that the latest Huggies wipes came out with Cucumber and Green Tea scent! It absolutely filled my van with that smell. Luckily, I like that scent; however, then I start to wonder. Who ARE these companies targeting as consumers? They're not targeting the babies because seriously, Erik can care less if his bum smelled like Green Tea & Cucumber OR if it smelled like "unscented" as long as its clean! LOL!

This further makes me think of all the baby products out there, with its chamomile and lavender scented baby lotions to its milk and honey body & hair wash, the end consumers for these so-called baby products are not babies at all, they are in-fact women! Yes, I say women because not many men that I know of really care about the "scents" as much! If the companies were to target men more, maybe there would be a "Cool water" scented wipes...wow! Now even I would like to smell that one...but maybe not on a baby girl! (**note to self ** maybe there's a marketing demand for it - Contact Huggies!)

Missed Marketing

However, there's also companies out there that have totally blew its marketing strategy and really have NO clue who their end consumers are! For example, I saw a recent television commercial on the Clearblue pregnancy test. Usually in those commercials, they'd show something lovey-duvey, ie. a women used the test and was so excited because she's pregnant or a women relieved because she's not. However, in this one portion, it was entirely too technical!

It showed graphically how a stream of "bluish" water hits the stick and then shows up pregnant! No emotions whats-so-ever. Just facts, drawing to their "technology" advantage of knowing 5 days earlier! Unless they are expecting the buyers to be guys for their girlfriends, fiances, or wives, that "technology advantage" may not be as effective in drawing market shares. SIGH!

Alright, that's my MBA blab on baby-stuff for now. You may now carry on with your day! :o) hee hee

America's Next Top Baby Model

Well, most of our friends know that Chhimi is a big (...and I do mean BIG) photo hobbyist. Some would even call him a professional since he does shoot wedding pictures on his off time. However, for the most part, he just absolutely love taking photos, studio shots, outdoors, event photography. It's one of his many creative outlet. I do hope that Erik will have some of that creativity in him too!

Anyhow, this Sunday was a baby photo shoot organized by us! Although our goal was to keep our January weekends relatively free, Chhimi's photography interest overcame our goal! We knew a few parents that are photo hobbyists so decided to do an indoor studio shoot, very make shift @ home.

Even though we got home on Saturday very very late after dropping Grandma Katy to the airport, Chhimi and I still found the energy early morning to get our place ready for the photo shoot. We coined it as "America's Next Top BABY Model" LOL! Ingenius, huh? hahahaha!

We had 5 families total that came over and only 1 girl in the bunch! Sigh! It was supposed to be more but we got like 3 cancellations at the last minute. WAH! However, overall, it was a pretty good experience! Chhimi was definitely tired and exhausted but yet feels he has accomplished something! He's been wanting to experiment with his lighting and flashes for a long time, basically all theory and no lab. Now it was his turn to execute the lab portion and it turned out darn good! Family brought over various props such as bathtub, stuffed animals, cute outfits, etc. It turned out to be a great experience for us!

Of course, Erik was overwhelmed by all the things that were happening. He saw his little buddies and friends but then he also saw lots of lights flashing away! Sigh! By the end of the event, he was desperately wanting some space and quietness just with his Mommy and Daddy. So we just cuddled with him and took a nice long nap :o) hee hee

Physical Milestones Update: Pointing, Flipping, and Signing!

Pointing

Okay, a week ago, Mummy was boasting that Erik really enjoys "reading" because he would "Pat! Pat! Pat!" on his chosen book and look up at Mummy and/or Daddy with those hopeful eyes of having us sit down with him and read.

Now 9 days later, Erik has advance his "reading" skills and now demands to point to the words and the pictures as we read to him. It's quite cute when Erik points. He doesn't point like us yet, so he lifts all of his fingers up while straightening his index finger and that's how Erik points! He points to his favorite page or word or just anything he finds he needs to point to! Hahahah! Just too darn adorable!

Flipping (pages of books, that is!)

Erik also learned to flip to the next page after Mummy or Daddy has done reading. We would lift the page only slightly up, and Erik will use his hands to flip the page! His head will turn to look at the appropriate starting page and wait for us to read. When we're done, he'll know its time to flip and start the process all over again! SIGH! It's just amazing what our little guy learns!!

We showed this to Grandpa Tik and he was just estatic! At first, we told him that we went to the bookstore to buy more books for Erik and Grandpa Tik grumped "What?! More books?! Don't waste money!" BUT after we showed him how Erik really pays attention to the books and guides his own finger on the pictures and words plus flipping, Grandpa Tik rescinded his comments! Hahahah!

We also showed off to Grandma Katy and she was just amazed! Of course, after 2 months of not seeing her favorite (and only) grandson, anything he does is amazing! LOL!

Signing

Okay, this one is more interpreted by both Mummy and Daddy. One of Erik's favorite hobbies at home is to sit by the fish tank and watch the little fishes. It would be one of our routines to just sit there for 5 minutes or so. Mummy would sign and say fish (in Cantonese) and then Mummy would say a few sentences about the fishes, like the colors each fish have and count the number of fishes in the fish tank. Our little joke is "Fishes Are Taking A Bath!". Mummy would sign fish and bath together and Erik would just smile and laugh, As-If, "yea right!".

However, one evening as Erik was cruising along the sofa to get to his favorite spot for viewing the fishes, he looked up at the tank and moved his hands back and forth (like signing fish). So Mummy and Daddy immediately interpreted that as "Yep! Erik signed Fish!" LOL

Erik also signed and said "Bye Bye" (well, it was really Bah Bah but with a wave). Everytime Mummy leaves Erik, she would sign and say "Bye Bye". Daddy would also say "Bye Bye". So this past weekend, as we were leaving our friends' house, we were saying good-bye to everybody, Erik all of a sudden said "Bah Bah" and waved!! **but couldn't get him to duplicate it again, sigh!**

Spending Time With Grandma Katy

Grandma Katy flew in from NYC this past Monday. It was supposed to be on Sunday night but flights were cancelled due to heavy fog as a result, her flight was rescheduled to Monday. Daddy and Erik went to pick up Grandma since it was Daddy's day off. Unfortunately, Erik didn't really recognize Grandma Katy. Maybe its due to the 2+ month hiatus, which is kind of a sad because Grandma has been with Erik since the day he was born. Sigh!

So as a result, Erik is spending an extra two days home to be with his Grandma. They get to eat breakfast together, take strolls outside (its literally freezing temperature ~31 F over here), play together, and of course, nap together LOL! Erik loves being held when he naps and Grandma loves holding him. Hahaha! So its a win-win situation!

However, Erik will go back to school later this week to give Grandma a chance to get her packing done. She's flying out via San Francisco this Saturday evening to go home to Bhutan/India to get ready for the Chinese New Year celebration. We'll be flying out the same route in about 3 weeks! Can't wait!

Paris Hilton-like Partying

This weekend was filled with fiestas all over town! It was a blast for us!

Happy Birthday Shawny!

















We won't disclose how old our dear friend is but let's just say its a "milestone" birthday! So Happy B-Day Shawny!! It was a nice intimate get together of family and close friends! Erik was able to play with Ethan, who's about 2 months younger but just as chubby, at a whopping 23lbs! It was lovely to catch up with our friends there since we rarely get to see them. One of them is Shirley and Thomas, our newlywed friends, who moved to the Bay Area some time last year. We miss hanging out with them lots so its an extra special treat when we do get to see them.

Our other dear friends are Cathie & Steve, who are expecting their first baby! YAY! We are oh-so thrilled for them! I swear, I think sometimes we're just as excited as the parents-to-be! LOL! We're hoping for a baby girl since our playgroup has all-boys so far!! SIGH!

















Of course, we also got to visit with the guest of honor and her family, including Talia, their almost 3 year old daughter! It's great to see that her husband went all out for the birthday party and made it extra special just for her!

Happy Birthday Makena!

















Our little Marooned with Macaroon just turned TWO on Sunday! And we were lucky enough to be invited for a very special Breakfast Birthday Party! Okay, for those that know us, we rarely get up early...especially on weekends. However, this is a very special little girl that definitely lights up the sky with her smile, so it was worth it! ...Boy was it worth it!

We had a fabulous time! Breakfast Birthday Party just totally blew us away! The homemade waffles were absolutely delicious! (Tabitha wishes she had TWO instead!). The Apple Fritters were divine! (Tabitha wishes she had ONE whole one instead of sharing with Chhimi!). Erik chowed down on the fresh waffles too along with his Baby Yogurt. He got to play with the birthday girl. Makena was being such a nice host and sharing her toys with him! They "played" kitchen and "NBA basketball"-like dunking on the Leap Frog basketball toy!

















Erik also met Fins, their puppy! For the first time, Erik was a bit intimidated (scared) by Fins, who was just full of energy! He's a bit bigger than all the doggies Erik have seen so it took a lot of getting used to and Fins was locked at the backyard behind a glass panel too! However, after a few minutes of getting used to, we saw Erik peeking out behind their indoor slide to see Fins. So cute!

















Dumpling Party
For those who don't know, Dumpling Parties are "THE" party to go to (***well, at least it is for us ****). This is where groups and groups of people get together to wrap dumplings (similar to potstickers but they are boiled or steamed!). Daddy and Mommy actually underestimated all of their friends' ability to wrap dumplings. Reason? Well, one person can actually consume between 20-30 dumplings at a setting (seriously, you eat dumplings only).

















We had about 10 adults there thus we had to make at least 300 dumplings in a single afternoon! It's not an easy task. Pretty much think of making homemade ravioli but add babies in the mix, your ability to concentrate is quite hard! As a result, Mommy and Daddy actually made a batch the night before and brought it to the party. However, we were surprised! Almost everybody were expert wrappers and we cranked those out in no time!

















As a result, the babies enjoyed their version of dumplings made with ground turkey, butternut squash, spinach, peas & carrots, along with a little bit of ginger. The babies sat on their chairs in a circle and totally ATE their dumplings, including Erik! It was just so cute!! Erik got to play with four other babies too! He even mustered up all the courage to crawl through the fabric tunnel!! SOOO adorable! (**mental note, must get fabric tunnel for Erik **)
























After the party, Daddy came home and took a big long nap (FOOD COMA) from being overloaded with too much dumpling, even Erik went to bed extra early, skipping his bathtime!

So all in all, we were partying like it was "1999" LOL! and Uncle Penjo said that we are partying harder than Paris Hilton! Hahahah!

Dancing The Night Away - Salsa Y Merengue Style

Alright for you folks reading this, you may think that Chhimi and I were partying away. But you are sooo wrong! With a child, the only dancing you can do is pretty much at home and in your PJs! LOL!

Erik loves to listen to music. Any kind of music. We noticed that he likes to dance and shake his bottom while hearing the "ABC" song on his Leap Frog Table (THANKS ANNE!) or hearing his Leap Frog Train (THANKS IRMA & ALONZO!). It's just the cutest thing! So last night, Mommy decided to switch things up a bit from our usual after-dinner entertainment, the music station was turned on and off to a "Bailamos!" with a Mummy and Erik dancing session! LOL!

At first we tried Jazz, but that was too slow of a rythym for Erik. Then we did Salsa and Merengue music, now that was when Erik basically flipped and smiled so brightly. He totally got a kick when Mummy held his hands to let him dance alone. My goodness, my boy got moves ;o). Watch out Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony...;o) LOL! He was shaking his bottom and loving the beat! Just so cute!

Afterwards, he switched to Reggae but by then, Erik was pretty much pooped and was ready to take a rest instead. But all in all, it's great that he's drawn to music and shows it! :o) hee hee

We Got Ourselves A Reader!

Don't get me wrong, Erik gets his fair share of TV time too! During the evening, we leave the PBS Little Sprout station on for about an hour or so and Erik pretty much zones out watching Nina and Star (characters on the show) because the hosts teachers Sign Language, Yoga Moves, and a little Spanish. Quite Interesting. Of course, Erik also doesn't get too attach to it. He'll watch the TV for a few minutes and then he's off to exploring his environment.

However, one thing that he absolutely loves so far is Reading Time! Last night was Sushi Night for Mommy and Daddy. Basically Mommy was busy rolling sushi rolls and Daddy was mixing his "secret" sauce for his Blue Fin Tuna. So Erik gets to play alone for a bit. Every time Mommy passes by the play area, Erik would crawl to a couple of his favorite books "I Love You Through and Through" and "I Love My Daddy" and look up hoping that Mommy would sit and read. But it was back into the sushi rolling for Mommy. As a result, Daddy gets to play with Erik.

Daddy was ready to play Legos, or other building blocks or the plastic rolling balls with Erik but for our little boy...it was Reading or Bust! He once again crawled to his favorite books and "Pat! Pat! Pat!" and looked up at Daddy's face. Erik knew exactly what he wanted, his reading time. Once Daddy sat down on the floor, Erik scooted near him so Daddy can seat Erik in his lap. Erik loves to read...he gets reading in the evenings and in the bath. When we read, we guide our fingers on the words and some times we guide his hands where the words are and we can hear Erik saying "Uh huh!" or "Eh" or "Uh Uh Uh" as if he was reading it too!! Even at his school, we were told by his teachers that Erik would sit sometimes with books and "read"!

Mummy and Daddy are absolutely delighted that Erik likes reading! We'll be sure to pick up some cool reading material for Erik in Singapore and India!

Weekend Events

Interesting Playgroup

On Saturday, we visited another of our playgroup friends, which we've met during the UC Davis Family Connection Program. Three to four of the babies (all boys) are roughly one month apart, if not only a couple of weeks! We haven't seen each other for a long time so it was a nice "reunion" plus we got to meet some new friends too! Erik had a blast! He recognized two of the other babies, Aydin and Toby, since we saw them just a little bit before the Christmas holidays! It was a nice break during our Saturday afternoon.

Mummy and Daddy also learned a lot from the party. Usually, the "kiddie" friends we have are all from the similar bunch, Geeky, Nerdy, Engineer-like (hey for my friends that read this, you know who you are...and you gotta admit...we're all a bunch of Geeks! LOL!). So it's quite refreshing to be "out of our" usual crowd and be with others for a new view! Not to offend my other friends, you know we love ya!

However, Mummy was able to learn about different things from the party such as heffers are "cows" that have never given birth. Cows are basically "cows" that have given birth. So from the party, all the mums were basically labeled as Cows! LOL! I guess I gotta say "Mooooooo!". Mummy also learned that Cows have a "baby-sitting" system going on, that they will leave the calf with a nanny cow and go out grazing. The nanny will immediately alert the Mom if anything is wrong and then the Mom will charge up the hill (if necessary) with a big strong "Moooooo!". Very Interesting!

Anyways, the party was awesome! Margaritas were served!! Even though we didn't take advantage, it sure smelled yummy!! Erik was pretty much having a ball crawling from one person to another just to say "Hi". My boy is not shy at all (at least not yet). He even tried some rice cracker snap peas which Daddy gave him.

Buffet = FREE Food

Okay, later that evening, Mummy and Daddy decided that we're not going to cook dinner (we were going to do Sushi Night at home with one of our friends but couldn't get a hold of them!) so we went out to the local Fresh Choice restaurant. It's basically a buffet of supposedly healthy food but really, if you eat a large quantity of anything, it won't be as healthy as you may think! Anyways, Erik has already been there before as a wee-tiny lad. However, this time, he gets to eat and sample...for FREE! Whoohoo!!

We strapped Erik into his little booster chair and filled his plate with lots of "goodies" such as Tofu Cubes, Boiled Egg Yolk, Pasta Noodles, Fresh baked bread, breadsticks, and Baked Potato. We were kinda wondering if he will feed himself or if he'll be okay. Of course, Erik was AWESOME! Mummy and Daddy are thinking of enrolling Erik into the "Hot Dog Eating Contest in Cooney Island, NY" next year to beat out the Japanese winner, Kobayashi! LOL! Erik was going through his finger foods like there were NO tomorrow! He ate piece after piece of bread.

Erik is so "ABC" as in American-Born Chinese, because Daddy introduced him to his first Macaroni & Cheese and Erik just opened his mouth for it! He would begin taking a bite of his bread but as soon as he sees the spoon of Mac & Cheese, he'd stop the bread mid-way to eat from the spoon instead! LOL! By the time Erik was done, the dinner table floor was an absolute mess! Mummy tried to pick up all the big pieces from the floor. Erik also had a big pot-belly! LOL! Just totally loved it! Mummy and Daddy can't believe how much Erik can actually eat when allowed to feed himself and just to be himself! We just have to remember, let the baby be! Erik will be messy and that's A-OK!

Walking Shoes

Did you guys know that there are WALKNG shoes for babies? Mummy and Daddy had NO idea until a friend of ours told us AND Erik's day care teacher! Well, the day care teacher told us AFTER the fact that Erik had a fall :o(. Basically Erik was imitating older babies in the classroom and wanted to stand at the lunch table but he was wearing socks that had no non-slip grip at the bottom and the floor was linoleum. Bad combination! Erik slipped and bumped the side of head. This was actually a couple weeks back already. The teacher hugged Erik and iced down the area and just lots of TLC for him. Erik handled it very well, he was his happy self cruising around. It didn't deter him from exploring the environment, so we got ourselves a pretty tough cookie.

The easiest solution is just to send Erik into the classroom with socks that have actual grip on them in the first place! But then we thought of our upcoming trip back home to Bhutan/India, Erik will definitely be needing shoes there!! So mind as well get started wearing them here.

So we immediately when to the local Stride Rite store that weekend to shop for some "walking" shoes, even though Mummy was reading through the internet that best walking method for Baby's are barefoot! Anyways, shopping babies' shoes are a completely different method than for an adult. We had to have Erik's feet sized up, Erik is now a size 3.5 with extra wide feet! Then we have to make sure he's kinda distracted so we can put shoes on and have him walk around the store (with our help of course!). The ones we found were not the appropriate stages for cruising so Mummy and Daddy chose to order them online instead.

We strapped on his new laced Stride Rite shoes today. It's tennies in plain white with laces, similar to Daddy's. At first Erik didn't know what to do with them. He'd stand and then try to walk but felt the difference immediately. Erik would then "trip" over himself. However, after a good 15 minute, he got the hang of it and was able to cruise around his Leapfrog table just fine. We also tried walking him in the kitchen floor since its not carpeted and it seems that does "trip" a bit. Plus Erik is so smart that he figured out the laces and started pulling on them and was able to unlace it! Would velcro have been better?!

So...the outcome...walking shoes?! I don't know if I'm comfortable sending Erik off with these new shoes just to have him possibly "trip" more in the classroom until he gets used to them a little bit. We'll see how it goes!!

Ba Ba Ba Ba

"Ba Ba Ba Ba" is Erik's new syllable that he can say. Of course, he can also say "De De De De" and Mummy swears Erik said "Mma Mma" but Daddy thinks that's just an hallucination! It's just great to hear him express himself vocally, especially when we see him after a long absence! Erik rewards us with his bright smile, open arms, and the "Ba ba ba ba". When Daddy heard it, it was pretty much music to his ears even though Erik is saying "ba ba ba ba" to everything, to Daddy, it ...well...means Daddy! LOL! Mummy is waiting for Erik to say "Mma Mma" (again!)

Our boy is growing up too to be a more sophisticated "foodie"!! He doesn't like to eat our homemade baby mush food as much and demands to have finger food. So Mummy and Daddy are now trying things out as its new to us on what we can serve Erik that's both healthy and tastes yummy. So far, we've served him bagels, tortilla flatbread (which he loves), boiled baby carrots, whole grain pasta, string cheese for a little self-service feeding.

Then we have also started to share what we eat to Erik too, like stir-fry chicken (bits and pieces), BBQ pork, stir-fried noodles. Erik even ate Dim Sum including BBQ pork bun, Steamed stuffed noodle wraps, this is our absolute favorite Sunday brunch thing to do. The only thing we worry about is salt intake from our "adult" food but Erik seemed so interested that its hard to resist those cute eyes of his!! What to do??!!

Experienced parents out there, any suggestions on what other finger foods to serve Erik that doesn't have high sodium or high sugar content?