Lucio

Lucio is another one of my favourite Italian in London. Friendly atmosphere and always guaranteed good food BUT again, I didn't enjoy my main this time! Is it my taste buds?

I liked my starter but strangely the roast pumpkin was overly seasoned!

My roasted pumpkin salad with chestnut and pomegranate

D's roasted tomato and rocket penne

N's salted beef salad - a winner

K's smoked salmon

T's seafood linguine

Beef ragu with tagliatelle - I should have gone for it!

Grilled sea bream

Rayray couldn't get enough of breadsticks!

My very boring grilled sea bass and it was so burnt at the back!

T's pork chop and fried squash strips - delicious!

Look at the amount of truffle compared to what we got at LL!!! And it wasn't more expensive!!

Grilled Octopus, i think...?

Heavenly scent!!!!

Locanda Locatelli

W was back to London and of course we had to go back to one of favourite hunts, Locanda Locatelli. 

Their delicious bread basket

Since it is now the truffle season, I had to have scrambled eggs with truffle! Though I regretted as should have gone for fried eggs instead! I found scrambled eggs too filling and rather sickening after a few mouthfuls!

My heavenly scrambled eggs with white truffle but wouldn't have it again!

W's burrata with roasted pumpkin salad...not that impressive

Nee's grilled octopus salad - got the thumbs-up from everyone! 

Chargrilled mackerel - very good

Homemade egg-free spaghetti, stewed octopus and chilli

Heavenly spaghetti with white truffle

This time round, we didn't seem to enjoy it as much as we used to...not sure if it was the food, or the fact that they weighed the truffle BEFORE and AFTER shaving it into our plates!!!! Oh well...

Photo Sess

We had a photo session before we left Taiwan in September and here are some of them:-

 Daddy is my best playing mate!

Kissy-Kissy 

 Poor sausage was completely zonked out after the photo shoot

But came alive again when we got home! 

Oh um daddy and mummy, why do you have to strip me naked? lol

Though it is so so so comfortable! 

The 11th Month

My gorgeous girl on a gorgeous English autumn day in Greenwich Park

Rayray is only a month shy of her FIRST birthday!!!! OMG OMG OMG! This can't be right, can it? Where has the time gone? 

We travelled back to London in the end of September and this time round, Rayray didn't sleep well in the plane as she was busy 'socialising' with people next/opposite us! Though it only took her around a week to adjust to the time difference as opposed to the long two weeks when we went to Taiwan in July. 

This month, baby indeed has been very very 'busy'! She doesn't stop moving when she is awake and I mean NON-STOP! She is either forever busy crawling around (she has mastered the skill and she now can crawl forward or backward with impressive speed! lol) or pulling herself up! She is fascinated with sockets and plugs just like every baby so the house is pretty much baby proofed now! She opens and closes wardrobes or cabinets, she is constantly on the missions of seeking new 'toys' to play with i.e. the ones mummy says NOOOOO to in particular! Oh, and not to mention that it is such a challenge to change her nappy now as she wriggles around. 

Watch where you are going!

Height - 77 cm 

Weight - 10.3kg 

Eating - Breastfed twice a day plus 3 solids meals. Yes I dropped her afternoon feed by chance and in hindsight I am glad I did as I knew I would just prolong it! I was rather 'thirsty' for some bubbles when I had lunch with friends on a weekend and so I decided to treat myself to a glass! T then suggested it might be a good opportunity to drop the mid afternoon feed and so I did! Now I offer Rayray a pot of yoghurt or fromage frais.  She has also decided that she didn't like breakfast cereals anymore a week ago and so it has been a struggle to get her to eat it since then. So I have been giving her variations, including scrambled eggs on toast, bircher muesli, pancakes with fruits, cheese scramble and french toast. Her appetite has also decreased noticeably but then I am not worried as it is normal after her growing spurt and it is not as if I need to worry about Rayray's weight!!!

T's very proud pancake v.s. AK's!

I have also stopped puree-ing her food as she actually prefers lumpy food now! It is soooo much easier not to puree food anymore! I either make her fresh food every meal or would just make 2 portions and freeze the remaining one and she either has it the following day or in a few days time and to be honest, I think freshly-cooked food tastes so much better and I can see Rayray turning into a bit of a connoisseur! lol

tucking into a strawberry

loves chewing her cutlery

Sleeping - After two weeks of showing Rayray how to lie down from standing up position in the cot, she has finally got it but I had to sleep train her again as she would cry after half an hour putting her down in the evening. I think it is because of all the travelling and jet lag and she forgot how to self sooth anymore. I didn't really let her cry in Taiwan as mum always gets upset when I did and she just couldn't bear hearing Rayray's crying.

My honey-bunny: just woke up from her nap

Development -

• Loves playing patty-cake i.e. clapping hands and waves bye-bye enthusiastically

  
  

  

  enjoys going to the supermarket with mummy

  
  
• Picks up tiny objects i.e. blueberries (one of her many favourite fruits) and peas with tips of thumb and forefingers and it is hilarious to see her doing that. I would love to post videos on here but ummm I have struggled to! Can anyone tell me how to do that from my iPhone?

• Stands alone momentarily and she looooves doing that!

She now yanks her hair clip out all the time!

• Apart from saying 'mama', 'dada', she now says 'baba', 'nana' and 'gaga'!

• Understands "NO" but always challenge my limit! hehehe and when she knows she is doing something naughty, she would always look at me first and see my reaction!

Oh hello there!

Her new bath seat and look at that signature smirk on her little face!

"Rolling" time after bath

My princess

I feel truly blessed to have such a little precious person in my life and there hasn't been a day she hasn't brought smile to my face. I can't wait for her first birthday as I know there will be more joy to come.

Rayray's progress:

9-10 months
8-9 months

7-8 months

6-7 months

5-6 months

4-5 months

3-4 months

2-3 months

1-2 months

0-1 month

The 10th Month

My little strawberry

Rayray got ill the the first time and it was so hard to see your child so unwell. On the way to Hong Kong, she started to have a slight cough on the plane and the cough worsen on the second day. My little poor dumpling didn't understand coughing and it really troubled her the first night so she didn't sleep well at all. The second night was really bad as she kept waking up every two hours from coughing and I just breastfed her to sooth her and I could tell she was so tired yet she was thirsty too. On the third day when we came back to Taipei, she started having phlegm so I took her to the doc's the next day. The doc showed me how to pat her shoulder blades to help her bring up the phlegm.

Height - 74 cm 

Weight - 10kg (At Last!!!!!)

Eating - Breastfed 3 times a day plus 3 solids meals. She still very much enjoys her food and knows when she doesn't like something i.e. papaya and kiwi (yes this is a weird one as she started off really loving golden kiwi but after having it for a few times, she now absolutely refuses to have it? Babies are funny little things!)

Holds her beaker well

Also, In the last couple of days, I can see Rayray's appetite has suddenly increased dramatically and she can't even wait till 8am for her brekkie!

'Where is my food????' protesting at a restaurant in HK

Sleeping - bedtime nightmare - yes another episode! Since Rayray can now pull herself up, all she wants to do when I put her down is to sit up then stand up!!! MN dropped at 9 months 3 weeks old as Raryay started to demonstrate EMW so I decided to see if dropping morning nap would help. It took her around three days to adjust her body clock and so how she sleeps till past 6 o'clock in the morning and sometimes till 6.45am if I am lucky! Though she has been struggling at lunchtime so had to move her lunch to 11.30am and she often falls asleep in the middle of it! However, she sleeps soundly for at least two hours and this allows me to have some 'me' time!

A cheeky monkey after her nap

Development -

• Started crawling forward!!!!! Pulls up to standing position from sitting
  
  
• Started cruising when holding onto something

• She can also crawl over pillows so I can't leave her on the bed with pillows around anymore...

• says mamamama rather often and again, it tends to happen when she is hungry so I am not sure if she knows what mama means? 

• loves kissing me on the lips! Very funny and where did she get that from?

• waves bye-bye

• Oh and her bottom two teeth have suddenly cut through!!! 

At Da An Park

On the swing

Another afternoon tea session with Bella and Susan

Babies checking each other out

Rayray now seems to be fascinated by other babies

I don't know when it started but she looooves crossing her fingers at meal time! I thought I had to share this photo!

Fingers crossed

Grumpy faced

After trialling at Gymboree, I thought I'd try My Gym too and oh boy, I can so see the difference and not only Rayray didn't seem to enjoy it (photos to follows as a proof! She didn't even crack a smile once for the entire time we were there) and trust me, she usually is a fairly happy smily baby.

On a slop

We tried putting Rayray on a slop at Gymboree too but I am not sure if it was the instructors at My Gym or the background music or what the actual reason was, Rayray didn't even seem comfortable sitting on it.

Coming down on a slide

An indoor swing

Trying to hold onto a bar

So this was what really upset me! Rayray couldn't really stand up at the time we were there but they insisted on putting Rayray on a high bar so we did as they kept emphasising on how well trained they were etc etc and I am sure they were but I am also pretty certain they didn't have any kids of their own! Rayray screamed and cried as all she was doing was using her little two wrists supporting her whole weight with someone else grabbing her!!!! Then the instructors had the cheek to tell me Rayray's hands were not strong enough and so she should definitely go there more often to practice more! Huh? 

Anyway, long story short, they called me afterwards asking how the class went I told them not good and again they insisted on everything was perfectly safe and kids just needed to get use to it. So I  pointed out that I didn't think getting a baby who can't even stand to be on the bar was a good idea. I asked the lady try to imagine herself holding onto a bar that was 3 meters high and her feet couldn't touch the ground and someone else was towering over her grabbing her two wrists! ummm she then went quiet and I hope she got the point!

So my verdict on My Gym? I won't be going back, certainly not till Rayray is older. I subsequently heard P complaining about a bad experience she has had with her kids too at My Gym....

Anyway,  I have discovered that Rayray likes 'reading' and I think she enjoys looking at pictures but also the actual 'turning pages' action! She loves bright colours and would spend ages looking at a page !

Hey mummy, I am reading

and I have to read first thing in the morning

I can't believe my honey bunny is now 10 months old! Mummy and daddy wish you staying a healthy happy bunny!

Rayray's progress:

8-9 months

7-8 months

6-7 months

5-6 months

4-5 months

3-4 months

2-3 months

1-2 months

0-1 month

Back to yoga mat, back to reality

Rayray is a week away turning 10 months old and I thought I ought to get my acts together or at least try to see if I could still do it. I went back to Bodhi Yoga  as I thoroughly enjoyed my prenatal yoga classes there and thought the teachers there were very helpful and insightful. I went for the led ashtanga class as I had not practiced in two years and just in case I couldn't make it through the entire class.

I liked Eason, today's instructor as he was very patient and explained different postures in great detail. Although it resulted that we only managed to Parivritta Parshvakonasana, it meant I could pace myself as I already sweated buckets after Surya Namaskara B!!!!!

We finished off the class by doing Urdhva Dhanurasana (The Bridge) and I struggled to stay in the posture for 5 breathes! Though I know I need to listen to my body as I could feel my back was obviously not flexible as I used to but practice makes perfect! I just wish mum could babysit more often so I could start practicing again!

I really enjoyed my 75 minutes on the mat today and namaste everyone!!!