Things have been so busy this past two weeks, I almost forgot I'm pregnant! It just doesn't feel like it - with all the unpacking, adjusting to time zones, exploring the neighbourhood, and setting up home, who has time for morning sickness and all that jazz? Well, a visit to the obstaetrician yesterday afternoon was a delightful reminder that hey, I have something growing and living inside of me! A little squidgey! It all hit me when the doctor did the scan - they sure have some fancy equipment in America, cos we were able to see our little squidge in 4D - meaning, we saw a 3D representation of the baby, moving in real time! It was fascinating. Once again, just like the last scan we did in Singapore, the little squidge was waving at us. He seems to have his right hand perpetually lifted and moving about. So cute!
Well, praise God. Husband & I are pretty sure that we are comfortable with this obstaetrician. Today, I am 12 weeks and 6 days pregnant! Whoohoo - am in the 2nd trimester!
p.s. I don't have a scanner so can't scan in the 4D picture of the little one. Sorry!
For those who miss him and are wondering what he's been up to:
1. Recent diet:
a. FULL FAT cow's milk - American supermarkets do not sell Formula for above 12 month olds. It is the norm for babies to switch to cow's milk when they hit 1, so Daniel has done the same! He loves it!
b. Mommy's yummy oyster chicken wings, Japanese potato stew, spaghetti bolognaise, and macaroni and cheese
c. Random sips of strawberry cream milk shake
2. Recent favourite activities: Climbing up and down our staircase, pointing at things and gesticulating with his hands as if saying, "What's that?", sorting his stacking cups (though he usually gets it wrong, and ends up trying to stuff the bigger cup into the smaller cup. DUH?!)
Oh we also bought him a second-hand wooden table and 2 chairs, for $15! He likes sitting there - guess it makes him feel so adult!
When you're suffering from jetlag, the world can seem just a bit darker and gloomier than usual. Therefore, I am determined to brighten up my day by blogging about something positive - Escondido Village, also known as Stanford University's graduate housing area.
There are townhouses and apartment buildings in Escondido - all cater to graduate students. We're staying in a two-storey townhouse. First positive thing: I've always wanted to live in a two-storey home. In Singapore, this would be near impossible unless Husband & I struck gold and could afford to buy landed property. We did consider buying an HDB 2-storey maisonette, but opted for our current Singapore residence instead because of its lush greenery.
Speaking of lush greenery, check out the Escondido compound:
Eh, macham Botanikal Gardens xia?!
The compound is really quite sprawling (as is the entire campus, and all of California for that matter.) And as you can see from above, no. 2 positive thing is that there are many beautiful walkways and shady green spots for Daniel to explore! Yay.
Here is the view from our backyard:
The rows of townhouses each form a circle, within which there is a nice grassy area with a playground for the kids to play. So, our backyard opens up into the playground area!
Our backyard playarea!
It's really funny - the entire playground is strewn with toys because everybody's kids liberally throws their stuff everywhere. No. 3 positive thing: No need to buy new toys for Daniel - he can jus use his neighbours! Bwahahaha!
Daniel is "borrowing" his neighbour's ride-on stroller! Heh Heh
The playground is pretty old-fashioned. None of that modern multi-coloured metal & hard plastic combo monster thangs that come with bridges, slides, stairs, and look-out towers, the ones that are so common in Singapore. But it'll certainly do. The charm of the place is really the trees, the sky, the grass, and of course, the sunny weather (only in the afternoons! Mornings are chilly!)
Here are some pictures of the townhouses within our "circle":
Before we came to Stanford, we were a bit apprehensive as the two-storey townhouses (with 2 bedrooms) are a grand total of 800 square feet! Sounds a bit cramped huh? Well, it IS. But, Husband & I don't feel like we're claustrophobic or anything. Maybe it's the entire set-up - the sprawling land, the grassy breezy environment and the kid-friendliness of the surroundings - that makes it all very comfortable. I think Dan is going to become quite an outdoorsy baby!
I'm 11 weeks pregnant!
Sorry for the delay in announcing over cyberspace. My Husband was paranoid and felt we should wait till we enter America before going public. He had this nightmare vision of me being DEPORTED at the airport because I was pregnant! Er... a bit paranoid lah eh?
We give birth in March 2007 in the US of A! Pray for us!
Random thought: The good thing about being pregnant in America is all the online shopping you can do for baby and yourself! Know any good e-stores? Do recommend! Thanks!
Daniel: Hello everybody! Apparently, I am in a very far away land from home - I don't really know where, but I can tell it is different from home because of the freaky weather! In the mornings, it is extremely cold - so much so that mommy dresses me up in a fuzzy polar fleece to prevent me from shivering! But by the afternoon, it is as hot as Singapore on a sunny day! And at night, it is very cold once again.
Daniel: So far, I think our new home is quite ok. My favourite activity recently is to rummage through containers and transfer items from one container to another. For some reason, there are many many containers and items lying around the floor. Mommy and daddy are constantly moving containers here and there and removing items from them. So it is quite fun for me to watch and participate.
Daniel: Mommy has asked me to ask everybody to pray for us as we are still adjusting to being in a new place. I have developed a sore throat and a cough, and I still have a runny nose from weeks ago. Consequently I am much more fussy and clingy than usual, which is driving my parents nuts! Daddy's back is aching because of moving things here and there and Mommy cannot sleep because I am still suffering from jetlag and keep waking up at night. So naughty me hor! So do pray for things to return to normal soon, ya? Thank you!
Yesterday, we celebrated Daniel's first year of existence on this earth. As relatives descended upon our humble abode and wolfed down the yummy tze char from Sin Hoi Sai of Tiong Bahru fame (they do house delivery, by the way!), Husband and I had this strange out-of-body feeling, as if watching everything through the eyes of a camera lens. One year ago, Daniel looked like this:
An alien arriving in his green robe. ("My minions, where are my minions?!") As he grew more fleshly with yummy breastmilk, I remember thinking his face & body resembled that of a portly old grandmother - always a bit frumpy and grumpy. Ho ho. See this pic for illustration:
But the little squidge grew and 'matured' and charmed us all with his wonderful antics - we were absolutely delighted when he slept through the night at 7 weeks, and thanked our lucky stars when he showed a voracious appetite for solids (even today, I marvel at his uncanny ability to chew despite having only 6 teeth!). Here's an early-on picture of Dan enjoying carrot puree:
Other milestones came and went: Dan sat up at 5.5 months and enjoyed walking immensely, before he learnt how to crawl. (Now that he can crawl like nobody's business, he still enjoys walking with assistance, but less so.) Then came the clapping, the waving, and the constant babbling. And not to mention the squealing and the shouting! I swear, vocally and facial expression wise, it is really as if he is having a conversation with you - but you just have no idea what he's saying!
It's been a long hard ride - learning to be parents from scratch. And last night, watching Dan babble with his 23 month old cousin, crawl around grabbing people's behinds, and doing all sorts of other weird and wonderful things, like climb down a step or point at things, I'm simply amazed at how God grows a child. I can't believe Dan is 1. My little squidge, who still wails at every hair cut but who doesn't need to be patted to sleep, who can chow down an entire piece of bread but still needs to be carried around as if on a throne, who can bop with the homeboys but who still needs his diaper changed every few hours, is ONE.
ONE Is such an in-between age. There's so much more growing to do. Happy Birthday Dan!
Daniel: At one, I can say "ball", "car", "flower", "momma", and "papa". Mommy's teaching me how to say "please" but I keep saying "pease".
The Laus are busy packing. As you know, we're moving to Palo Alto, California for 10 months, starting next week! So, lots of things have to be packed - including Daniel! Haha. Jus kidding. He'll be considered 'carry-on' luggage for now. I do hope the terrorist scare in London does not affect our travel plans too badly. ^o^
Whenever unagi is on sale at Cold Storage, I seize the opportunity to make unagi rice. I used to make this dish "fried-rice style" - using a large wok, overnight rice, and significant quantities of arm-stirring muscle power. However, "fried-rice style" never worked for me - I wasn't blessed with the skills of a Chen Fu Ji chef, and so, my unagi rice would frequently turn out under-stirred, mushy, and overall, not very satisfying. Poo.
So, it was with immense delight that I started using this new unagi rice recipe - a recipe that actually worked for people with non-existent "fried-rice" skills (like me)! Husband found this recipe on egullet forums and we've adapted it to our liking since then. Instead of a large wok, this recipe calls for a rice cooker! Blow me away! Anything that convenient is a winner in my books. And of course, the recipe is delish too. Give it a try yea?
Unagi rice
Japanese rice, 1.5 cups
2 cups water *
1 piece of unagi, grilled kabayaki style **
4tb sake
1tb mirin
1tb soya sauce
3tb roasted sesame seeds
3tb daikon-na (dried radish leaves) ***
3 handfuls shredded nori (Japanese seaweed)
2tb kabayaki sauce ***
1. Wash the rice and place in rice cooker, together with water, sake, mirin, and soya sauce. Give everything a stir to ensure it'll all well-mixed. Turn the rice cooker on.
2. While waiting for the rice to cook, use a scissors to cut the unagi into bite size pieces. When rice is done, let it rest for 10 minutes. Then, open the rice cooker and dump in the sesame seeds, daikon-na, nori, kabayaki sauce, and unagi. Mix thoroughly and breathe in the wonderful smell. Serve immediately.
* The proportion of rice to water given here is based on the instructions given on the rice packet I bought. Your rice may differ from mine and it's best to follow the proportions suggested on the instructions given on your packet.
** Unagi kabayaki is found in the Japanese section of supermarkets - it is eel, freshly-grilled in a soy-based sauce. Sometimes, unagi kabayaki can also be found vacuum-packed or frozen.
*** Here's pictures of daikon-na and kabayaki sauce, which can be found in the Japanese section of supermarkets. If you can't find daikon-na, just increase the amount of nori to make up for it!
Above: Daikon-na
Below: Kabayaki sauce
Courtesy of a well-connected friend, we had a special 6-course dinner prepared for us at the Majestic Restaurant last evening, followed by a tour of some of the hotel's uniquely-designed rooms. Here are some photos:
The outstanding dishes were the pumpkin soup with mushrooms and scallops & the avocado ice cream. The rest of the dishes were 'ok'. I took lots of pics of the various hotel rooms but decided not to post them up as thought the hotel might not appreciate it. It was certainly a nice break from my regular dinner fare, though I'm not sure I'd go back for more.
So exactly one week ago we had a gathering with my two girlfriends and their husbands. The restaurant had a delightful playroom replete with colourful balls, slides, plastic crocodiles, and castles. Bemused, we plonked Daniel down in the balls and took some pictures. Then, Girlfriend Number 1 Who Is A Doctor's Wife appears and screams, "A! Get Daniel out of there! These playrooms are a cess pool of virus and disease!" Of course, being Wise Parents Who Know Better Than Others, we laughed off her seemingly unsubtantiated and over-hyped remarks. Daniel sat in the playroom for a good 15 minutes and then for another bout after we started dinner.
Fast forward to today: It's been a hellish week. Daniel contracted a 39.4 degree fever the day after our visit to the Lovely Restaurant With A Playroom Replete With Balls. Since it was a Sunday, and all regular paediatricians were closed, we had to go to Thomson Medical Centre's 24-hour Family Clinic where poor Dan was subject to blood and urine tests. The fever remained in the mid 38-39 degree region for 4 days before stabilising around mid 37 degree since Thursday. Then, he broke out into a rash which covered his entire face, head, and body with an "angry" red colour. My poor son is bespeckled!
Daniel has been the fussiest he's ever been in his life. It's to be expected I suppose, but it has taken its toil on us. The amazing thing about this kid is that despite having temperatures of up to 39.4 degrees in the middle of the night, he managed to sleep through the night every single night - we'd just lift him out of the cot to feed him ibuprofen and then he'd go back to sleep. Of course, we can never be sure if he caught the virus from the playroom, or whether it was a latent virus festering from our trip to Thailand - but one thing's for sure, to be on the safe side, no more plonking our son in playrooms from now on!
Yields a Indian chicken dish that is creamy but not spicy.
Butter chicken
750g-1kg of chicken thigh meat, cut into bite size pieces
4tb coriander, chopped
2ts garam masala
3ts paprika
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2ts grated ginger
1/2 cup plain yogurt
80g butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 cinnamon sticks
1 425g can tomato puree
1/4 cup tomato paste
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 cup whipping cream
1. Marinate the chicken thigh meat with the garam masala, coriander, paprika, garlic, ginger, and yogurt. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Heat a pan, add butter, then the onions and the cinnamon sticks. When onions have softened, add the chicken thigh meat and cook, stirring, 5 minutes.
3. Add salt, tomato puree, tomato paste, and stock. Bring to boil and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cream, and simmer another 10 minutes. Serve with baguette or over rice.
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