It's official, Eden's ONE!

Eden is ONE!  Wow, such a milestone... and how quickly it comes around!  I always get very emotional and sentimental around first birthdays (I am not going to lie, I got a bit teary sending out his birthday invitations!), just thinking back at the excitment of waiting to meet this little person inside of you and then finally meeting him.  And, of course, knowing just how much joy, he has brought us over the past 12 months.  I am so lucky and grateful to have had the opportunity to spend the full 12 months (plus a few) with him.

I also get a bit homesick, wishing my parents and sister could see him grow and share holidays like Christmas, or events like his birthday with us, and I know they would want to too  I usually, irritatingly for Mr.H, launch an 'America or bust' campaign which lasts for a few months or until I remember that I am choosing to stay here because I am happy here.  Luckily for Mr.H, this time, we will be in the US in a matter of days!

Happy Birthday!
For Mr.E's birthday, we ate!  Mr.H spent the day at home with us and we did what Mr.E likes to do: a french toast breakfast, sleep, yum cha, Max Brenner (okay, we like to do that), sleep again, play in the sand pit with bubbles and swing outside, then dinner with The Herd's.

Yum yum dim sum!

Because we are leaving in a few days, I didn't want to bake a cake which we would end up throwing away so MissE and I headed into my favourite cupcake bakery: My Little Cupcake.  It's a bit further away but well worth it.

My Little Cupcake, Neutral Bay

Eden only has eyes for his cupcake!

Yum!

Thank You!
We celebrated Eden's birthday with family and friends with party last Sunday. We are so appreciative and blessed to have such wonderful friends who came to spend the day with us and who were so generous with gifts for Eden. He loved them all and are enjoying watching him explore and play with them.

Milestones

Happy birthday Eden!
(This beautiful quilt was made by the very talented Auntie L)

Eden is 23lbs and 6oz or 10.7kg (75% percentile for weight).  Mr.E had his 12 month check-up and immunisations a week early.  I wanted to be sure he had no reactions while we were overseas!  He is a healthy, happy boy but we knew that already!

Mr.E is slowly expanding his vocabulary.  His favourite words are "uh-oh" and "that".  Since I taught him "uh-oh" 2 months ago, he drops food, sippy cup, toys, etc and says "uh-oh" for fun.  Last month when we were moving rooms, Mr.H dropped something and even though Mr.E and I were upstairs, he heard it and exclaimed "uh-oh".  And Mr.E points to things he recognises and says "that". His favorite thing to point at is airplanes!   Daddy is "a dah!" or when he is very hungry "Ne-ne-neh!"

No Hurry
While Mr.E has been standing unsupported since the start of this month, its been in the last week where he can stand, pick up a toy, throw/ drop it, and clap before sitting back down.

One of us is trying to get Mr.E to walk and the other isn't.  I'm the latter, especially with a 14 hour flight coming up I prefer a less mobile Mr.E!  On the day of his first birthday party, Mr.E decided to try a first step! Twice. He walked from MissE's bed to me and then later from me to daddy (daddy was not watching of course)! Luckily he's still working it out and is happy to walk supported by us for now! Our flight back might be a different story...

Then and Now
Last month, we were given photos of Mr.H at 11-12 months.  We decided to re-stage a few photos and compare father and son.

America or Bust!
FINALLY!  Mr.E's big adventure is upon us... and meeting Gung-gung!

Until next time...

Mr. Eden's Little Man Birthday

The first birthday is very important to me.  It's a big milestone that should be celebrated!   I know that people mumble "the party is more for you than the baby" or " he/she won't even remember it".  I say "nay" to those people!  To me, it's one of the big birthday celebrations to have in life!  So with that I present to you:

Eden's 1st birthday party... 

We had a few themes we liked but kept going back to one (thanks to a certain Ms.Not-Much-Longer Liu who turned me onto the mustache craze and has been pinning the cutest mustache items on Pinterest).  We celebrated Eden's birthday with a... Little Man themed party!  Eden has always been affectionately called 'Mr.Man' by us and close friends since he was a few days old.  I guess you could say he's always had a very gentleman-like demeanor.  As per last month's post, I have been quite sick, so much of the planning and shopping has been done online.  MissE had the biggest laugh at all the 'mustache' items coming in the post.  Actually, she giggles her head off if you even say the word 'mustache' so she has been excited to see the party take shape and celebrate with her brother (read: blow out his candles and eat his cake)!

The Invitation

We had 60 guests due to a few illnesses/ delayed flights, while I would have loved to have those guests celebrate with us, I didn't mind a smaller number!

Dressed to Impress
While I bought Mr.E's "Spunky Tuxedo" overalls from a local store Little Yoyo Styles ($11!), I made MissE's mustache shirt.  I love the sleeve mustache!

Birthday Boy!

Feels like Home
I always want my parties to look fantastic but also feel homemade.  Parties-in-a-box are great but just not "me".  I decided on simple decorations: metres and metres of homemade bunting in fabrics that matched the homemade bow-ties on the goodie bags and balloons because what one year old doesn't love balloons?  By the way, anyone want the bunting?  It's yours!

I took photos of Eden each month leading up to 1.  I printed these off to create a "1" collage.  Guests enjoyed seeing how Eden has grown through the months.

I also found these mustache mirror clings.  It made trips to the toilet a bit of fun!

Zhua Zhou
We also decided to do a Zhua Zhou, which translates "to pick" and "first anniversary".  The activity is held on the child's first birthday.  In the activity, objects are placed on a tray and the object a child picks can indicate his or her future career and personality traits.  The history on this tradition can be read here.

I took a photo of Eden with each time to display and as part of a game for our guests.  I created a raffle ticket for guests to write their name down and drop their ticket into the bowl in front of a photo they thought Eden might choose first.  I then picked a name from that bowl.  The winner received a Gingerbreadman cookie cutter!

Picking Items (in no particular order)
Money = Finance sector or wealth
Stethoscope= Doctor or Medical Profession (like Pau-pau)
Cooking Pans= Chef or Good cook (like Gung-Gung and Nanny)
Drums= Musician (like Parps)
Cricket bat= Athlete (like Daddy)
Swim goggles = Swim like a fish (like Mama)
Globe= Traveller (like Mama and Daddy)
Gavel= Lawyer

WHAT DID EDEN CHOOSE?
With guests gathered around, Mr.H let Eden go!  I sat behind the items so he would crawl towards me. His first try, he crawled OVER all the items!  He was very proud of himself and giggled.  Take 2:  Daddy crawled with him and he reached for the cooking pan, turned to his guests and showed it to them with a big smile so... A MASTERCHEF!

Second, he briefly picked up the swim goggles but we already knew he is a little fish!

While this is not a Shiu family tradition, it was great fun and a wonderful way to share Eden's Chinese background.

Menu
Mr.H and I had a difficult time deciding on the menu.  What threw us off was that it's a Winter party so while BBQ was still an option, we just wanted belly-warming food.  For the adults, we went with 'East Meets West' (a very broad East): we did have the zhua zhou ceremony which you customarily eat long-life noodles after so for the adults:
Green salad
Cha Siu (pork)
Thai Chicken Curry
Indian Beef Tikka
Jasmine Rice
Singapore Noodles
Spring rolls

Little Men and Little Ladies dined on:
'Little Boys' or pigs in a blanket
'Little Man-wiches' (cheese, vegemite and fairy bread.  The usual crowd pleasers)
Meatballs
'Bow tie' Mac 'n Cheese in bite sized portions
'Wet Your Whistle' juice bottles

Chef Conor earned rave reviews while the little gentlemen and little ladies praised me!

Let 'em Eat Cake!
As I said before, I love making the birthday cake.  Mr.E got his own "smash" cake too.  I made his cake from a tin can, yes a tin can!  My pans were too large and I didn't want to purchase a new pan for one time use so I looked online and found a tutorial on how to do it.  Too easy!  I love the look of the ruffle cake on Pinterest.  I used blue 'perfect cupcake frosting'*for a more 'masculine' look.  The 'ruffles' were incredibly easy too.
* I tried a new frosting as I don't love working with buttercream and HATE fondant. This frosting was delicious: light, easy to pipe and most importantly, held its shape for that oh-so-perfect cupcake swirl.

He eventually smashed, eating half of the cake!

The large cake was a simple chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  I used my round cake pan and cut the cake, once cooled, into one side of a mustache, repeat for the other side of the mustache, and joined with frosting.  Cute!

Photo Booth Fun
I don't think Photo Booths are just for weddings.  I found FREE printables online to make this a cheap and fun activity for our guests.  I found this fabric on Spoonflower to use as a backdrop.

And because our guests RSVP'ed via email, I was able to email copies of photos with an e-thank you card within a few days!

Jumping Beans
Thank goodness for the blue skies!  There were a lot of little men and little ladies in attendance.  So to keep the older ones occupied, we were able to use our 'splurge' purchase: a jumping castle and slide!  This bad boy can be used all year-round.  During the Winter, we filled the 'pool' with balls and as is.  But for the hot Australian Summer, it is waterproof and comes equipped with a water hose to shoot water from the top of the slide for a very slippery dip.

Mr.H also quickly put together a sand pit (or Eloise's beach) which the younger guests loved!

Hot Chocolate Bar
I love hot chocolate, especially on cold winter days.  It was a perfect way to stay warm for a winter birthday party. We had warm milk in an urn and I made chocolate blocks on a Popsicle stick in dark, milk and white chocolate to stir in! Toppings on offer: caramel marshmallows, marshmallow sticks, mini M&M's, colored mini chocolate chips, and rainbow sprinkles.

Along with the hot chocolate, we offered a Nescafe range to adults.  I was lucky enough to be chosen as part of a marketing trial for Nescafe.  They sent me 100 coffee sachets to trial so there was plenty to go around!  As long as the coffee drinkers logged on and provided a review after, that is!

How else would a little man enjoy his big day?  With chocolate cigars, placed in a vintage cigar box (thanks eBay!)

Time Capsule
This was a last minute addition, but I love it.  It makes me a bit teary!  I saw it on Pinterest, of course!  Instead of a signing book, we asked guests to write a note to Eden.  He will open this on his 18th (or 21st) birthday.  I also included the birthday invitation, birthday cards received and the photos from the "1" collage post-party.  I thought this was such a special keepsake for him to have.  I would of loved to have one for Eloise at her 1st birthday.
*His Pau-pau, Gung-gung, Yi-mah, Tai Pau and G.A.B will write him a message during our visit or via email which will also be placed in the time capsule.

I'd love to stay and chat but I really "mustache"!
Adult guests departed with mustache cupcakes or cookies* with "I'd love to stay and chat but I really "mustache" tags.

The cupcakes were vanilla or chocolate with a blue frosting swirl
and topped with a chocolate mustache.

Goodie Bags

 Our little men and little ladies departed with handmade bow-tie favour bags filled with goodies: Sippah straw, chocolate mustache lollipop, and bowtie'd cookie men!

The cookies baking

*The cookies: cut-out cookies have always been my cooking Everest. I couldn't do it. My dough was never 'right', the dough would stick to the cookie cutters no matter how much flour I dumped on it, etc. Then I found this recipe. There's a reason it's called the 'Best Ever Rolled Sugar Cookie'. It took me straight back to SMHS canteen at morning break. And cookie cutters worked a dream! The mustache cookies were Munchstaches by Fred and the 'men's' bowties were made with a mini-M&M and heart shaped sprinkles.

Exhausted...
I wasn't sure we were going to get there, but we did it!  (Mr.H had been busy working on the office, home theatre and deck).  I know, you are thinking "You were sick and on a limited time, why didn't you just keep it simple?"  I don't think it's in my being to 'do simple'!  I'll admit it, some nights I was up well past midnight with my sewing machine whirling, but to me it's worth it... But seriously, thank goodness there is not another party to host in our calendar for a while!

Post script: Mr.H is a glutton for punishment. He came home on Monday and asked me if we wanted to have our not-so-annual Halloween party!

Two E's and Me: Start of July

Happy 7th Anniversary!
Mr.H and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary at the start of the month.  We had Thai take-away for dinner (maybe we'll have a belated anniversary dinner in SF when we have a babysitter?)

July 9, 2005

Full-time Stay-at-Home-Mama... kind of

MissE has been home full-time for the past few weeks.  While she misses her teachers and friends, she also likes being home.  Her first week, I had 3 days of work so she helped daddy look after Mr.E (that's probably a Mr.H story to be told!) and the following week, she has helped in preparation for Mr.E's big FIRST birthday party.  By the start of week 2 at home, she had asked several times about when she gets to go back to The Dolphins.  Oh dear!  Are we boring her???  To keep up with her pre-school learning and development, I found free printable worksheets online.  We are currently working on a letter a day.

With Mr.E's birthday, we've also done a few crafts and baking.  The craft... let's just say it has all the markings of a science experiment gone horribly wrong.  And baking, she loves helping in the kitchen so that was all good!

Our attempt to recycle crayons into mustache crayons for Eden's party

Toilet Training at Night
MissE has never had a dry diaper at night, although she often asks why she has to wear one at night still.  It's not a big deal in my eyes as I knew of 5 year olds who were still in diapers during the night.  One day we were talking about being a big girl and it was one of the things we talked about.  I thought nothing of it until 3:30am that morning and she is standing next to the bed telling me she needs to go to the toilet.  I didn't think she would take me that literally but hey, I'll go with it.  She has only come in the once and otherwise holds it until morning so I guess we are on our way to truly being a Big Girl!

Rookie Mistake
As I mentioned before MissE is "doctor, doctor, doctor".  She loves coming with me to my weekly appointments and so I didn't think anything of it when Mr.E went in for his 1 year check and immunisations (plus daddy had a busy day at work).  All was fine, she was chatting away with Nurse Jenny and was helping to keep Mr.E entertained with toys until it was time for the immunisations.  I told her a few times that Eden may cry but he's okay.  Nurse Jenny gave her a job to do, hold a singing Winnie the Pooh for Eden but as the needle went in, MissE was shaking!  Physically shaking!  Mr.E had a cry then was busy trying to wiggle out of my arms, as usual, but MissE was still a bit unsure.  Even after a jelly bean, she spent the next 30 minutes wanting to talk about how she was not going to eat a lot or grow bigger anymore because she did not want to turn 4 (her next immunisations)!  Eventually I told her we were not going to talk about Eden's nurse anymore. BIG MAMA OOPS!

Wrestlemania 2012
Mr.E loves to tackle MissE.  And MissE doesn't mind... for the most part.  We don't think she fully understands that one day he is going to be a lot bigger than her.

Hmm... footy player (NRL ONLY of course) in the making???

Busy Bees
We've all been busy prepping for Eden's birthday party.  We were expecting the worst, rain (as it poured down rain the week he was born), but it looks like we will have blue skies!  Mr.H has been finishing off our changing rooms (office and home theatre) and outside (never-ending project!).

Our new home theatre

Re-sanding the deck with a supervisor (Sabi)

Influenza Update
My last post I was feeling better!  Lot 4 of antibiotics, rest and always being smothered in Vicks did the trick.  I had a follow-up x-ray and doctor's visit to ensure I had fully recovered from walking pneumonia.  The good news was my x-ray was clear.  The bad news was I had an inner ear/ sinus infection!  My ears had been blocked for some time but I figured it was part of the bronchitis/ pneumonia.  So now I'm on lot 5 of antibiotics to hopefully clear everything up before our trip and I am armed with a nasal spray for the flight.  I will be so glad to be out of the Australian Winter although the Bay Area isn't much warmer!  Hmm, could the warm temperatures of Disneyland SoCal do the trick?

Time for me to start packing so... Until next time!

Two E's and Me: June

I am splitting this month's post just to bombard you.  No, I thought Mr.E's FIRST birthday and birthday party deserve their own post as it's a BIG milestone so here's what happened at the end of June.

My birthday!
MissE: Mama, happy birthday!  How old are you?
Me: 33
MissE: That's... that's...
Me: Please don't say old!  Please don't say old!
MissE: That's BIGGER!  You're getting SO TALL!
Works for me!

*At least I was finally feeling better from my recent illness too!

Goodbye Sydney Cove!

MissE with one of her favourite teachers

It started with tears and ended in tears.  I cried when I put Eloise in and cried when we took her out!  (One of her teachers cried too!)  After 2.5 years, she was so sad to say "goodbye", asking if her "teachers" and friends would miss her because she will miss them, but at the same time, she was excited as she knew we would be going on a big airplane to see Pau-pau soon.  MissE helped with her carer gifts.  We put together two because I couldn't decide!

You're my M&M Teacher!
Another Pinterest find, 'M&M' stands for 'magnificent & marvellous', along with a colour chart for what each colour M&M stands for.

And I'm One Smart Cookie!

A jar filled with cookies

All the rooms are named after sea creatures, so I made sea life cupcakes for her Dolphin Room friends.

A local cafe has cupcakes with little plastic animals on top
which inspired these cupcakes.

 They also received these mini- Play-doh (thanks to Costco and leftovers from MissE's Hello Kitty birthday party!) with labels "See you later, alligator" I quickly put together last night.

Smart Cookie
MissE continues to amaze us.  Not only can she add using her fingers, she can now subtract.  I didn't notice what she was doing, but she often does this at meals:  "I have 5 chips, if I eat one, I have 4 left".  She can also count to 30.  Although, 30 is sometimes "13-10".  She has the sound right!

Click on this link to see MissE adding/ subtracting/ counting to 30!  And a cameo by Mr.E, crawling through at hyper-speed!

Things that make you go hmmm...
MissE's hair is getting long again.  She keeps asking to see Melanie (her hairstylist).  I want to grow it out a bit (we cut it very short last time) so I told her we would wait and that Gung-gung will cut her bangs/ fringe for her.
MissE: How does my hair grow?
Me: Well, if you eat all your food and get lots of sleep, your hair will grow.  (I know it's not scientific but best answer I care to give when we are trying to get out the door so I can go to work)
MissE: Okay.  But how come my eyebrows don't grow like the hair on my head does?
Me: Ummm...

Brat-titude
Sneaky Snake
Mr.H: Mama will be mad if you don't get to the toilet in time.  Make sure there is no wee in your undies.
MissE: It's okay.  (Shrugging) If there is, I just won't tell her!

Uncle R's birthday
MissE: Mama, how old is Uncle Ryan?
Me: 40
MissE: Shaking her head "Oh dear..."

3 going on 16
MissE: I don't want you to drive home.
Me: Who's going to drive home?
MissE: Eloise!
Me: You can't drive, you don't know how.
MissE: Well, how am I going to learn if you don't let me practice?

Toy Sale!
The end of June is toy sale for us.  All the major retailers have toy sales too good to resist!  Last year I sent Mr.H off at midnight but this year it was up to me.  I've been midnight shopping a few times, and while I was tired, it pays off.  I was in and out in 20 minutes with everything that I wanted... and more. Mr.H and I splurged on a very fun purchase... we hope to unveil it at Mr.E's birthday party but it's dependent on the weather.

I never give MissE or Mr.E toys if it's not their birthday or Christmas.  Maybe they got me on a good day?  We let Mr.E have an "early" birthday present, an inflatable slide/ ball pit (which is also entertaining MissE) and because he got a present, MissE was allowed to choose one.  Being obsessed with doctors (yay!), she chose Dr. Monkey Alphabet (surname chosen by her).  Dr. Monkey has a magnetic stethoscope that you put on his nose, ears, heart, tummy, arms and legs.  He then sings a song about his nose.

Slide and Ball Pit

Dr. Monkey Alphabet
(and MissE got her face painted!)

 *Postscript on Dr.Monkey: Dr. Monkey Alphabet met an unfortunate end within a few hours.  He stopped working, even with new batteries.  With many tears, we said "goodbye" and came home with Dr. Monkey Nuts (from the book, Monkey Monkey Monkey by Cathy MacLennan), reincarnated to pink.  Name later changed to Dr. McStuffins after the new Disney Jr. TV show.

Girls Day Out!
The H girls' checked out Brave as a mama/ daughter day outing.  It was MissE's and Cousin H's first movie in a theatre.  Armed with popcorn and "friends" (MissE had Wo-wo and Cousin H, Bunny), the girls did very well and made it through the movie!

Until next time...