alexis's diet at two

i am not vegan, but i am all for making healthier substitutes where it does not make a huge difference in taste, especially when it involves preparing meals for our lil girl. cooking from scratch seems to be a lost art, especially in our fast-paced, here-in-an-instant world. every day, we are bombarded with images and advertisement of processed foods, from hot dogs, hams, canned meats and fish, to instant noodles and hot cereals. i believe that many processed foods such as sausages and hams are high in salt, sugar, fat and calories, which translates to unhealthy weight gain. in addition, most contain little to no nutrition, which will rob alexis of the vitamins and minerals she needs to grow.

so one of the proud moment i have as a mother is alexis's eating habit. i am still super incredibly fussy about what goes into her mouth. the term "processed food" and "junk food" can strike fear in the heart of mine. i am however proud that her diet does not consist of any lollies, chocolate, chips, cake, deep-fried, processed food etc which i consider a real achievement considering the temptations in our world. i intend to keep her away from any and all junk food until we absolutely have no other choice, example birthday cakes. hence her birthday cakes are usually not frosted with icky high-sugared cream, which makes it unhealthy to eat. she does not really come into much contact with them that much, to be honest, because the man and i are trying to be healthy eaters and also very against feeding junk food to babies and children. however she seems to be entering into the initial stage of i-hate-vegetables phase, but for now, i am still very grateful that she still finishes her steamed vegetables and quinoa/rice (occasionally with some coaxing), and still consider fruits her ultimate sweet dessert. she is still very in love with her daily dosage of avocado and yogurt and i am truly fascinated at watching her eat all the world's healthiest food.

such is the boring but “health-conscious” diet of alexis.

3 gold pendants

alexis's second birthday present was a no brainer, because the man and i had been considering it for ages and we had also spent some time scouring various jewellery boutiques to locate one. in the end, we found the perfect piece, just by chance. it is small, it is simple, it is classic, it is meaningful, it is gold. and it is something she can keep 24/7 for the rest of her life :)

it is a 999 gold pendant piece. the man was particularly drawn towards the coin, because of the lovely mandarin character "聪明伶俐, 健康快乐". not only the gold will patina beautifully with time, it carries our wishes for her to lead a happy and prosperous life.

a family present we got to represent a complete and lovely family is a smiling rabbit with a pair of angel's wings and a pig which has a word "財" on it's body. they look beautiful together and i love the fingering the smoothness and warmth of the lasting gold.

a very lovely birthday present for alexis and meaningful family present.

tomato basil soup

the man and i are very adjusted to our new lives as parents. we are loving every minute, life is just different from two years ago. i used to be very straight and organised and tried to stick to a schedule, but now we just go with HER flow. our little pea has an agenda of her own and I am just trying to keep up. she is a good girl, which I am very thankful for. the man without a doubt is also a wonderful father and is a huge help around the house. together, we make a great couple team in my humble opinion :)

today the man made a soup which really hit the spot. this soup with all the natural ingredients and sodium-free is one of our all time favorites. we bought garlic focaccia from cedele to go with the soup. you cannot go wrong with roasted tomato basil soup and bread for a dinner comfort food at it’s finest! it was nice to enjoy a home cooked birthday meal, without any fuss :)

singapore zoological garden, again

on alexis's actual birthday, the man and i were super excited to take her to singapore zoo (again!), because we know it was great for young children. and so we spent half a day there, much to her delight :) there really is something about kids and zoos.

we had a lovely day though, and i am sure the lil one sure did!

you are two now, my dear girl.

alexis, motherhood sure is not easy , but i would not give it up for anything, because you teach us the meaning of unconditional love. you show us how it is the little things that matter. when you are happy, your parents are too. we celebrate each day together because it is another day to love, to laugh, and to hug, and be silly together. this is my delightful, charming, headstrong two year old girl.

and so, just like that, we have a bonafide little girl in our life. she means everything to me, her smiles capture every possible sunlight and her sparkling eyes are everything that make her so charming that it was so hard not to love her. just hearing her utter the words “i love you, mommy” is more than enough to melt my heart :)

i love you too.