Have you heard of "The Backyardigans"?

Can you identify and name the cartoons in the pictures?

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You are right, is Barney!

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You are right again, is Thomas the Train!

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Congrats! You got all three answers correct, is Elmo from Sesame Street!

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HUH??? [What is this???]
Let me introduce this cute little penguin, Pablo, to you :)

The Backyardigans

is an animated children's TV series, which features five animal friends, who imagine that their backyard becomes an adventure place. Thanks to our wonderful neighbour who passed us our very first copy of The Backyardigans DVD. Since then, the Chan family is addicted attracted to it. Sadly, we searched high and low in Singapore and could not find any merchandise of The Backyardigans :(

We chanced upon The Backyardigans in Johor Bahru! We were so excited and we bought the DVD series immediately without hesitation. And... and...and.. my guilty US online shopping.

"TaDa!" Introducing Gracelle's new friends. She adores each one of them and give each of them a BIG warm hug :)

Curiosity

No matter what age we are at, we are always curious about the world around us.

Baby Gracelle is a learning baby who needs to explore, SEE, FEEL and taste everything in her way.

Let me check out who is standing behind mama?

What is this? A leaf? Let me feel it.

Tired. Let me sit down and explore the leaf further.

Someday, she will grow up and realize the beauty of God's creation.

P is for Porridge ... and PASTA

Porridge is the next natural move for semi-solid after cereal. Porridge time was fun in the beginning. I wish I could say the same for now. Imagine, how bored will it be if you have to consume porridge (same porridge, different ingredients) for the next 365 days?!

Have you heard of law of diminishing returns? It simply means the tendency for a continuing application of effort or skill toward a particular project or goal to decline in effectiveness after a certain level of result has been achieved (source: The Free Dictionary). I have tested and proven this law on Gracelle. When she first started taking solid food, she finishes her porridge within 10-15 minutes. Now that she is on solid food, she has porridge from Monday to Friday, and as the day goes by, her interest level for porridge has declined and she is taking 2 minutes... 3 minutes ... 5 minutes...... longer, approximately 20-30 minutes to finish.

Thank God for pasta. I cook pasta for Gracelle once in a while. See, I have star shape carrots and alphabet pasta to attract my darling. Guess what? I faithfully feed her spoonful by spoonful, she gobble up eat mouthful delightfully and would scream if the next spoonful came too late. Phew! She finished 1 bowl of pasta within 15 minutes! That's it, fuss free!

Pasta is ideal for baby learning to chew. It is a quick and easy recipe to cook for your baby. So, ditch your spaghetti and pick up alphabet pasta today!

So you think you can Jump?

She learnt about jumping when she got together with 3 monkey lovely cousins during one of the weekend. Toddlers love to run and jump, and she saw them jumping on the bed. That's where it began.

Few days back, daddy hold both her hands and help her practice this skill on the living room platform (not a very smart choice to do it on the hard ground huh?). Thank God, she is quite sturdy and managed to get both feet to leave the ground at once -> jump!

See her HAPPY face with a HIGH BIG JUMP! Hooray!

What happened next?
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She was all sweaty and need a "pom pom" (shower). Daddy had the fun and mummy need to "clean up the mess".

Hide and Peek

You read it right! Is hide and peek, not hide and seek! This is Gracelle's way of "Peek-a-boo".

My baby is not timid. She is not scared if you cover her with her blankie, or if you off the lights... She loves to hide behind the curtain and peek through the sheer voiles curtain. She assumes that by covering her face, she cannot see us and we cannot see her as well.

The horror picture will still be classify as G [General-suitable for all ages] according to MDA classification ratings.

My "Cookie Monster"

Cookie Monster is a muppet on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is best known for voracious appetite and his famous eating phrases: "Me want cookie!", "Me eat cookie!", and "Om nom nom nom" (said through a mouth full of food). As his name suggests, his preferred food is cookies.

I believe that kids are not born to be a picky eater. I tried to introduce one new fruit to Gracelle each week. My "cookie monster", whenever she sees food, she will go "WAAAA (with her mouth wide open)" and keep pointing at it until the food goes into her mouth. Sometimes, she may spit it out, but I never give up, because it may take numerous exposures before she will actually eat it and eventually ask for more. I will share more about my creative ideas that attracts Gracelle's attention. Stay tuned!

"Om nom nom nom", she has tried apple, papaya, banana, dragon fruit, strawberry, cherry, durian, nectarine.. and yummy yummy more. The verdict, she loves banana!

Dedicate this durian eating photo for Gracelle's papa! Haha... (Gracelle's papa loves hates durian! Oops!)