Party time!

Yesterday, we went to attend Grace's birthday party. Grace is Sheri's playmate who is one month older than her. Somehow, we could sense that Sheri was not her usual self. I supposed it was because of her teething problems that was causing her to have mood swings.

A first picture of little Sheri standing on her own.

During the party, she had her first attempt of table food. She picked up some French fries herself voluntarily and started putting them into her mouth. Wow! That really surprised mommy and daddy. It looks like little Sheri is ready to eat table food even though she has only two teeth at the bottom.

Look at this greedy little girl!

Is there anything else I can eat?


Let's take picture with the birthday girl.



Don't take my party hat!

What a greedy pig! She was still licking the the cream from the fork after eating the cake.


A family shot before we left. Thank you for inviting us.

Teething.....

For the past few days, Little Sheri has not been feeling very well. Her cries are a bit different from her usual. I guess she must be feeling the pain from the upper front two teeth that are coming out. We gave her half a dropperful of Tylenol to ease her pain at night when she sleeps as the pain seems to be acute at night. Hopefully, she will get through this period soon so that mommy can have a good night sleep.


Mommy loves the rows of red trees outside our house. They look really pretty. Over the long weekend, we managed to take some pictures with the red trees when we brought Sheri out for a walk.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a long weekend last week because of Thanksgving on Thursday. Usually, we do not celebrate Thanksgiving, but we decided to join in the fun this year and prepare a simple Thanksgiving dinner for ourselves. Since turkey is the centrepiece of Thanksgiving dinner, we bought a 13 pounds turkey last week from the supermarket. Frankly speaking, it was not easy handling the turkey that we bought as it was quite big even though that was the smallest turkey that we could find in the store. Daddy deserved most of the credit in roasting the turkey as he was the one who managed to stuff the butter, garlic and herbs underneath the skin. We finally heaved a sign of relief when we pushed the turkey into the oven.

Apart from the roasted turkey, we also had pumpkin soup, boiled broccoli as side dishes. Here, the turkey is usually eaten with cranberry sauce , so we also prepared our own cranberry sauce using fresh cranberries.

After the 3 hours of anxious anticipation, Daddy finally brought the much awaited turkey out of the oven.

Wow! What a great feast! It's time to dig in.

Of course, daddy, being the head of the household, was given the honor of carving the turkey.


This was the first time that we roasted a turkey for Thanksgiving and it tasted pretty good.
What can be more satisfying than to have a sumptuous meal after all the fun and excitement in preparing the food. Happy Thanksgiving!

Little obstacle course for Sheri

During one of the weekends, daddy and mommy were so bored that we set up a little obstacle course for Sheri. Just wish to share with you a video of how she managed to manoeuvre through one of the courses. Happy viewing!

First snowfall of the season

When we woke up this morning, we were very surprised to find that it was snowing outside. It's the first snowfall of the season. We did not expect the snow to come so early this year. Last year, it came only in February. I could still remember it vividly that it was on Valentine's day that there was a heavy snowstorm. Mommy was still holding baby Sheri in her arms and feeding her milk while looking at the snowflakes drizzling down through the window. In fact, my parents were very disappointed for not being able to see the snow when they came here for two weeks at the end of last December.

Anyway, Crazy mommy and daddy brought little Sheri out today to feel the falling snowflakes. Surprisingly, she did not seem to be afraid of the cold. Instead, she was pretty excited to be out of the house to experience the first snowfall of the season.

However, the weather was pretty warm so the snow did not accumulate on the roads even though it snowed for the whole day. Too bad! Little Sheri missed the chance of making a snowman.

Actually, it is still snowing outside now while mommy is writing this post. Hopefully, daddy will not have much difficulties getting his car out of the snow tomorrow. Well, we will see. Goodnight! It's time for mommy to join little Sheri in bed. Bye! Bye!

First birthday present from Singapore

Ding! Dong! The door bell rang. Guess who it is at the door. It's Mr Postman. He is here to deliver little Sheri's first birthday present. Yesterday, Sheri received her first birthday present from Singapore. It was from her grandmother, auntie and uncle(mommy's family) in Singapore. They bought shoes, clothes and games for little Sheri. Thank you! Sheri loves it!

More fall pictures

Fall is mommy's favourite season of the year. This is the time where the leaves on the trees start to turn to different colours in respond to shorter daylight hours, giving rise to a magnificent display of colours in the fall landscape, which mommy finds it particularly captivating. Yesterday, we took Sheri out for a walk at the park to embrace the beauty of the fall landscape.
Many of the trees are shedding their leaves in preparation for the dormant winter.

Sheri's kicking reflexes

Little Sheri always shows very strong kicking reflexes whenever she is lifted up. At first, mommy and daddy thought that this was a natural response for babies, but it was only recently that we realised from our friends that this was not the case for all babies. Hence, we decided to take a video of her kicking reflexes before she loses it.

Welcome back home, daddy!

Daddy was back on last Friday. As usual, baby Sheri fell asleep in the car while mommy was driving to the airport to fetch daddy. She did not seem to have much reaction when she woke up and found daddy sitting beside her on our way back from the airport. Of course, daddy was a bit disappointed with her as one week of absence seemed to have estranged baby Sheri from daddy. Well, I guess daddy had to spent more time with Sheri to make up for it. Thus, we spent most of the time at home in the last weekend.
It was quite a rough week for mommy when daddy was not around, as mommy had to take care of little Sheri singlehandedly for the whole day. Her refusal to take a nap in the daytime further compounded mommy's exhaustion, as mommy could only take a rest after putting her to bed at night. Well, at least, mommy could seek some comfort in talking to daddy at night. Daddy did make it a point to call mommy twice a day to check how we were doing. Anyway, it was a great relief that daddy was back on Friday.

Catching little bunny!

Nowadays, little Sheri can push herself up with support. Here's her little act of catching the bunny. Happy viewing!

Home Alone with baby Sheri again

This week, mommy has to be home alone with little Sheri. Today, mommy sent daddy to the airport in the morning, as daddy will be away for a conference in this week. He will be back on Friday. Baby Sheri was sleeping soundly in the car, so she did not get to wave goodbye to daddy. I wonder if she knows his absence this week as daddy is always the one who bathes her everyday when he is back from home. Sometimes, she will just babble out the word 'daddy' when daddy is back from home. When that happens, mommy and daddy will always look at her in amazement, wondering if she is really calling 'daddy'. Nowadays, she is also making sounds like 'mama'. It makes me wonder if she is really calling mommy. Anyway, I guess she is recognizing our presence in her own way.
Recently, mommy also noticed that Little Sheri has a new way of showing her affection to us. She likes to lick our cheeks. I deem it as she is 'kissing' us. However when I ask her to do it again sometimes, she will shy away in embarassment. What a sweet little girl!

Auntie Mary's visit

Last Sunday, we were happy to have Auntie Mary and her family with us for lunch. It was a nice gathering as it has been quite some time since mommy and Sheri met them.

Let's meet Auntie Mary's youngest son, Nathan. What a handsome boy!

Wow! See how steady Auntie Mary was in balancing Dane in the air!

See how assertive little Sheri was in exerting her rights to read the book with Dane! Hopefully, she didn't scare him off.

What an adventure at Delaware Water gap National Park!

Last year, we did not go anywhere during fall as mommy was pregnant with Sheri. This year, we decided to go to Delaware Water Gap to look at the fall colours. This was the place that Daddy had always wanted to go during fall when he was studying in Princeton. As daddy will be going away for a conference next week, we decided to make the trip on last Saturday. Delaware Water Gap National Park encompasses almost 70,000 acres and runs along 40 miles of the middle Delaware River. We drove along route 209 near the Water gap. We stopped by Dingman Falls for a short hiking trail.

This was the starting point of our trail.

On our way back, we decided to take a look at the other side of the Water gap by driving on a route called 'old mine road' that we saw on the map. Utimately, it should lead us back to highway I-80 that we came from. The 'old mine road' was narrower and closer to the river than the road that we drove on the other side of the water gap. The scenary that we saw along 'old mine road' was just magnificent.

However, after driving for about 2 hours, the road that we were travelling on suddenly ended and became unpaved. At that moment, we had to make a tough decision. We either had to turn back or we could continue driving hoping that the road would become paved again. Both options that we had at that moment were not very appealing. The former was undesirable because it would take us another 2 hours to get back onto the path that we came from and we certainly did not wish to drive through the forested area that we came from in the pitch dark condition since night was falling. On the other hand, we did not wish to continue driving on the unpaved road for two reasons. Firstly, we had no idea whether the road would become paved again and lead us back to the highway. Secondly, driving on the unpaved road could possibly pose another risk of tire puncture, which obviously was the last thing we wanted to happen. Given the cirumstances that we were in, we had to make a fast decision as time was running out. We had to get out of this forested area before night falls. We decided to turn back a few metres and follow the direction of the sign that says 'Campus Inn', hoping we could ask for some directions. The road down to the 'Campus Inn' was very bumpy as it was unpaved too and worst of all, it was very narrow and pretty close to the river. After driving for a distance, we decided to turn back as we could not see any inn in sight. However, it was not easy doing a three-point turn on a very bumpy and narrow road as we had to make sure that the car would not accidentally slide down the slope. Fortunately, daddy managed to manoeuvre the car carefully and we got out of that place safely. Once we were back on the paved road, we had to decide how to get back in the shortest possible time. At that time, we had no choice, but to turn back. We saw from the map that there was a crossing point back to route 209. Just as we were about to set off, Sheri wetted her car seat and mommy had to change her diaper. After the diaper change, she refused to sit on the car seat, instead she tried to stand up. At that moment, careless mommy was too distracted to notice that she did not buckle baby Sheri up. So, when daddy stepped on the brake suddenly, Sheri surged forward and fell head-down. Oh no! Mommy quickly picked her up and tried to comfort her. She fell asleep in mommy's arms after drinking some milk. Thank God! In the end, we managed to get out of the park safely. Poor Sheri! She had a bad fall. Until now, mommy still feels very remorseful for causing baby Sheri to have a bad fall.

Farmhouse Visit

Hi! Welcome to Grim's greenhouse and farmmarket!

Today, we brought little Sheri to Grim's greenhouse and farmmarket, which is pretty near to our residence.

There is a corn maze at the farmmarket. This was the first time that we saw a corn maze. It would certainly be more interesting if little Sheri can run around on her own in the corn maze.

It was a very chilly day today. When we arrived at the farm, we realised that all the kids were dressed very warmly except our little Sheri. It was all mommy's fault. Mommy forgot to put on long pants on Sheri. Surprisingly, little Sheri did not complain about the cold.

Fall is also the time for pumpkin harvest as Halloween is just two weeks away from now. There were lots of pumpkin on sale. Interestingly, we spotted a squash which was shaped like a saxaphone.

Let's see how tall little Sheri is.

The farm produce is fresher and cheaper than that in the supermarket, but the checkout quene was so long that we decided to give it a miss.

What a beautiful scarecrow!

Shall we give little Sheri a ride on the cart?

After spending sometime at the farm, we went on to the supermarket to do our usual grocery shopping. By the time we reached home, it was about 7 in the evening. Daddy decided to let mommy take a rest while he prepared dinner. It's time for yummy yummy. Good job, daddy!

Sticky Sheri!

Little Sheri has been very sticky to us recently. Sometimes, she will not let mommy and daddy get out of her sight even for one second. With her newfound mobility, she can crawl to everywhere in the house. She can even follow us to the bathroom. Yesterday, mommy just saw her lurking outside the bathroom, looking high and low for mommy. Well, I guess this is only temporary. Daddy said that we should be glad that there is someone in this world who wants to be so close to us. Well, I guess it is only temporary. She may not be so close to us once she has her own social circle. So, I guess mommy and daddy should sit back and enjoy her companionship.

Little Sheri's hair was standing up this morning when she woke up, so mommy took a shot of it for remembrance.

Daddy's creation

Recently, daddy has the habit of spiking up little Sheri's hair. This is his new hairdo for little Sheri.

New developments of Sheri

Last Friday, mommy was pleasntly surprised to see that little Sheri is able to pull herself up to the standing position.

It is cetainly a major feat for her since this is one of the milestones that she must oversome before she can learn how to walk. Every now and then, she is giving mommy and daddy little surprises about her newfound capabilities. Today, she can even take a few steps on her own by holding on to the sofa for support.

She has also started to hold her own bottle, even though sometimes, she is more interested in playing with it.

Finally, baby Sheri can show off her 2 new teeth now. Mommy tried to make her laugh to capture a picture of her 2 new teeth.

Crawling

Little Sheri has started crawling about one month ago. Since then, mommy has been taking video of this little worm's movement in this house. Finally, I had the chance to edit and upload the video today while the little worm is taking a short afternoon nap. With her newfound mobility, it has become increasingly difficult to dress her. I wonder if it is deliberate. She will just wriggled around like a worm, making it difficult for us to catch hold of her whenever we try to put on her clothes or diaper. Sometimes, it takes the two of us just to dress her. One of us has to hold her while the other will try to put on her clothes.

However, one sweet thing about her newfound mobility is that she will crawl to daddy when he comes back from work, hoping that he will carry her and play with her. She will be pretty upset if he does not give her the attention once he enters the house. Our little Sheri seems to be getting more and more demanding nowadays. She is no longer that little baby that she used to be. She is behaving more and more like a kid, always craving for our attention.

9th month checkup

''Goodnight, little bunny. I'm going to bed soon", said baby Sheri.

Last Friday, we brought little Sheri to her 9th month check-up. She is now 30 inches (75 cm) long, and she weighs 19 pounds and 4 ozs (9kg). To give us a better idea of where she stands among her peers, Dr Linderman showed us that little Sheri is now at the 90 percentile in terms height and 55 percentile in terms of weight. So, it seems that little Sheri is not gaining sufficient weight to keep her weight on the 75 percentile that she used to be during her 6th month check-up. Dr Linderman advised us to give little sheri more milk as she is only drinking 9 ozs of milk a day. According to her, this is far too little as she should be drinking 24 ozs of milk everyday. So, mommy has to think of a way to increase little Sheri's intake of milk. I decided to add milk to the stock solution during lunch and dinner. Well, this may not sound very appetizing for us, but little Sheri does not seem to mind. By doing this way, I can, at the very least, increase her milk intake by another 4 ozs. Hopefully, she will not fall below the median weight in her next check-up.

We finally upgraded little Sheri to a high back booster seat last Saturday. This will be her new car seat from now onwards.