Fame!!! part 5

Aloha everyone! The ad's finally out! Presenting.... Aidan's first print ad!!

July '09 issue of Practical Parenting, Page 8

We're now taking offers...

I kinda wish I had the nerve to snap pics during the photoshoot, but somehow thought if I was being a busybodies our chances would be slimmer! Weird I know! Maybe next time (if there is one)?? ;-)

Singin' in the...bathtub.

Ages ago, when I was a child, my mum did a recording of me singing "One elephant went out to play..." from The Elephant Show. I got up to six elephants and you can hear my mum going "okay okay, enough already lah", and me saying "no!!! more elephaaaants!!"

Well, the tradition has carried on!



It took me FOREVER to get this audio file up 'coz Blogger doesn't allow you to post audio files, so after trying HEAPS of different methods, finally used iMovie, dragged a photo and added the audio (that in itself took awhile too, since I'm pretty tech unsavvy!!)

Oh gosh, I sound EXACTLY like my mum! Not only do I look like and act like her, now I sound like her too! Creepy... ;-)

And since I'm blogging...

Notice something familiar about A's new haircut?

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Now that he's scored a print ad...maybe a film career's next? ;-)

Photos are up!

Here're some recent pics - click on the link below!

AIDAN iPhone pics

Rainy Day afternoon

So we've abandoned the healthy-cookie baking idea this arvo in favour of making...Playdough! Yes, coloured sticky fun for everyone.

The recipe I used:
2 cups of plain flour
4 tablespoons of cream of tartar
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 cup of salt
2 cups of boiling water
Food colouring


Yes, the delicious (I'm sure you've snuck in a piece or two when you were a kid, come on, admit it) recipe calls for ONE WHOLE CUP OF SALT. What the?!! That's half my bottle at home! That's a heck of a lotta sodium in one sculpture.

Anyhoos, here's the photos taken from my iPhone. Grazie to PhoneView's trial version which allowed me to transfer the photos from my iPhone to my comp.

Mix mix mix...


Voila! A lump of dough. Then I split it in half,
and coloured one lump pink, the other green...

Weee!!!

Fun on a rainy day indoors...

We had lots of fun, creating "snow" men, logs with button-balls, "cookies", cut out animals, and I even created a "map" using the dough to explain to Jeremy D (who's staying on my couch for a couple weeks) how to get to the bus stop. Isn't Playdough useful?!!

Note: As I'm typing this blog, A is sitting next to me with the iPhone learning new words, and recognising shapes. He actually knows "SUB!" and "WAGON!" now. What a clever kid!!

Happy 21 Months!

So much has happened in the past month it's hard to pen it all down. But I'll do my best!

He loves bike rides, especially since his Grandad brought him cycling around the neighbourhood when he was here, he's learnt how to fake a snore, and he got up to heaps of mischief with his cousin Ariel while she was visiting.

He's really learned a lot in the last few weeks, new words, an EXTENSIVE vocabulary, and he's really recognising numbers and alphabets now. He can point to the correct word (I've been sticking up labels in his room, like "Clock" or "Wardrobe"), and we've started potty training - he can tell us "Poo Poo", although sometimes it's a false alarm. But now he gets out of his bathtub to pee (we'd put the his bathtub into the grown-ups bathtub, and he steps into the big one to watch himself drip a couple drops), instead of weeing into his bathwater. Although for the very very first time, he pooed into his bath on Monday.

Charles has just taught him 'kah' and 'chiu'. (Can we start with English first before Hokkien?!!) And he's also learnt to say a mumbled grace before meals (which sounds something like "isygwehvviuhwiheioheoif.... AMEN!"), as well as sing "Twinkle twinkle little star", while filling in the last word in other songs we sing together. And he's changed "Oh where...is my hairbrush" to "Oh where....is my Gong Gong (what he calls my dad)!" Bob and Larry would have a fit!

Nowadays he's been playing with my iPhone and learning words and shapes through the Apps. He actually sits still! But I limit it to a couple of minutes, so his eyes won't deteriorate too quickly - ack, video games at 21 months! Terrible!

He's also got his first haircut on Monday. It was meant to be a trim, to retain his Zac Efron look, but I think I've turned him into Moe from the Three Stooges. Although I think it's calmed down since then, and it looks a little better. Will post pics soon.

As for today, we were well on our way to our first swim class, but it started raining...again! Battling howling winds, piercing drizzles and a runaway pram for the 30 minute walk to the (indoor, heated) pool was NOT the way I'd imagined it. And I didn't exactly relish the thought of having to corral the little munchkin in the ladies' locker room for a post-swim shower either. I finally decided to turn around. Sigh...maybe next week...when we actually have the car!




So today's rainy-day activity... baking (healthy) butter cookies!

Also... Aussie readers, look out for his Heinz ad in the July issue of Practical Parenting, out this month!!

Fame!!! part 4

Monday's shoot went pretty well, we were told to bring several outfits for him to change into but in the end they had an orange jumper for him to wear. We showed up bright and early at a beautiful house in Armadale (1/2 an hour early actually, 'coz I was so afraid of being late!), got him changed, and were led into a bightly-lit kitchen filled with important advertising types, production co-ordinators, art director, stylists, photographer, photographer's assistant... in short, lotsa people.

He was then presented with POTS and WOODEN SPOONS. That's like releasing fish into water. Or chocolate to me.

So there we were, time-slotted between 2 other adorable kids (blonde-haired, blue-eyed, what else?), rotating turns and having my eardrums pierced by the pounding in the room, punctuated by sounds made by my MIL re-enacting her version of an air-traffic controller at a children's circus. It definitely elicited responses from Aidan, 'coz when the other kids had a go (and we were ushered out of the room) they didn't seem to have done too well. One was fussing, and the other seemed rather afraid of the "drums", so much so that they had to call A back into the room to show her how to do it! I think it helped that he was a little older than the other two (yet looked between 12-18 months, which was the brief), so was better at co-ordinating his limbs. And all the while, he was smiling, rearranging the pots just the way he liked it (how pedantic, like his Dada!), banging away so hard the wooden spatula broke, and using his mouth to drum by biting on the spoon and nodding!! I think he did the last one 'coz he figured, Hey, these people have been watching me do the same ol' same ol' for awhile now, let's try something different!

I almost thought we should forget the whole affair, with him bunging his face TWICE in the preceding week, leaving a scratch across his forehead between his brows, and under his left eye (Murphy endangering my career as a future stage-mum?!!) But we showed up anyways, and I'm glad we did, because we just found out that HE'S THE NEW HEINZ BABY!!!

Yes folks, we made it! I've seen a draft copy of the ad, it looks fantastic, our little precocious tyke has just earned his first paycheck, and I'M GOING TO GETTING AN EXPENSIVE MASSAGE FOR MOTHER'S DAY. Minus the manager's fee (Stevie, who sent us the casting-call email), and grandparent's fee (for dancing around like a lunatic to get him to respond) of course.

Family

The in-laws have arrived!

It's gonna be a fun few weeks :-) Yesterday I spent the whole day cleaning, getting ready for their arrival today.

Looking forward to it!

Fame? Part 3

So, great news, we got picked for the new ad! We're not sure if it's gonna be a print ad or an online one, or if he'll even be featured in the final edit, but we're just really excited to be part of the experience.

The shoot takes place on Monday, and we'll have more details then. My MIL's coming along, since my in-laws arrive tomorrow morning. Yay! We're really looking forward to their visit! Woohoo...it's always great to have family around. :-)

Anyhoos, in other news, Aidan's vocabulary has been expanding daily. He greets me "Morning!" when he wakes up, before asking "Dada, where?!" then "Work!", he can name all his body parts (some even in Chinese!) says "Hi" and "Bye" (did I mention this before?). Yesterday he said "No no NO THANKS!" (hmm...firm but polite I guess!), he can also say the 3 Cs - "cookie", "cake", and "cracker", the 3 Bs - "bird", "bubbles", "bath", "phone", his own name, "Mama, Dada, IVY!" and lots more, I can't keep up! He can even recognise ring tones, and knows whether it's Mama's phone or Dada's.

There are also some words that tickle him to bits which I prefer him not to say. Like "kookoo", which Ivy and Stephen taught him. HARRUMPH! Now he keeps pointing to himself and saying it! Adorable I guess, at this age, but not so when he's like, er, 22.

He's also getting better with sitters, although times at childcare can still be teary. The other day, before I'd even finished leaving instructions with Jon, he'd already said "BYE!!" and waved me off. The same on Monday at Em's too, when I was just heading out to load the car! Cheeky little bugger!

Well, the Foos and Kienan are arriving on Monday...it's gonna be great to see the 2 boys play together again!!

Here's a photo sequence taken at a friend's wedding the past weekend, featuring the Soh boys and Faith, one of Aidan's run-around playmates. Thanks Joy for the photos and captions.

Girl: Wheee!
Boy: Just a minute...

Girl: Ooh, I'm way up high!
Boy: He's MY daddy!

Boy: Get off my dad's arm.
Girl: Eh? What did I miss?

Fame? Part 2

So we made it to the casting today, after driving for about 45 mins in peak hour morning traffic. I was so nervous about being late that I couldn't really sleep the night before! But we got there with enough time to spare, and for me to compose myself after the harried zipping and speeding through the streets, praying I wouldn't hit a traffic jam.

It lasted for about 15 mins, after the initial "wah" factor of arriving at the made-to-impress office - they own the BUILDING. Yikes! And it's all open-plan, so you can see everyone working as you arrive. And the impressive ad campaigns all strung up on the walls.

We were led by a very pretty lady to a room where the art director, a petite girl, got Aidan to play with some pots and pans with wooden spoons (phew! His favourite activity at the moment!), while she took some shots. He was shy at first, but banged and smiled happily away, occasionally looking up to half-smile at the camera. She said she got some cute pics, so hopefully that's good news for us!

After filling up some forms and such, we were handed a Heinz goodie bag, and whisked back to the car in the morning drizzle. Fingers crossed. Maybe he could be the next Heinz Nurture baby! They said the ad could either be a print or online ad, and I had to sign a talent-release form stating the compensation paid for the shots, if we were chosen ($800 for main kid, $400 for the back-ups), would be for unlimited use worldwide.

I did some googling last night, wondering what it'd take to start Aidan's career as a child genius slash star slash prodigy slash beloved national treasure, and found out it'd take a LOT. Modelling agencies charge a registration fee, followed by an annual fee to maintain an online profile of your child, head shots, composite etc. For $500!! Every year!! And that doesn't even guarantee your kid'll get picked!

Hmm.

Methinks it'll be awhile before I'm a stage mum.

Anyhoos, after we left, I dropped him off at childcare where he did his usual sobby goodbye. And of course I felt really terrible and guilty leaving, even though I knew he'd stop once I left (his carers always say he's pretty happy the rest of the day, and whenever I arrive to pick him up and spy through the class window, he's always toddling around playing and having fun).

But I just couldn't shake the feeling today, and I felt so lonely and anxious and purposeless at home, that I decided to head out again and catch up with C over lunch. It was pretty good to have our chat.

I wonder if I'll ever shake the horrible feeling like I'm abandoning him there, even though I know the environment's really good for him and he learns a lot there, especially interacting with the other (ang moh) kids. SIGH! Man, when he starts real school...

Fame?

Some interesting news. We recently sent in Aidan's photo for a Heinz ad call-out, and got shortlisted! So tomorrow he'll be in for casting/audition, bright and early at 9.30am, and we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Let's hope he'll be his sparkly self and won't be intimidated by all the strangers! Now I'm just contemplating what he'll wear, what I'll wear (*ahem*, ad people DO look at the mums y'know), what time we should leave the house to avoid traffic, and whether the whole shebang's gonna be like that in Mad Men.

There'll be one main kid for the Heinz Nurture print ad campaign, and 2 "back-up" tots who may or may not be in the ad. Hope we get into the top 3! If all goes well, it'll be a fun experience for me (if he behaves), and a real eye-opener.

(And maybe my career as a stage-mum will be kick-started into gear!) Muahhahaha.....

PS. The photos I sent in were the bath troll-hair one, and this:

Nightmares and dreamscapes

It's hard when he goes through his night-terror episodes, when he screams and thrashes and there's not much you can do to comfort him, not even hugging him close, because he's still half-asleep, semi-conscious, and hysterical.

According to BabyCenter:

Night terrors are sleep disturbances in which a child may suddenly sit bolt upright in bed, cry, scream, moan, mumble and thrash about with her eyes wide open, but without being truly awake. Because she's caught in a sort of a twilight zone between being asleep and being awake, she's unaware of your presence and isn't likely to respond to anything you say or do. An episode can last anywhere from two to 40 minutes, and when it's over your child falls back to sleep abruptly with no memory of the incident.
...
Don't try to wake her. And expect that your efforts to comfort her will be rebuffed – a child having a night terror really can't be calmed down, and if you try to hold her it may make her wilder.

We usually pick him up and try to soothe him but it's usually to no avail...he has to eventually wake up, then he'll calm down, suck on his pacifier, and go back to sleep. Poor bubba. Tonight's episode was longer than usual...I reckon about 30 mins? Sigh...

Winter wonderland

He did the cutest thing today, saying "hop! hop!" and then bending his knees to make a great big leap into the air. Where does he learn such gestures? I wonder if he picked it up from childcare. Whatever the case, he's been adorable and chatty, having created his own language and babbling it like a brook in the forest.

And how completely creative was he this evening, ripping out tons and tons of styrofoam packaging from the new table base that's arrived. Our own indoor snowstorm! Beautiful little dots that foamed around us, covering the table, the floor, my hair, his pyjamas, my dinner. A gorgeous blanket of fluff, specially created for me to clean.

When I used the smacky-stick on his hand, after repeated calls for him to stop, he winced his face in pain, in tears, then blindly walked forwards with arms outstretched for his routine comfort-hug. What sweet embrace. Especially when he turned to the package and said "No, no."

Then repeated the snowstorm again.

Funny faces

Thanks Jo for the video!




BTW, another milestone, Aidan's learned to feed himself! And I'm not just talking about finger-food - he's mastered that awhile ago. I'm talking about bowls of porridge and pasta! I just pop it in front of him with a spoon, and there he goes. If it's too hot, he says "Hot!" (albeit with a funny accent...sounds more like "hu-ot!"), then blows at his spoonful of food. Or he'll wait til it cools down then shovels it in.

Mind you, it's not a very neat experience, but he does it pretty well, and the mess is quite contained, and easy to clean up. Sometimes he helps me wipe up his mess too (he's going through his "let's copy mummy phase"). What a cutie.

Couple more weeks til the in-laws and friends arrive. Can't wait!!

Lucky troll

It's been awhile since my last post since I've really been out of action on two counts - a wedding on Sat we were busily preparing for, and the fact I was pretty sick, sick, SICK the whole of last week. Fever and headaches are not a great combo when you're taking care of a 1.5 year-old.

But now that it's all over and the Easter weekend is coming up, I'm looking forward to a relaxing time ahead. That and the in-laws are coming for a visit at the end of the month, along with some good friends of ours. Really looking forward to having the house filled with fun and laughter! EG and I quite like having people over...we've already had 2 guests sleep on our couch over the last couple weeks...

Anyways, another fav pic we took awhile back...here's my favourite little troll doll!!