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!!

Cupcakes

Another foray into the baking world today, this time for Maddie's 1st birthday tomorrow!

We got a couple batches going, and will frost them tomorrow morning. Will upload more pics then!

Anyhoos! For those who haven't been following the drama on Twitter and Facebook, we got burgled on Tuesday. The day before my operation, to remove a bone that's been growing behind my ear for about 1 1/2 years now.

What? you say, A bone? Growing out behind your ear?! And a break-in?!

Yes. An osteo mastoid. But it's been successfully removed, I'm still recovering, but as you can see, am up and about running the house as well as my chores as per normal. But as if preparation for major surgery wasn't nerve-wrecking enough, we had to have money and my wedding jewelry stolen too. :-(

My new favourite photo...

You can see more if you add Aidan as a friend on your Facebook!

Some new vidz

Happy 18 months!

Yes how amazing! We finally hit this great (semi-)milestone, and I'm so proud of him. And us. We did it!

Anyhoos! Here're the photos I promised about our trip to the Children's Farm!

FARM TRIP

The little one is growing up

Today's Labour Day here in Melbourne and we decided to spend the day having a BBQ in Studley Park with our good friends, The Chews, the Khoos, the newly-wedded Lims and the Chuas.

Anyway, as usual, we would sit there eating while Aidan runs amuck getting his hands in the dirt. Incidently, he's getting really good at calling people's names. The current list includes, Amy (Ivy's sister), Ivy, Steve and just tonight, Ellie. Pronounces them quite well too. I digress...anyway, he came over to me after a whole afternoon of running around and I picked him up and told him to sit still to rest for a awhile. Well, he got upset and actually smacked me on the face. So I decided to discipline him. I told him sternly that because he was misbehave he was to sit on the bench and not be allowed to get off.

I proceeded to go and play ball and he actually sat there (though unhappy) and not get off his seat, and periodically yelled to me "DAH DAH!" "Peeeaasse!" while making the sign for please. It was soo funny but at the same time it showed me that he understood my instructions and followed it. He also kept stretching his hand out to anyone that walked by to carry him. Well, he sat there till I came and picked him up.

Our little one is growing up quick and as he learns we too need to learn how best to discipline him.

Dentistry

Hooray! After much reisistance, A has decided he'll give brushing his teeth a go. He's currently got 10 teeth (I think!) - 4 top front, 4 bottom front, and 2 top molars on either side.

He'd never let me get near his mouth with his toothbrushes - I'd bought plenty to try (the ONE thing he has to put into his mouth, he refuses). But today, after watching me brush my own teeth, and ONLY after I propped him up to the mirror so he could see he'd be doing the same thing with his own toothbrush, he popped it in. And we have blast off. Brush brush brush!

He hasn't quite got the hang of it yet, but at least it's IN HIS MOUTH! We had great fun after rinsing our mouths, and spitting out water into the sink. Too much fun. Methinks a sign of portent - will he never swallow and drink his water again, forever spewing liquids out in a perfect plume?

Aidan's Pigeon Toothbrush Training Set
He's got another one from my dentist, but uses it as a plunger because of its suction base. Hmpf.