Looking for Routine in the midst of Chaos...

All are much recovered now from the flu in December, although Ethan still has cold on and off.

Did I ever mention that Jethro was a sleepy baby? Did I ever mention it with a hint of wistfulness, wishing he were more alert and hungrier? 'Be careful what you wish for', for this month sees Jethro not sleeping much. There were days when he hardly slept at all and nights when he slept for at most 3 hours at one go and took some time to get back to sleep again so that he ended up sleeping late. Things were much better at the close of January and he can sometimes sleep for 5-6 hours at a stretch at night. There were a couple of times when I was just holding him in my arms and doing gentle rocking motion and dealing with other things (for example, reading to Ethan) and I suddenly felt his head go limp - he had fallen asleep quietly. But those times were rare.

January is generally a depressing month in Edinburgh. The days are short (although getting longer) like December days and yet without any festive mood. So, to celebrate Chinese New Year, being in January this year, we have taken up some baking. We started with pineapple tarts. Jianming had made the pineapple jam earlier on and all I needed was to make myself start on the shortcrust pastry. Eventually I did, arms aching after the tedious rubbing-in. However, it was worth the effort as the tarts turned out to be quite good, especially when eating them fresh from the oven. Encouraged, I thought I would make a banana cake with the left over bananas. While surfing for a good recipe (there are a million and one banana cake recipes), I came across two cookie recipes that were really easy to make - no rubbing in, no creaming, just plain mixing. So I discarded the idea of baking the troublesome cake and made peanut cookies and cornflake cookies instead. The cornflake cookies did not turn out as expected - the texture was more cake-like. And I left the peanut skin in the peanut cookies. Still, they are not so bad that one can't eat them. After this baking experience in moody January, I have to finally admit that baking can be therapeutic. And life is slowly going back to normal - I have taken more of the cooking out of Jianming's hands too, though I still rely on him to get the groceries.

With Ethan, we are trying to get him to put on his own t-shirt and coat. It seems late for him to start, but it's never been easy trying anything new with stubborn Ethan.

Jethro had his 3 jabs of vaccination finally - they were postponed due to his illness earlier in January. He was a smiley baby that morning, and smiled at the receptionist, who talked babytalk to him, and anyone at the waiting area who bothered to look at him. After the first injection, he was at first stunned but refused to let it spoil his mood and continued to smile. However, the second injection proved too much for him and he had a great cry. The third one was greater. Still, he must have been in a particularly good mood that morning (I should be so lucky), for when I brought him out of the room, he was smiling again.

Another visit to the doctor for the redness on his face that did not fade away after applying the anti-fungal cream for 2 weeks yielded the prognosis that the redness could be eczema, so I went away with 2 more types of cream to apply on Jethro. Well, we'll see how these went.

On the two brothers, Ethan has taken to humouring Jethro when he makes noise after being left alone for too long. Sometimes I am busy and can't go to him immediately, Ethan would rush to him and try to talk to him, let him see him play toys, tell him stories etc. I think it's partly because he can't stand his little brother making so much noise although he's a great noise-maker himself. Still, I must say he is really helpful at such times and it's gratifying while it lasts.

New Year Day music at the museum.


A clown show and winter wonderland at Princes' Street Garden.


Smile! (or not)


Ethan entertaining a grouchy Jethro.


Trying out the baby carrier.


Trying to turn (but not quite).


Ethan's new interest.


"Me and my hands."


Using the computer (mouse) on his own.


Snow on 19/01.


The goodies!