Andrea's teeth, the two lateral incisors, had been rather shaky lately.  I am always pretty squirmish when it comes to shaky tooth and blood.  Hence, every time she tried to show me, I tried to ignore it.  Thankfully, Nainai was around when Andrea was telling everyone aloud about her wobbly tooth. Nainai took a look, and with the help of a small hanky, she actually took it out for her!  She was so happy after that as I guess the wobbly tooth had been bothering her a bit and it was a relief to have it out!  That night, she put her tooth in an envelope and placed it under her pillow together with a l..o.n........g letter, hoping that the tooth fairy will answer all her questions.  "{



The tooth fairy was too busy to answer her questions (I think), and only left Andrea a thank you note and a gold coin.

Yesterday, another of the lateral incisor was pretty wobbly and thankfully, it came out stuck to the apple that she was munching.  The silly girl again, was just so happy and relieved!  This time, the tooth fairy left her a gold coin, a candy and a note telling her to remember to brush her teeth regularly.  As the letter was written on the Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai letterhead, I overheard her telling the piano teacher today that her tooth fairy comes from Mumbai!  "P


My innocent 8 years old. I hope she will stay this happy and carefree always!!

Method

1.  Stir bread flour, instant yeast, salt and dried mixed herbs(if using) in a mixing bowl.
2.  Make a well in the centre and add in olive oil and water. Mix the ingredients with hand and slowly form into a dough.
3. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead until the dough no longer sticks to your hand, becomes smooth and elastic. This should take about 20 mins. (Note: the dough is a little on the dry side.)
4.  Add black olives and bacon strips, knead till the ingredients are well mixed for about 5 mins. (Note: due to the moisture in the olives and bacon, the dough will become slightly sticky and wet. Dust lightly with some flour and continue to knead and the dough will become smooth and elastic again.)
5. Place dough in a lightly greased (with olive oil) mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let proof in room temperature (around 28 ~ 30 degC) for about one hour, or until double in bulk.
6. Remove the dough from the bowl and give a few light kneading to press out the gas in the dough. Divide dough into two equal portions. Smooth into rounds, cover with a damp cloth or cling wrap and let them rest for 10 ~ 15 mins.
7. On a lightly floured work surface, flatten each dough into a round disc, roll the dough from the centre to the edges to form a tear-drop shape, with thickness of 5mm (1/4"). (Note: for thicker bread, roll out to at least 10mm (1/2") thick). Place dough on a baking tray, well greased or lined with parchment paper.
8. For each dough, with a pastry scrapper or a knife, make two vertical slits in the centre (or just 1 long slit, as desired). Make three slanted slits on both sides of the vertical slits. Gently pull the slits apart to shape the dough to resemble a leaf.
9. Cover with damp cloth or cling wrap and leave doughs to proof for the second time for about 20 ~ 30mins. Brush dough lightly with some olive oil and sprinkle sparingly with some sea salt (optional).
10. Bake in pre-heated oven at 220 deg C for 18 ~ 20 mins or until golden brown.

belalang kupu-kupu,

tepok rame-rame,

pagi pagi minum susu

belalang kupu-kupu,

siang makan nasi,

kalau malam minum susu.

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Ashley has been hitting a few milestones as she entered the fourth month.   She is starting to smile more.  When she is in a good mood, she would break into chuckles and her eyes will just lit up with a sparkle whenever we called her name, sing to her or merely make eye contact with her.  We have been trying to keep the laughter going by discovering what makes her happy.  She loves it when we sing silly songs to her like "kiss kiss honey honey kiss kiss"; she loves it when she's out of her clothes and diaper, just lying naked on the mat; she loves it when we carry her and do a sing-and-dance around. 

Our baby, who is generally quite happy when surrounded by all the familiar faces.

Ashley has also begun to look at things with interest,  to reach out and grab things, to taste and explore them.  

"Hmm, is this something I can eat?"  "P

She can now grasp anything within reach and put it into her mouth.  When she is hungry or restless, she would suck her thumb and fingers vigourously.  I have started her on solids and she seems to love being fed from a spoon.  Now, when she saw me holding her little cup and spoon, she would get excited and starts to smile and kick, just soooo cute!


She does not really like to be on her tummy for too long.  I think so far, the longest I had put her on her tummy is maybe five minutes.



She prefers to lie comfortably on a pillow and at times, she could just amuse herself for quite some time with the pillow or soft toys.





Lately, Ashley has also started to develop stranger anxiety.  Whenever a not-so-familiar face came up to her to talk or play with her, she would frown before breaking into loud sobs, often scaring the strangers away!  Just the other day, we brough the three girls to a nearby cafe, hoping to enjoy a little dessert.  Unfortunately, the shopkeeper got pretty excited when he saw the baby and tried to amuse her but the little one was so intimidated that she bawled continuously for at least 15 minutes.  In the end, we just left the cafe without even ordering anything.  :(