Crafty Noah

We have always tried to do some crafts with Noah but only recently has it really taken off.  As there are no seasons out here, we have tried to do some season-specific projects. Below are Noah's winter window decorations - Noah helped make the snowflakes and snowmen and we discussed snow and looked at some pictures and books. He seemed to understand the concept of cold and snow but I don't think he can remember what it feels like as he was only a few months old the last time he experienced winter! One of these days, we should bring him to the snow park here (where they have fake snow and cold "weather").

Here he is making a turkey out of spices and grains we had in the kitchen.

We traced a turkey shape off the computer and then put glue onto a part of the turkey and poured on the spices or grains and then moved on to the next bit.  The finished product...

We also did a few non-seasonal projects. Our most recent craft project involved the days of the week. As Noah has weekly playdates, we made a weekly calendar of sorts. Noah decorated little cardboard circles and I added the days of the week. Then we attached some string/ribbon to the circles and taped on a picture of the person he would see on that day.

We put it up on the wall of his room to help him keep track of the days of the week. So far, he has been very into it and looks at it in the morning and tries to guess the day and who he will be seeing that day. Tomorrow.... Jeudi with Daniel!

It floats!

We recently started doing little experiments with Noah (mostly from the mini scientist books by Lisa Burke). We began by exploring buoyancy by floating/sinking plasticine balls/boat shaped models, lemons with and without the peel (a lemon with its peel will float due to the air bubbles in the peel whereas a "naked" lemon will sink). We then tried dumping cooked/uncooked eggs in water and salty water (the egg floats in salty water - "It floats," said Noah excitedly at the floating egg). Noah really enjoyed these experiments especially dropping the various objects in the water with a big splash.

We then examined heat conductivity. Ice cubes placed in hot water melt faster than those in cold water which melt faster than those in a plastic waterless bowl. Also ice cubes placed on a metal plate melt faster than on a wooden plate. Noah really got into these experiments - especially seeing the ice cubes slowly disappear. He began asking for more experiments and bringing me the books!

And here we made goop with cornstarch and water (a big hit as you can see): when you hold it tight, it is solid and when you let go, it becomes liquid. Lots of fun for everyone! 

Cooking with Noah

Noah has been an extraordinary imaginary-chef for as long as he could hold an imaginary spoon. In the past months, he has become more and more interested in cooking real food with us. Given Noah's long-standing love of food, it did not come as a surprise that he loves to hang around the kitchen and get involved in creating his favorite dishes.  Whenever one of us is in the kitchen, he pulls up his step-stool and then drags it around the kitchen with a loud screech to watch, help out, point, and see what is going on.

We have some routine meals that he likes to help with.  For example, just this evening, he helped make pizza with Daddy, stretching the dough, spreading the sauce, and dropping onions, mushrooms, and peppers all over. Of course, his favorite part is snacking on the pizza toppings, or some raw garlic if he can find any!  He also likes singing happy birthday to the tomatoes while they sit in the boiling water, and then peeling the tomatoes afterwards for the pizza sauce.  

Some of his favorite recipes are pretty typical for a 2-year old: he likes making chocolate chip cookies (who doesn't?), scones, and (banana) pancakes. Other favorites are a little more surprising, for example, Chana Masala (Indian chickpea curry) and hummus (our little guy is a BIG fan of chickpeas). He loves pureeing the chickpeas in the food processor ("Bzzzzzz").  He also likes making pita bread: kneading the little balls, rolling them out (or hitting them with the little rolling pin), and then putting them in the oven and shouting, "Wake up bread!" while we wait for the pita to puff up.

We've also done a few special cooking projects, like this "green meal." The appetizer was a green cucumber-based soup, followed by a pasta with cilantro pesto, roasted broccoli and mint chocolate chip cupcakes. 

                         

There was also "layer-night" where each dish was layered (tomato, portobello and mozzarela sandwiches, followed by vegetarian lasagna and baked smores). And there was Moroccan night where we looked up Morocco on the map and talked about the country and its food and then made tagine and Moroccan salads/dips.  I am not sure he enjoys the "themed" cooking  any more than general cooking but we have a good time planning!

Overall, Noah really seems to enjoy spending time in the kitchen with us. He keeps an eagle eye on everything that is going on, and makes sure to taste everything as it makes its way from raw to chopped to cooked.  (Holding up one finger, "One? I eat one piece?")  And he always knows what ingredient to add next: "Garlic, garlic!" 

Cousin Noah

We just found out a few days ago that Noah's Tonton Charles and Tata NiCole (ie my brother and sister-in-law) are expecting a baby girl. A big congrats to them. I was/am very excited but was not sure if/how Noah would react. I explained to him that Tata and Tonton were having a little baby girl and that would make him the little girl's cousin. He was going to be a big boy cousin. He got all excited and repeated Noah big boy cousin and Tata NiCole is having a baby. (He then of course asked if maman was having a baby for Noah and was a bit sad that he would not have his own baby at home to play with). A few days later he is still talking about his baby cousin. We can't wait to meet you little cousin/niece.

Croissants and Lychees

This morning, I read a new book to Noah. The protagonist, a certain "Petit Poilu," had some moon shaped pastries and some prickly round red fruit for breakfast. I asked Noah what the pastry was and he did not know. I then asked him what the little fruit were and he immediately responded lychee. I suppose I should not be surprised, given that we live in Singapore, but how strange it feels that he would recognize lychees and not croissants!

"Je Veux Manger"

Noah usually sleeps through the night. Sometimes he makes some noise in the early morning and then falls back asleep on his own. This morning around 5:30am we hear him whining and then "Je veux manger" - some kids have nightmares of scary monsters or animals, our kid dreams that he does not have enough food, cries out "I want to eat" and then falls back asleep!

Raccoon Eye Scare

After the One Hump Bump of Saturday (see the One Hump Bump post), we monitored Noah for 48 hours.  He was completely normal during that time. Yesterday evening, four days after he bumped his head, he started acting more cranky than normal and a bit clingy. He would not even go in the water during his swim class and then fussed when I tried to give him his shower. I figured he was just a bit tired or having a cranky moment. Then just before putting him to bed, we noticed that he had black bruising on the side of his eyes by the bridge of his nose.

We put him to bed and then quickly went on the internet and called the doctors in our family. Raccoon eye, as it is called, can be a sign of a fractured skull! Even though we doubted there was anything serious wrong, we decided not to take the risk (given his behavior and the raccoon eyes).  So we transferred Noah to his stroller and wheeled him asleep over to the doc across the street (open till midnight on a Saturday!). The doc saw him within 20min, looked at the raccoon eyes, checked his eye responsiveness and asked us many questions. Noah kept snoozing through all of this! The upshot was that we did not need to take him to the ER that night to get scans: raccoon eyes can happen even without a fracture, as the additional blood from a bump to the forehead can seep down and cause raccoon eyes. We are  of course continuing to monitor him for other symptoms.

We brought Noah home and transferred him back to his bed where he kept on sleeping! Today he has been completely normal (except for the raccoon eyes which seem to get better after a night of sleep or a nap and worse at the end of the day). Hopefully this will be the last post on the One Hump Bump.