HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO TOMMY, HOORAY!

I have been a bit busy recently because Tommy is an "eat-nothing" baby and whenever I try to force him to eat by spoon-feeding him, it normally takes about 1 to 2 hours for 60ml of either infant formula or baby food to get into his stomach. It is really much harder to feed him than Mew at the same age, although Mew was also quite well-known for her slow eating habit. However, we are lucky since Tommy, unlike his sister, seems not to have reflux problem. In a typical month, Tommy loses his appetite for everything (except, of course, breast milk) during about 2-3 weeks and loses weight consequently. Then the week after, he appears to gain back his appetite, finishing his meals quicker with less fights, lol, and regains his weight. During subsequent weeks, the circle of no eat-eat-no eat returns. It is so stressful for me as I spend all my time at home with him just on preparing his meals then feeding him without much success. I know healthcare professionals here and maybe almost all other Western-style moms would object me in this issue of feeding, but my mommy instinct does not allow me to "let him decide how much he wants to eat" because if I let it be, he could go several days without eating or drinking anything and only survive on my breast milk source which has unfortunately been diminishing.


Anyway, he is no longer a baby, yeah! We celebrated his 1st birthday last week and I am full of hope that being a toddler now, Tommy will be able to enjoy food happily like other babies.


Mommy has made a poem especially for you, Tommy, with all of the letters in your name and wish you all the best. This is a gift from Daddy and Mommy for you on your 1st birthday and hope it will be a keepsake for you.

To follow with the trend of having a cake smashing photo session on the 1st birthday of a baby, I decided to make a homemade 2-tier cake and a bunch of cupcakes with the letters in Tommy's name so that Tommy could smash cakes and the whole family could still have cakes to enjoy, lol. Honestly, I planned to order a birthday cake at a bakery but it turned out that the order should have been made at least 2 weeks in advance. Consequently I had no choice but baking and decorating the birthday cake and the cupcakes myself (they were all delicious by the way, :)).

I also made a simple pop-up card for Tommy and Mew made some cute cards with the sweetest words for her little brother.

Finally, here is the slideshow of the milestone birthday celebration of our Tommy.