Kids in Play

Kids playing in a violin competition in China

Flower Stalk

JR actually watched the whole rendition of "One Stalk Flower". Hahah!

一枝花 is a classic Chinese Erhu piece.

Music Fun

This little boy finds such great joy in watching his brother going away on his violin...and trying to grab it!

Musical Delight

To JR, these are probably just "big toys". He sure adores watching and listening to all that goes around him - the piano, the violin, the erhu. When these are on, his attention would be fixated.

Caught a vid of him with Big Sis!

Outdoor Concert

Another outing. We are "super-deprived" of concerts now with baby *hehe*, so outdoor concerts are so welcome!

It was cloudy earlier and threatened to rain but well, it ended up well. The weather was cool & windy. No showers at all! YAY!!!

The group performing - Joyful Strings were great! Even the little ones are really pro. They play with choregraphy too. They even played their violins while hula-hooping, and bouncing on balls! Very very impressive!

I found this videoclip of that day's performance online too, that shows a close-up of the group of really young ones (3yrs & above) joining in the performance with some Suzuki pieces. And looking really cool as they danced & performed!


We certainly had a wonderful outing. Ah....and it sure tempts us to put JR to Baby Suzuki Classes like those kids too! *haha*

Charity Dinner

Was performing with the Strings Group in school. I have done this many times before, but this time, it was quite a task as I had to work the practices with the Group around Baby JR's schedule.

And on the night of the performance, we had to bring the little baby along. I planned the whole day's schedule so that hopefully baby would not be too cranky at night. It was somewhat "risky" to bring him out at that time of the night since it was his bedtime.

We did a run through (rehearsal) with the String Boys while there, and then I tried to give JR a good feed before the Dinner started (and hence the performances).

The boys looked really spiffy that evening, all dressed to the nines in their tuxedoes. To have a breastfeeding-friendly outfit, I just wore my black Jean Tank Top inside my buttoned coat & black long pants. That was quite dressy enough. And I could breastfeed baby easily too, as can be seen from the photo!

Flash Ed

Baby's Chinese Language education starts here. Opera, no less. *haha* .

2mo JR was cooing and oohing at the googlebox. Maybe the characters are flashy, eh?

Concert outing

I love going to concerts, and frequently go for both Chinese & Symphonic Orchestral performances with our older children. However, with a young baby, this is just not possible for at least awhile. We took the opportunity instead to go for an outdoor SCO concert at the Turf Club.

We were early. JR took a nap and had his milky. I had the pouch on, which provided extra coverage since I still need to guide JR on the initial latching on as he's still quite a young baby. Wearing a nursing top with an empire-level nursing opening helped with easier access.

He woke just as the concert started. He seemed a little dazed at first but stayed awake the rest of the time, watching, and watching, eyes huge and super *kaypo*...and pooping. *HAHAH*

It was a fairly good outing. Poor JR didn't like the drive home. Must have been past his bedtime. ;( Was wailing the whole journey.

Car Travel

Babies should always travel in a car seat. It is dangerous for the baby to be carried by an adult. And a child that has been taught that car travel means being in the child safety seat would learn to use it without protesting.

Baby JR came home from the hospital in his infant carseat. We do have to watch his mood or he'd cry the whole journey in his seat. When going out, I would allow time to nurse him so we do not have to worry that he cries during the trip because he's hungry. If he has a dirty diaper, I'd make sure to change it first too.

Our older baby TJ was a big cry-baby when out in the car. Back then, I spent some time training him over a week. I did this by bringing him out for a short drive everyday around the neighbourhood. For instance, the 1st day, it'd be for only 10mins, then 2nd day for 15mins, then 3rd day for 20mins...and so on. You'd have to watch your own baby and be somewhat intuitive with the timing of this "training schedule", but eventually, baby will become used to the idea that as long as he's in the car, he has to be in his infant seat.

And this is how 2-month-old JR would be nowadays, when he is in a happy mood while in his carseat. Woe be it if we don't watch signals of bad mood and we'd have a screaming baby instead the whole trip!

And yes, he recognises the CDs that I've been playing in the car all throughout my pregnancy (in the background? Edouard Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole). He has a cute little "Mr Sun" toy that plays a nutcracker melody clipped to his car seat too.

Practice Times @ Home

Baby's practising here too!

From a baby that normally kicks away actively when in a good mood....

... to a baby practising his listening skills. ;-) Noticed that JR slowed down and became so still to placidly listen as his brothers practised away (yea, the violin is going on outside as well):

Music Effect

I noticed this earlier in the day when changing his diaper. Like all newborns, he hates that, and was bawling away. His brother was practising his violin right then, and decided to play an old piece that he'd practised during my pregnancy. Immediately, the baby stopped crying and looked around and listened.Can't really tell in this photo - probably a video clip would show more as he stops, turns his head and eyes, and listens around for the music.

Later in the evening, after his bath, again, he was bawling as usual. I put on another piece of music - still cry, then I put on the CD of same violin piece that his brother had played - still cry. Then I played the recording I'd done of some weeks back of brother's practice. Again, baby had the same reaction. Stopped in his bawling state.... interesting. He does this in the car too when I play the Mozart CD that I'd been playing throughout my pregnancy.

So...keep that in mind. Play 1 or 2 CDs frequently throughout your pregnancy. Classical music particularly is good for baby's mental development too!

Just Preggers

Just pregnant.

Performing for the last 2 times with the Orchestra before I "retired" to 9 months of morning sickness.




Rainy, rainy day, and poor acoustics outdoors:

No, I'm not giving prizes for guessing which is me, but I'm in the violins and quite visible in both videos actually.