Can you tell me how to get...how to get to Sesame Street

We've been watching quite a bit of Sesame Street on Youtube lately. It's amazing that what I grew up with is still relevant today and my kids get to grow up learning on that happy street where everything's A-OK.

I love how Sesame Street keeps evolving with the times, keeps current and manages to be hip. Even I am enjoying watching Sesame Street with my son. 

What better way to learn about the letter N than with Ricky Gervais :

Or the letter G with the G Club (aka Glee Club) preparing for their G-gionals. One of my favorite phrases from this episode that we use around the house a lot is 'G is for Gorgeous!' (spoken with great aplomb)

My son loves dancing with Elmo, Abby, Big Bird, Naomi, Nicole. It's amusing to see Naomi Watts being silly and doing a goofy dance whilst her BFF Nicole seems unable to loosen up.

Another favorite of my son's - Brushing your teeth with Elmo. Of all the celebrities, it was funniest seeing Nicole brush her teeth. Attention, celebrities are people too!

The Hunger Games

My husband and I had a date night over the weekend and caught The Hunger Games. I've never read the books so I knew nothing about the movie, but I had a scant idea of the premise, which sounds pretty contentious - children being pitted against one another in a fight to death.

I know that the books are hugely popular, especially with the teenage crowd, kind of like a Twilight phenomenon. I actually read the Twilight books, then saw the movie and was subsequently put off by the overly teenage demographics and hype - it just killed it for me and I wasn't interested in it anymore.

Our fellow movie-goers at The Hunger Games were largely giggly teenagers (mostly girls) and I was having date-night regret that we picked a teenage flick on the rare occasion that we managed to go to the movies after putting both kids to bed.

Alright, the movie was surprisingly good, albeit slow at parts. I wouldn't say it was awesome but it was interesting because it painted a really twisted world and brought it to life, which was fascinating to watch because it was so bizarre. It felt like Alice in Wonderland meets The Truman Show meets Roman gladiators in a post-apocalyptic world. 

It was at times difficult to watch because of the violence, but also because the world depicted - the opulent Capitol alongside the repressed, starving Districts - leaves a bitter aftertaste. Credit must be given to author Suzanne Collins who created this alternate fictional world, which in reality, runs so much in paralell to much of the world we live in today.

Unless you haven't been living on this planet, you'll know that Jennifer Lawrence plays the heroine Katniss Everdeen. She's illuminating to watch, and she delivered her performance with steely determination and grace. She first caught my eye in Winter's Bone and all the hype about her is true - she really is a gifted actress. There's something about her that makes her different from the rest of the Hollywood girls today. Maybe it's because she seems somehow more grounded. Or that she hasn't succumbed to being stick-thin with a chest too heavy for her frame.

Other observations:

Lenny Kravitz with gold eye-liner and sans big hair and sunglasses! Oh, so this is what he actually looks like! 

Woody Harrelson is drunk mentor Haymitch Abernathy! I couldn't recognize him at all!

Effie Trinket who, when she made her first entrance in the movie, made me cringe at her outlandish and completely egoistical self-centric behavior, is actually Elizabeth Banks, better known as Jack Donaghy's girlfriend Avery in 30 Rock. Talk about a complete transformation.

The Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane is played by Wes Bentley who was the creepy neighbour guy with the videocam in American Beauty. Also does not look like himself. 

Liam Hemsworth, better known as Mr Miley Cyrus, who despite having very little screen time in this movie, managed to come across as cute and bashful.

Poor, poor casting of Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. There was no chemistry with Katniss and no connection with the audience. I'd much rather watch Katniss with Liam Hemsworth's Gale.

I'm not sure I'll let my kids watch The Hunger Games when they're teenagers. Maybe when they're 50 years old.

Ranchero Enchilada Casserole

I was reading the March issue of Esquire (sadly, my magazine diet consists mainly of what my husband reads) and they had an article on dishes that moms used to make with whatever they could find in the pantry, of which canned food is a ubiquitous feature.

I forget this time and time again, but there are so many permutations of casseroles that can be made with Campbell's soup. I'm so used to it being just that - soup, that I keep forgetting there's so much more you can do with it.

I know, canned food is hardly bursting in any kind of value, nutritional or otherwise, but now and then (when I do remember), I like making a casserole with Campbell's soup, simply because it's so incredibly easy to make.

We're much starved for Mexican food here, which my husband and I enjoy a lot. So for dinner today, I decided to do a Ranchero Enchilada Casserole, which sounds Mexican enough.

I omitted the green chiles because I didn't have any, so it didn't quite end up tasting Mexican (oops!). But it was pretty good anyhow. You can never quite go wrong with any kind of casserole made with canned soup.

This recipe was taken from the Campbell's Kitchen website:

Ingredients

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 can (about 4 ounces) chopped green chiles

1/4 cup rinsed, drained canned black beans

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons chopped red peppers

2 cups cubed cooked chicken

4 flour tortillas (8-inch) or 6 corn tortillas (6-inch), cut into strips

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Stir the soup, water, chili powder, garlic powder, chiles, beans, tomato paste, red pepper, chicken and tortillas in a large bowl. Spoon the chicken mixture into a baking dish, and top with the cheese. Cover the baking dish. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 25 minutes or until the mixture is hot and bubbling.

The Etsy Way

I've lost my foldable diaper changing mat. I've no idea how it happened - I mean, this is not a tiny little thing that could inadvertently be left behind. And it's all part of the whole diaper changing procedure, once baby is snug in some fresh new diapers, you clean up, pack up your wet wipes, roll up the mat and pop it back in your bag. It's not like you can actually just up and go with the baby and leave the mat behind. 

So I had to get a new one. Now the old one served me very well and it was exactly what I needed in a foldable diaper mat. It was part of a Kate Spade diaper bag which I got as a gift when I was pregnant with my son, and it was a fantastic mat because it worked for me on every level - it was lightweight, made of a really good smooth waterproof material (none of that plastic-ky clear surfaces which are stiff and crinkly), nicely cushioned and padded, lovely color, easy to roll-up and store in the bag, and importantly, large enough.

I'm a little paranoid about public baby changing stations - I just think they're not very sanitary and with squirming babies, it's so easy for them to roll, flail their arms, stretch their legs, and - God forbid! - touch the surface of the changing station. It's essential for me that the diaper mat is large enough to comfortably accommodate my baby with enough head room, leg room, arms' length room, and just about everywhere-room, so she can squirm and roll all she likes and still remain within the safe confines of our own personal diaper changing mat (I'm aware that I sound completely mental). 

Naturally I wanted to get the same diaper changing mat from Kate Spade, and I didn't want to buy the diaper bag just to get the mat, so I went hunting for it on eBay, which was completely futile. You simply can't just buy the mat without the bag. Evidently free market economics is wanting here.

So I went to Bumps to Babes, but the ones they had were all too small. Or made of some PVC-ish material which smelled like plastic. They just don't make them long enough or wide enough, especially those fabulous (you would think) ones which claim to be an all-in-one mat with compartments for wipes and diapers. These mats look to me like they can accommodate a baby height of up to 4 months tops. They can comfortably handle the head and torso length of your baby, but this is assuming your baby's legs are always curled up and she's not going to stretch them out at some point.

It occurred to me that I need a custom-made mat, one where I can specify exactly how I'll like it. So I went on to Etsy, which is such a great concept - I really like how the art of working with your hands is celebrated here.

I found so many options of affordable diaper mats, all lovingly handmade, and many in the very homes of stay-at-home moms. I got mine from Paisley Pockets (I like that both sides of the mat are printed fabric; a lot of mats have the printed fabric only on one side and the other side is just plain white), specified the size I wanted, and it was done within a day and shipped out here to Hong Kong.

Here's my mat, in just the size I wanted:

Baby Girl

My baby girl is growing up so fast, I can't quite believe she's going to be six months old very soon.

She's been trying to sit up by herself - she's almost there, just a tad wobbly - I'll put her on our bed and she's all upright but then she topples over on her side or onto her back with a thud. The thudding really tickles her and she does a gurgly kind of laugh, which is her thing now, I think it's from teething, she has this giant lake in her mouth and she's just soooo drooly. 

She's also such a slobberer - she loves gnawing on her fists and she'll happily stuff all her fingers in her mouth and slobber away. Between this and blowing raspberries, we go through a ridiculous number of bibs every day.

She's getting the hang of when something's funny and the idea of laughing. If you laugh loudly, she'll laugh too, like she gets the joke. Or when she burps really loudly and I burst out laughing because it's so loud, she'll laugh too. 

She likes when I gently blow at the top of her head. She'll spontaneously suck in her breath like she's taken by surprise, and then quickly break into a laugh and will me with her smiling eyes to do it again.

She does a delightful snort when she's happy. Usually when I kiss her tummy, or when I hold her high up in the air. 

She likes looking at her reflection in the mirror, and I imagine her singing Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me? She'll look very intently, wide-eyed and with a look of bewilderment, followed by a slight frown, and then bemusement and a smile.

She's curious about her fingers, it's almost like she's admiring her nails after a manicure - she holds her hands up, palms turned outwards, fingers splayed and nails facing her, and she'll bring them in for a closer look, and then pull them away. And bring them in again for more intense scrutiny.

On her tummy, she likes scratching on her playmat with her fingernails. Scratch, scratch, scratch, the sound of a little baby growing stronger day by day.

When the day is done, and I'm nursing her to sleep, I love stroking her hair, the tiny baby-soft tufts, and rubbing her round, round head. I love the curves and how solid and strong her head feels. I love rubbing my palms against her fine hair, soft like feathers. I love feeling for the bald spot at the back of her head where her hair has rubbed off from lying down.

She gazes at me as she nurses, and I gaze right back into her beautiful gentle soul. 

My heart is full, and I am humbled by how blessed we are to have her.