Thing to do prepare for baby's Lunar Birthday

Before having a baby, I never knew all this. Just to caveat, this is not really a "tradition". Both the Hub's parents and my own never did that for us. It is probably an IG trend thing. But we did it cos I:

• Love eating Ang Ku Kueh, the one we got only cost like $13 per pair (which was quite reasonable) 
• Needed a pair of nice shoes and IMM is not that far
• Created our Zhua Zhou Kit which we will share on a separate post. 

These giant ang ku kuehs are called "脚龟". To step on it symbolises a smooth journey in life. We do come from a traditional family it was prayed first before we did the stepping. Tip: Wrap the kuehs up in food film so that it is cleaner logistically and you can eat it too after the meal. 

However, I do think most people are doing it for "trend" or "IG". We got ours from Kueh Garden at $13 a pair, it actually even tasted yummy, we finished it up after the shoot! There are even rainbow 脚龟 available in the market at an eyepopping $40 (including delivery). Note: Our baby refused to put his feet even on it (maybe cos of the texture). Just these 3 photos took a lot of coaxing and patience. 

We put a lot more thoughts into his shoes because we reckoned he is going to wear it for his first walk and that might effect his development. We decided to go for traditional shoemakers instead of some unknown brands. Heard from some Mummies that IMM has the best prices so we went there and got this Gudetama piece from Reebok at $40 (more than half price off!) There is even a button on top that will squeak when you press it. 

The only grouse would be that the design selection is quite limited. For a budget of $50, this was the only piece which caught my eye even after going to all the shoe shops. The first pair of walking shoe is usually gifted by the maternal grandmother (don't know why). My Mum was quite kind to let us choose the design because LOL I am very particular about such things. :P

Zhua Zhou (抓周) gives you a quick peek into your child's future. Usually a list of items which represent certain careers will be placed on a red mat and the first item/ 2 items that the kid pick will be his/ her future career. This set was provided by Bite Size Affair. You just have to top up an additional $10 to include it in your photoshoot ($250)

You can either buy ($20+ onwards) or rent ($8 onwards/ free) if you intend to do yourself. We did a DIY one too! But to be very honest, you will only use it for 15mins max but it can be fun for the parents and child. :P

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Bite Size Affair is currently having a 10% discount in Oct. Quote "ba13yg" for an additional 10% off! On normal times, you can quote and get 10% off. 

DIY- We did our own Zhua Zhou!

 The Hubs and I decided to do a DIY project because:

• I was really inspired by the Japanese mothers who came out with artistic renditions of the Zhua Zhou
• I am not one to follow the norm (LOL!)
• I just didn't want to spend money on something I cannot foresee myself using more than once 
• It was really more meaningful to make our own!

It would have supported our decision more if either of us were good in art, we ain't by the way. Despite being busy folk, we committed ourselves to 2 hours to draw them out. 

You can either draw on shrink plastic (buy from Daiso/ Art shop) or on harder paper. But because this was quite a last minute decision on my part, we decided to draw on drawing block instead and laminate them. It was actually more fun than I thought...the Hubs and I competed on who could draw better (I know you guys must be laughing your asses off because both sucks!) with our baby looking on. 

Better drawers like my own Bro could draw without reference but husband and I had to Google for images. I admit we actually "rig the results" by only drawing occupations we preferred. Oops. We used markers to colour as they were more vibrant.

Just for fun, we also created "Just like Daddy", "Just like Mummy" and "Be Myself" cards. I really hoped he picked himself given how narcissitic he has been. But nope. He only used the cards twice and I doubt he is ever using them again. And to be honest, the whole egging the child on to grab something is quite over-hyped. 

Apart from us (the parents) being excited, our guests stared on pretty blankly. Everybody preferred watching him unwrap his present. Aftermath joke, my son found it funny to trample on my face. Sobs. The only good thing about this, we didn't spend much and we actually had fun making it Hehe. 

Total damage: <$10

It is quite an easy project too! (If people who can't really do art do it, it ain't that hard LOL!)

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Note: Laptop is down, so posts won't be as frequent!