Baby Cayla’s Lunar 4th Month Traditional Celebration

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Hola chewy friends! It has been more than a week since we celebrated Mini misschewy’s lunar 4th month! Since it was on a Monday, misterchewy and I took leave just for this. The hubs sent Little misschewy to school in the morning and bought chicken drumstick on his way home. Over the weekend, my mum passed us the Marie biscuits and chives, and also angbao for Cayla! This time, we didn’t trim Cayla’s hair and if you are keen, you can read about Chanelle’s lunar 4th month celebration back in 2014!

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1) Chives (Gu Chye)

Chives play a essential role in baby’s lunar 4th month celebration as older folks believe that rubbing chives along baby’s gums signifies a smooth sailing and painless teething journey. We didn’t boil the chives but simply soak the stalk in water for at least 30 minutes before rinsing it under running water. Not all supermarkets sell chives so do your homework early and buy the chives as near the celebration as possible to ensure its freshness!

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2) Chicken Drumstick

I took a video of the hubs showing Cayla the drumstick and caught her swallowing her saliva as she eyed the piece of meat! Hahaha.

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Oh yeah~ Looks like someone enjoyed licking the drumstick! This signifies that baby will be blessed with an abundance of good food! Two more months to your first taste of solids, Cayla! Hehehe.

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3) String of 12 biscuits

During Chanelle’s time, we used 8 big Marie biscuits and for Cayla, we had 12 small ones. My mum said, “One of each month of the year!” The hubs asked me, “Why Marie biscuits?” Honestly, I don’t know but gave him a lame reply that there are many holes to string the biscuits together lol. Once again, Cayla was caught trying to stuff all the biscuits into her mouth! LOL.

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The hubs touched Cayla’s lips with each biscuit, while reciting “qit ta ta” (wipe dry). This is believed to minimise drooling in babies! Daddies and Mummies, don’t forget to eat all the biscuits to complete this ritual! The hubs and I split the share equally. Haha.

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4) Red Packet (Ang Bao)

Cayla also received angbao from both grandmothers as a blessing! Hope you enjoyed this post! Stay connected with us on Instagram @missuschewy and on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy 🙂

Baby Chanelle’s Lunar 4th Month Traditional Celebration

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Mummy missuschewy took leave today to celebrate Chanelle’s lunar 4th month! It’s also a good time for me to update my blog while the little girl is having her nap at the moment 🙂 I woke up at around 11am this morning to find Chanelle lying on her stomach with her head raised and looking at me. I was very surprised because she actually let me sleep in peace. LOL.

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1) Trim Hair

Just bumming around in her Exersaucer from her aunts and uncle (my cousins) Sharon, Elaine and Darren! To begin Little misschewy’s lunar 4th month traditional celebration, I snipped off a bit of Chanelle’s mohawk hair. I’m not sure of the significance of doing so but my mil said to shave Chanelle totally bald and I was against it because we had already done so after her full month. Anyway the person didn’t do a fantastic job so Chanelle has really funky hair now! 😛

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2) Ang Bao

Both grandmothers prepared a red packet each for Chanelle as a form of blessing. We had opened an OCBC Mighty Savers account for her over the weekend so this is gonna go into her savings! $$$ Kaching! $$$

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Looking intently at the ang bao.

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Hmm.. Looks edible! Haha Chanelle is starting to put things into her mouth. At times she doesn’t want the pacifier and prefers to stuff her entire fist into her mouth and her hands would be wet with saliva. We reckon she might be beginning to show signs of teething.

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She seems pretty interested in her Exersaucer too!

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3) Chives (Ku Chye)

I joined the March 2014 EDD mummies group on Facebook and learned that chives (ku chye) play an important role in baby’s lunar 4th month traditional celebration. I wrapped a stalk of chives around my finger and rubbed it along Chanelle’s gums. This signifies a smooth sailing and painless teething journey ahead! 🙂

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Want a piece of drumstick my little darling?

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Oh Mummy.. Is this really for me?

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4) Chicken Drumstick

Ok then! I shall take a big bite out of this delicious looking chicken drumstick! Om nom nom nom! Haha ok what I did was to let Chanelle lick the drumstick instead. She will be blessed with good food and let’s hope that she will not be a fussy eater like her Papa! Lucky me, I get to eat the drumstick after that 😛

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5) A string of biscuits

For the final ritual, my mum helped to string 8 Marie biscuits using a red thread for me to bring back to my in laws’ place. We tied it around Little misschewy’s neck and she sat there #likeaboss. I had seen photos of my cousins doing this to their kids and it never fails to amuse me!

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One by one, I touched Chanelle’s lips with each biscuit and recited “qit ta ta” in Hokkien, which translates to “wipe dry dry”. Yes, you might have guessed it. This is to prevent or minimise drooling!

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Well, does this ritual thingy really work? I’m not sure but I definitely hope it does! Anyway, neither of our parents did this for us when misterchewy and I were babies but they were open to the idea when I told them about this. It was fun and the photos captured will serve as nice memories many years down the road! Stay connected with us on Facebook www.facebook.com/missuschewy and on Instagram @missuschewy and @misterchewy 🙂