Sunday, 1 February 2014: Ten Months Old.

Ayla is one sixteenth Chinese and that tiny piece if her heritage got a big workout tonight!

It’s Chinese New Year so we went out for dinner at a local Yum Cha restaurant and no sooner had we sat down at our table than a Chinese Lion Dancing show began.

The restaurant was packed but that didn’t stop six brightly coloured, lifelike, traditional Chinese Lions (they look more like dragons to me) manoeuvring their way expertly through the tables to the sound of deafening drums.

As part of the show the “dragons” were being conducted by a man wearing a intimidating helmet-style mask that made him look like a Chinese cartoon character.

I’ve always been slightly afraid and overwhelmed by these show – the loud noises, the giant dragon mouths and their blinky long-lashed eyes, and this time in particular I was far from a fan of the man in the mask – but Baby Ayla was brave, excited and a little bit shocked all at once!

It didn’t surprise me that she loved the drums and started banging on the table in unison, and Ayla was completely mesmerised by the dragons as they wiggled their faces before her eyes and snaked their long satiny bodies past her.

When the show was over Ayla got stuck into her meal and I’ve never seen her enjoy food so much! Using both hands and all ten tiny fingers Ayla scoffed down steamed pork dumplings, lemon chicken, sizzling pepper beef, plenty of rice and coconut jelly for desert.