Bible Verse of the Day

March 2007

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This is the way we brush our teeth…

March 17, 2007 in Ethan, Funny Moments, Growing Up | 2 comments

We’re trying to instill a sense of good personal and dental hygiene in Ethan by teaching him how to brush his teeth.  Since he cut his first tooth, I’ve cleaned his teeth with a plastic finger brush (and sometimes with just a washcloth), but this is becoming extremely dangerous because now our boy tends to BITE!  ….And when he does, it is really really REALLY OUCHHHH!!!!

So I bought him his first toothbrush a couple of weeks back and tried to brush his teeth with it.  We do it before his bedtime bath.  His first reaction to the toothbrush?  He kept his mouth tightly shut and turned away when he saw the toothbrush.  So I let him hold it himself in the hopes that his curiosity would get the better of him and he would start brushing himself.  No such luck.  He just fiddled with the bristles in a confused manner and threw the toothbrush into the bathtub instead.

So, what to do?

Last resort: Leadership by example.  I brushed my teeth in front of him and coaxed him to do the same.  First couple of days, he watched me, transfixed and in awe.  Then he began to experiment and brushed his teeth…well, somewhat…. Pete and I looked at each other and smiled.  “Progress!” we thought.

Well, that was a few days ago… now it’s back to the throwing-toothbrush-into-tub game again.  SIGH.  I hope we’ll be able to train him to do it real soon.

One thing good about our “Leadership by example” routine though.  He lets out such adorable giggles when I gurgle and rinse my mouth.  It’s a wonder how simple things amuse babies, eh?

Inculcating the Reading Habit

March 15, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up | No comments

One of the board books that Ethan has is a Scooby Doo boardbook incorporated with a toy phone.  This was a present from his Ah Kor.  Ethan at once took a fancy to the bright orange phone receiver but didn’t pay attention to the book per se.  Lately though, he has learnt how to flip the pages of the board book, just like he is reading and comprehending the contents of the book.  It never fails to fascinate me.  Check out our boy “reading” here… 😀

Play that funky music!

March 15, 2007 in Entertainment, Ethan, Funny Moments | No comments

Ethan ADORES music.  As mentioned in my earlier 13th month report, he would clap his hands whenever he hears any music being played.  When the TV is tuned to MTV, he would pause to look at the TV and clap his hands.  When he plays with his toys that emit music, he would clap his hands and smile.  Last night after watching American Idol, I was singing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, and he clapped when he heard me singing… is that awesome or what?

So far he has 2 musical intrument-like toys.  The first one given by Ethan’s Ah Koo and Ah Kim is a mini keyboard with options to choose different sounds of different musical instruments.  We can produce tunes on the keyboard itself, but there is also a shortcut button.  When the shortcut button is pressed, the toy will play one of 4 melodies.  Our boy has learnt the shortcut “key” and will press this button to get the melody and then clap his hands in glee! Pssst….. I think it was Daddy who taught him the shortcut button!

The other musical instrument toy is a banjo, presented to Ethan by Uncle Kong Aik, one of Pete’s colleagues.  Ethan hasn’t quite mastered it yet, but he certainly tries!  He still claps his hands when we play the tunes on the banjo for him though.

The Walking Game

March 14, 2007 in Ethan, Milestones | No comments

Since Ethan started to walk, he has been very inquisitive and goes around mostly on his own around the house.  I love to play this game with him:

I would put him on the floor and I will move a few feet away from him.  Then I will motion to him to come over by calling his name and extending my arms.  He would then look at me, smile adorably and then take a few steps towards me.  When he is about to reach me, he steps would quicken as if he was running, and he would then *run* into my arms.  Sweet.

Home Alone with Ethan

March 8, 2007 in Ethan, Parenting | No comments

… well, for about 2 hours only…

Yesterday (Wednesday) was Pete’s futsal day, so after we pick Ethan up from Mrs Tan’s place, I spent the evening with Ethan. 

It’s more challenging now because Ethan is VERY mobile and VERY kepo, so he will move around really quickly from room to room.  I played with him for a while, then I fed him, and then we watched American Idol together  🙂 and waited for Daddy to come back.  Then Ethan had his warm bath before his bedtime at 9:30ish. 

Cool way to spend a Wednesday night huh?

13th Month Progress Report

March 6, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up, Milestones | 1 comment

Ethan spent a major part of his 13th month receiving angpows during the Chinese New Year festival and a minor part of it battling a cough.  During Chinese New Year, he had loads of new clothes to parade in, almost one new set each of the fifteen days of the new year.  We also bought him his first pair of sandals (this one’s easier to wear than his Adidas ones because this one’s got velcro).

Weight
9kg.  He lost 100g when he was sick, but gained back the weight as of last week.

Height/Length
Not sure, but more than 73cm, since he can reach the ground on both feet on tiptoe when he gets on his toy train vehicle.  I don’t have a photo of him reaching the ground on tiptoe *yet*, but here’s a photo of Ethan on the train 🙂

Teeth
Still 4 in total: 2 central top and bottom incisors.  4 more incisors on the top and bottom are fast appearing.  Either the whites are visible or the tooth can be felt through the gums.

Motor Skills

  • Ethan can now walk pretty fast, although in a wobbly manner.  He is learning and exploring the entire house, moving from room to room.  He is not afraid of the dark and if he finds himself in a dark room, he can move to the door and open it.
  • Ethan can squat very well (signs of really strong quadriceps and hamstrings).  I have even caught him squating and reaching for an object (while squating), then standing up and then returning to squatting position.
  • Throwing things is the highlight of the day.  When we take him home from the baby sitter’s, he will trash everything in sight… all his toys will be thrown around the floor, and Pete and I are resigned to picking them up over and over again.

Communication & Social Skills

  • Will clap his hands whenever he hears any music, whether from his music toys (he has a toy piano and a toy banjo), or if someone sings to him. 
  • Will wave bye-bye when prompted.  But even when the people he is bye-byeing to is out of sight, he will still be waving.
  • He is ticklish when I kiss him on the tummy.
  • He has started showing some signs of independence, and sometimes will crawl to avoid Pete or me when we attempt to pick him up.  When we do pick him up, and all he wants is to be free to roam on the floor, he will make a quick diving motion, and if we still resist letting him down on the floor, he will attempt to bite us.  Yikes!
  • He has begun to thrown tantrums when he does not get what he wants.

Food

I introduced some legumes and honeydew, besides introducing “Ikan Jenahak” – not sure if it is “Kalat-hoo” but he loves it all the same.  The one item that he absolutely loves though?  CHEESE!!  Our boy will wallop a whole slice if we allow him to.

I’m still providing food cubes to Mrs Tan, our baby sitter, to make it easier for her to cook Ethan’s porridge.  So in my freezer, I have ice trays filled with food cubes such as fish cubes, tomato cubes and vegetable cubes.

What does Ethan look forward to in the mall?

March 5, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up, Shopping | No comments

Not the shopping.  Not the discounts.  Not the crowd…but….

The ESCALATORS!!

Ethan has an afinity for escalators.  He loves it when we go on the escalators, up and down, up and down…he can do it all day long.  Sometimes, after we get off an escalator and walk away, he would complain and indicate that he wants to go on it again.

The other day, when he was posing for the Jusco Photogenic Baby contest photo shoot, the photographer could not get a really good shot, because our boy was busy staring in awe at the escalator that was just beside the photo shoot station.

I remember I myself was pretty awestruck by escalators when I was a little girl too… could this be an inherited trait?

Getting Better :)

March 5, 2007 in Breastfeeding, Ethan, Growing Up, Parenting | No comments

Ethan is so much better now.  I knew he was already back to his old self when he woke me up giggling in his sleep last Saturday morning.  Can you imagine?  He slept till 9a.m.?!!

We still fed him his medication through the weekend, because we wanted to be certain there would be no recurrence of the illness.  Guess what?  We only found out yesterday that the syringe that we used to administer the medicine needed to be positioned at an angle so that the medicine will be shot right down his throat, giving him no chance to gargle or cough it up.  So last night, we promised Ethan that it would be the absolute last time he would be taking the medicine.

This horrible coughing illness has been a force to be reckoned with, and I am SO GLAD that we will soon be rid of it forever. 

Recovery time:

Pete – 8 weeks
Joyce – 4 weeks
Ethan – 1 week

Another amazing fact from Ethan boy, courtesy of being an exclusively breastfed baby!

Still not well :(

March 2, 2007 in Breastfeeding, Ethan, Growing Up, Parenting | No comments

Ethan woke up this morning coughing and sneezing even more than he did yesterday; I even detected some phlegm when he coughed.  We fed him his Rhinathiol and Polaramine, despite his fierce protests… it always tugs my heartstrings to see him cry and scream like that when we try to feed him medicine 🙁

After dropping him off at the sitter’s (with instructions to give him more milk and water, and to wipe his nose), I called Dr Jessica to inquire what could be wrong.  She reassured me that the symptoms for his illness would tend to take a turn for the worse on the 3rd or 4th day, before becoming better.  As long as he wasn’t wheezing (which was a sign of bronchitis), there should be nothing to worry about.  She also said I could bring him in for a quick checkup in the evening if I wanted to be further reassured and for her to check Ethan too.

I then called Mrs Tan, our babysitter, and she proudly proclaimed that Ethan had finished his entire morning feed of 5oz of EBM at one go and was feeling better already.  In fact, he was taking a nap when I called.  I was glad. 😀

After work, Pete and I took Ethan to see Dr Jessica, who again confirmed and reassured us that his lungs were clear.  She cautioned us, however, that if his breathing was rapid (more than 40 breaths per minute), we should inform her.  She instructed us to continue with the medication and hopefully with the breastfeeding, he would be all well tomorrow.

Dearest darling Ethan boy, Mommy and Daddy are praying that you will get well soon!

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