Christmas isn’t Christmas till it happens in your heart

Our Christmas celebrations started immediately after Pete and I got off from work on Friday.  We made our way to Queensbay Mall to have dinner and to complete our Christmas shopping.  One thing I can say is that it takes a lot of endurance to shop with Ethan whilst lugging a heavy laptop on your back.  What a way to get a workout before the Christmas feasting begins!

On Saturday we had lunch at the E&O with Allan and Pei Gee (Ah Koo and Ah Kim to Ethan).  Our boy was more fascinated with the sea than the food, and kept asking us to take him out for fresh air.  He would gape in amazement as he caught sight of the wide open sea and gestured wildly with excited eyes.  Perhaps I should plan for a trip to the beach some time soon… hehe…we’ll see.  We also took the opportunity to check out the gorgeous Christmas deco at the hotel… obviously Ethan was not in a very “take picture” mood…

Our Christmas eve was spent in Taiping and Christmas day in Ipoh.  It took Ethan a little while to warm up to the environment in Taiping, but before long he was climbing up and down the stairs on his own.  It was pretty scary because at times he would refuse our aid and preferred to do it all on his own.  He was not too pleased with all the attention though, maybe a little self-conscious on his part…

For the second year in a row, I had to miss out on attending the Christmas eve service in church because it was way too late for Ethan, so Ethan and I stayed home together with Ethan’s cousin, Jonathan and his mom.  Also, I was not feeling too well then because of my stomach flu…

Although Ethan did not eat much of the steamboat dinner during Christmas eve, the one thing Ethan really enjoyed in Taiping was the chicken rice at Prima Coffee Shop!  Can you believe we had that two days in a row?!!  Pete says this stall has been voted one of the top 10 Hainanese Chicken Rice stalls in Malaysia wor…

We then spent Christmas day in Ipoh where we enjoyed some home cooking courtesy of my Mom 🙂  Ethan also gave the cooking two thumbs and two toes up and kept asking for more!  He of course wasted no time in playing on the piano, and running all over the house, into my room and out, and kept going to the main door and asking my Dad to take him outside.  The next day, he also had the opportunity to try some of Ipoh’s famous kai-see-hor-fun, something I had promised I would take him to eat in Ipoh.  Unfortunately although the food was delicious, it was not a very comfortable experience for us all, because there was no baby chair available for Ethan.  That, plus the fact that the entire coffee shop was scorching hot!  Well, now we know why the Old Town franchise can survive in Ipoh. Heh.

As for Christmas presents, although he hasn’t quite grasped the novelty of receiving them yet, Ethan received quite a number (more than us, in fact), ranging from clothes (read: Chinese New Year no need to buy :P) to DVDs to soft toys and errmmm… hard toys…  Thank you everyone, near and far who took the trouble to give Ethan thoughtful gifts for Christmas 🙂  Pete and I chose to present our boy with some educational toys this year.  We gave him a set of Fridge Phonics and also two wooden animal puzzles (which I personally love because they are so beautifully hand painted).  Looks like Ethan boy loves them too! 

Yesterday evening saw him excitedly exploring and enjoying his new toys, even giggling whilst playing.  He especially loves to press the musical note button on the Fridge Phonics toy to make it sing the A-B-C song.  Yes yes…we need a bigger house or storage space to put all his toys now…