Bible Verse of the Day

Ethan

All about Ethan

 

Four days after Hannah was born, Pete took Ethan to the San Francisco international airport to pick my parents up.  Yup, my folks are here for about a month or so for a visit, and of course to see their two grandkids.  Unfortunately Hannah and I could not go along because the Accord we were having at that time could not fit everyone in.

Pete and Ethan had to wait for an hour or so in the airport arrival hall and it was quite strenuous too as our lazy little boy insisted that his Daddy carried him most of the time.  We were a little bit worried that Ethan would not recognize his Ah Ma and Ah Kong, but he smiled as soon as he saw them.  And he was trying to be all helpful, wanting to push the airport cart even though it was way too heavy for him!

Now, it’s “Where did Ah Ma go?” and “Where did Ah Kong go?” all the time! LOL

As soon as our little family reached our home after Hannah and I were discharged, we told Ethan his little sister Hannah had presents for him.  Of course Ethan was very excited and kept asking for the presents, even before having his dinner!

A few weeks ago, I prepared the presents in mention, and wrapped them up into nice boxes with gift-wrapping paper bearing Ethan’s favorite balloon motifs.  Everybody now knows that giving a present from the newborn baby to the older sibling is a good way to start off a (hopefully) jealous-free relationship.  I didn’t want to just simply get something for the sake of getting it, so I made sure every item in the gift box would be something our boy would like.

 

So we (Hannah) got him a LullaBible board book, with lovingly illustrated A-Z promises from God, complete with an audio CD, a Mickey Mouse tumbler, three granola bars and the highlight: a Lego Duplo train set! 

 

Ethan LOVES to open presents now, and he didn’t waste much time tearing the wrappers off.

 

Ironically, he chose the Lego box to open first and was SO happy when he saw what it was!

 

Then he tore open the wrapper of the other present and when he saw the goodies inside, he exclaimed, “WOW!!!”  And then he began to eat the granola bars. LOL

 

It looks like the brother-sister relationship has gotten off to a great start! 🙂


Credits
Elegant word art (smile sister) from Bethany

Monday March 2 2009 was a historical day for Ethan because it was then that he was elevated to Big Brother status. 🙂

Mommy gave birth to baby Hannah at 2:17p.m. and at the same time, presented Ethan with an added responsibility.

I had to stay in the hospital for that night, and Pete had to single-handedly care for Ethan.  It also marked the first time ever that I had ever been away from Ethan at all.  My fears were unfounded, of course, because when I called home that night, Ethan sounded very cheerful.  Pete assured me that everything would be well taken care of, and it certainly was!

Ethan only came to visit me and his sister the following evening, right before Hannah and I were discharged.  I was very happy to see Ethan and likewise, I think he was happy too! 🙂

I had brought along a photo of him to place by my bedside, just to let him know that I was thinking of him.  And of course, he noticed it and grinned happily when he saw it.

 

I am very glad to be home now, and I hope Ethan is as excited to be a big brother as I am about embarking on a new chapter in our lives.

 
Scrap Credits
Sweet Surrender QP  from Irene V. Alexeeva
Word Art (Remember Moments) from
Dirty Feet Designs aka Heather Benson


Yesterday, I had my (now) weekly prenatal checkup with the OB/GYN.  I am 38 weeks along now.

Coincidentally, Ethan’s daycare provider had an appointment in the morning, so Ethan had to tag along with us to the medical center for the checkup too.  It was the first time we brought him along, not because we didn’t want to before, but because it would be a daunting task keeping his curious little hands away from all the equipment in the examination room.

Anyway, while in the waiting area, Ethan was very much his active little self, even offering his *services* to put away all the magazines that people had left strewn on the chairs.  Of course, it goes without saying that his curiosity got the better of him and he began asking what this was and what that was.  He even rehearsed saying, “Hi doctor!”

Then when my name was called, he looked on in amazement as the nurse took my weight.  And in the examination room, he insisted on sitting on the chair by himself, and pointed at the pictures on the wall, asking what they all were.

But when my doctor came in, Ethan became very quiet all of a sudden, and it was only a few minutes later that he mustered up the courage to say hi to the good doctor.  For the first time too, Ethan heard his sibling’s strong heartbeat when the doctor did his routine checkup.  I was also due for a cervix exam, and while Pete *entertained* Ethan, the doc informed me that although the cervix was softening, it was still closed.

The checkup was all done in a jiffy, and Ethan said “Buh-bye!” to the doctor as we left.

He’s gonna be an awesome big brother, don’t you think?

 

…and he does it HIS way…
… asking for his toothbrush and toothpaste
… complete with gargle and spit action using his own cup

… and yes, *sometimes* (actually more often than not nowadays) he would insist that Daddy and Mommy brush our teeth too, after he has completed his task!

How can we turn down a “Mommy, brush teeth!” or “Daddy, brush teeth!” request that comes with a gentle shove towards the bathroom?

Ethan is a big boy now…

Scrap Credits
Freebie Janvier   – Partie 5 kit from Scrapmalin
Chipboard & Glitter alphas from Creative Confusion Designs
Priceless price tag from Digital Fingers by Louise Williams
Label Alphabet & Words from Scrap-Pit

Just look at what Ethan has been up to recently…

He would ask us to stuff his toy football or basketball under his shirt, and he would proclaim “Tummy!”

And then he would prance around the house, and more often than not, his *tummy* would then fall out! LOL


Scrap Credits
QP from Bronwen van Esch, made with Kim B’s new Roche kit
Elements from Freebie Janvier  – Partie 5 kit from Scrapmalin
Stained Alphas from Designs by Sarah

Oooh yes. Another phase we are going through right now.

Ethan has moved on from asking “Apa tu?” to asking “What’s that?” almost everywhere he goes.

So our conversations will go a little something like this:

Ethan: Mommy, Mommy…what’s that? (pointing at item)
Mommy: That’s a computer mouse.
Ethan: What’s that? (pointing at the screen)
Mommy: That’s a volcano, darling.
Ethan: VOLCANO… what’s that?
Mommy: That’s the color purple.

Or sometimes when we are in the parking garage:

Ethan: What’s that? (pointing at one of the vehicles)
Daddy: That’s a truck.
Ethan: What’s that?
Daddy: That’s an SUV.
Ethan: SUV.  What’s that?
Daddy: That’s a car.
Ethan: A Car!  What’s that?
Daddy: That’s our car!
Ethan: *hop-hop-hops towards our car*

It ain’t always easy though.  Sometimes he asks some trying questions too:

Ethan: Mommy, what’s that? (pointing to somewhere on the couch)
Mommy: That’s the middle of the couch, darling. 😛

or…

Ethan: (pointing to a decorative item on the wall of the restaurant we were dining in) What’s that Mommy?
Mommy: That’s called a buluh sumpitan in Malay. 🙂
Daddy: Blowpipe laaa!!!

(ooops)

***

On a separate note, Ethan likes to practise the many words he learns every day.  Pete related this incident to me one evening when he was fetching Ethan back in the car:

Ethan: Sunny?  Sunny outside?
Daddy: No Ethan, it’s dark outside now.
Ethan: Sunny?  Glasses…. sunnyglasses?
Daddy: You wanna wear your sunglasses.  No Ethan, it’s not sunny, you don’t need your sunglasses now.
Ethan: (pauses) Moon???  Moonglasses?

He is truly the JOY of our lives 🙂 

Last Saturday (Valentine’s Day), after lunch, we decided to take a drive to Monterey Bay. It was an hour and a half away, and although the weather was yoyoing between rainy drizzly, and sunshiny, we decided to go anyway. Pete had been to Monterey before, but Ethan and I had not.

Ethan, as usual, fell asleep almost immediately while we were driving on the freeway, and only awoke when we arrived at Monterey Bay.  The place was jampacked, and it took us quite some time before we found a parking spot by the side of the road.

 

Ethan, in his just-woken-up state, of course wanted to be carried, and refused to walk on his own.

 

Monterey Bay is a very picturesque place, and the streets were filled with shops bearing familiar names like Ghirardelli, Thomas Kinkade and Nestle Tollhouse, among others.  There were also little stalls serving clam chowder samples in small cups to passers-by. Of course we couldn’t resist trying them! 🙂

 

The view by the sea was simply breathtaking!  Ethan was also fascinated by the telescope but it was way too heavy for him to handle anyway!

We didn’t go into the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but we did walk along the exterior part of it.  It had wooden benches on wooden platforms overlooking the sea.  Our boy had the time of his life, making rhythmic sounds on the wooden platforms with his tapping feet and oohing and aaahing at the waves below.

 

We could tell that Ethan was intrigued by the beach and the waves and the seagulls, and it wasn’t long before he pointed and said, “I wanna go down there!”

Believe it or not, it was Ethan’s first time ever at the beach, looking at the waves coming into shore.  Look at him displaying his excitement!  He laughed out loud every time the waves came in and didn’t seem at all afraid! 🙂

(Note to self:  need to take Ethan to the beach when we get back to Penang!)

 

While we were walking back to our car, we passed by the Ghirardelli chocolate shop, and I noticed every one was eating a piece of chocolate as they walked out of the store.  Curious, we walked in, and the sales person was indeed handing out samples!  We each got a piece of milk chocolate with peanut butter filling chocolate square – Ethan got a piece too!  

Ethan was never much of a sweet tooth, and I thought Ethan would take one bite and pass the rest of the chocolate to me, but I was dead wrong 😛

He bit off piece by piece till he was all done!  Psst….that’s the first time he has had peanut butter… (peanuts are still off limits!)

 

It was definitely an enjoyable time for all of us, for Valentine’s is all about spending it with the people you love…

Credits
Elegant word art (every time you smile) from
Bethany
Mag-papier5 from Freebie Janvier  – Partie 5 kit from Scrapmalin

 
Scrap Credits
Chocolate Dipped QP from Amy W. Designs 2009
Magnetic Poetry pieces from Digi-Designs by Nicole
Hearts! freebie from Andrea
Elegant word art (love is in the air 5) from Bethany

I received an early Valentine from a special guy today…and it’s not Pete! 😛

Well, to be fair, the Valentine was *for* Pete too! LOL

Today, when I picked Ethan up from daycare, he was very excited about the “heart” he had made, and wanted to hold on to it all the way to the car.  It was the first time he presented us with a Valentine card and he was really happy when I told him how beautiful it was! 🙂

Most importantly, it was a Valentine that was given from the heart…

Ethan has taken a strong liking to the computer.  He frequently asks to use the “peter, peter, peter!” (Nope, he is NOT calling his Daddy by name; that’s how he calls the “computer” for short!)

Most of the time, we’ll tell him we’ll let him play on the computer AFTER he has had his dinner, or AFTER he has taken his shower.  Seems to work some of the time. 🙂

Previously when we allowed him to play, he would need our assistance to click on the mouse, but he has since mastered how to do that all by himself.  We normally allow him to surf the Playhouse Disney on Disney Online site, because most of the characters he loves are there.

Check out how he performs the left-click on the mouse in the snippet below.  In this video I took, he is doing some digital coloring on the My Friends Tigger & Pooh section of the site.  See how Ethan drags the numbered honey pots to the corresponding number on the picture and clicks the mouse to fill the picture with color.  And look at how jubilant he is when he finished the activity!

Last night, he asked for the computer again.  I told him he would get just 30 minutes before it was time for his bed. 

And he said, “Okay Mom!” 🙂

I extended the 30 minutes to 45 minutes because he was so well-behaved, and when it was time to shut down the PC, I told him that was all for the night, and he obediently helped me shut down.  He got his bedtime books ready (one for Ethan, one for Mommy and one for Daddy), scooted into the room, and before long he was in dreamland.

That’s my boy! 😀

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