Here’s the Toyota ad that makes Ethan laugh every time he sees it on TV. Even when he is playing with his toys or not looking at the TV screen, he will turn to look as soon as he hears the music from this ad, transfixed and paying full attention … and then he will laugh. He will giggle when the guy in the ad gets his head hit, or when the guy gets splashed with water and he will laugh at the last part when the lady smirks and says, “So lucky!”There’s something about Toyota ads that get Ethan’s attention. Could it be because we drive a Vios? Maybe…. He was also very intrigued by the Genie ad… and he also likes the Yaris, Avanza and the VVT-i ads. The only Toyota ad that he is not attracted to is the Camry one. Why? We’ll make it a point to ask him when he is older.
All about Ethan
Here’s the Toyota ad that makes Ethan laugh every time he sees it on TV. Even when he is playing with his toys or not looking at the TV screen, he will turn to look as soon as he hears the music from this ad, transfixed and paying full attention … and then he will laugh. He will giggle when the guy in the ad gets his head hit, or when the guy gets splashed with water and he will laugh at the last part when the lady smirks and says, “So lucky!”There’s something about Toyota ads that get Ethan’s attention. Could it be because we drive a Vios? Maybe…. He was also very intrigued by the Genie ad… and he also likes the Yaris, Avanza and the VVT-i ads. The only Toyota ad that he is not attracted to is the Camry one. Why? We’ll make it a point to ask him when he is older.
This settles it once and for all! When I read about the Look-alike Meter at Charlotte‘s blog, I just couldn’t resist trying it out for myself too…so many people have said Ethan looks like me, especially the eyes, it seems…. but yet, a lot of people have commented he looks like his Daddy too. I don’t blame them, especially since the striking resemblance is hard to ignore.
Well, 3% is still a wee bit slight advantage đ Heh heh…. but the small percentage could also mean another thing:
Pete and I look alike too!
Check out what I got for Ethan last Merdeka weekend:
Yep, those cute adorably colorful thingies you see there are Ethan’s new Bumwear Cloth Diapers, which I got from Sin Dee. Don’t they look gorgeous?
I had known all about Bumwear Cloth Diapers for a long time now, yes, even before I gave birth to Ethan, but I only started revisiting the idea about two weeks ago. The prospect of going *cloth* has been really enticing and I had been tinkering about getting them for Ethan. Our boy has all along been on disposable diapers. I did use the traditional cloth nappies for him when he was a newborn, but since he was a fully breastfed baby then, his poo was really runny, and well…let’s just say there were quite a number of unwanted *accidents*. That, plus the toll of having to wash the nappies day in and day out made me switch to disposables. It was very convenient and hassle-free. Although not very friendly on the wallet, disposable diapers were very easy to use and throw.
However, I recently took a step back and decided to make a change. For the better.
I learnt about disposable diapers causing an increase on scrotal temperature in boy babies, which could potentially lead to infertility. There has not been enough proven evidence that this is entirely true, but the facts were enough to raise a concern (at least with me). And this is one of the main reasons why I decided to make that switch. Don’t get me wrong, I am also switching because of the increasing landfill problem caused by disposables and also because of the toxic chemicals used in disposables, but while the change I make now would only make a small difference in the landfill problem, it would make a significant change to Ethan’s comfort đ And that’s mighty important to me!
Switching to cloth diapers would not make a whole lot of a difference cost-wise too, because Ethan is already 19 months old. Those who have been using cloth diapers since baby was born would see a huge savings in the long run. Besides, we will still need to launder the cloth diapers which would also take up some time and effort on our part. I have not decided to make a full switch or not yet, because I want to try these new Bumwear diapers first before I consider introducing them to Mrs Tan. However, the extra effort I put in will be well worth the effort.
For one, these BumWear diapers are nothing like the conventional nappies. These are so cool and adorable looking, plus they come with diaper inserts which allow fluid to be absorbed with tremendous ease. Also, using these BumWear diapers would mean I do not need to apply barrier cream like Drapolene anymore! One of my concerns was that with these cloth diapers, they would not be able to last through the night. However, I discovered that by using 2 inserts, the absorption is doubled and I can then use these throughout the night, just like any ordinary disposable diaper.
Tonight is the very first time Ethan went to bed garbed in his Bumwear diapers. Doesn’t he look adorable? Check out that look he is giving…looking very much like a model eh? *wink*
A visit to Queensbay Mall is always therapeutic, not just for Mommy but for Ethan as well. Just the mere sight of the mall from his car seat is enough to transform our boy from this:
to this:
Ingredients
- 1 high chair
- 1 plateful of delicious homecooked rice, topped with yummy gravy
- Colorful kiddie utensils from Ikea (Ethan loves these and was introduced to them in Nando’s. We spotted them at Ikea and got him a pack)
- 1 shirt-bib from Ikea (Ethan does not take kindly to the conventional bibs, so we found this gem when we were in Ikea last weekend. It looks just like a t-shirt, but the back is open. Fixed to the baby via velcro at the neck, it contains a pouch in front to catch all the stuff that would potentially drop while baby is eating)
- 1 very hungry toddler
Method
Put all of the above together and wait to see what happens.
Caveat: Expect some cleaning up afterwards.
Scrap template from Lindsay Jane Designs,
papers from Lindsay Jane Designs & Anita Designs
We adults can certainly learn a thing or two from kids. Forgiveness, tolerance and most importantly, just be happy!
Yes,… Ethan taught me to smile… even after he had accidentally slipped and bruised the upper corner of his right eye while climbing in and out of his bath tub which he doesn’t use anymore. Just SMILE and the pain will all go away…. see how easy it is?
When it rains, it really pours… SIGH
Just as Ethan was on the road to full recovery from his recent illness, we noticed that his eyes seemed puffy and red just a couple of days ago. When he woke up in the morning, he had some yellowish discharge, which I initially dismissed as tiredness. But then he began rubbing his eyes frequently, resulting in his eyes getting swollen. Even when I applied breastmilk on his eye area, it only helped reduce the swelling temporarily. At night, our fears were confirmed when the yellowish discharge returned in both eyes. As a gungho mommy, I promptly referred to my Dr Miriam Stoppard childcare book, which told me Ethan could have blepharitis, a common eye infection amongst babies and toddlers. To clean and soothe his eye area, I wet a cotton pad with warm boiled water and wiped once from inner corner of the eye to the outer corner.
On Tuesday, we were due to visit Dr Jessica for Ethan’s 19th-month checkup and JE vaccination. On that morning, I called Dr Jessica and told her Ethan probably had an eye infection and on top of that, he was also nursing a slight cough. She told us to bring him in anyway for the checkup and she would then determine if he was fit for the jab.
I had already made an appointment with Charlotte‘s mommy to bring Charlotte in on the same day too, so that Ethan and Charlotte could share the dosage of the JE vaccine. Unfortunately when we brought Ethan to the clinic in the evening, he also had a slight fever of 37.6°C, so the doctor advised us to postpone the JE jab. đ
Doctor Jessica diagnosed Ethan’s eye infection as an early stage of conjunctivitis. Thankfully though, the whites of his eyes were not red yet. She prescribed Fucithalmic, a antibiotic fucidic acid eye ointment to be dropped into Ethan’s eyes twice a day. He also had a dry cough, so she prescribed cough mixture too, this time, a sweeter one compared to Rhinatiol, named MucoFlux.
SIGH… back to grind of medicine-feeding again. đ
This morning, after 2 applications of the eye ointment, the condition of his eyes has improved…. I’m praying Ethan will be completely healed as soon as possible. I can’t wait to see the sparkle and glow back in his eyes!
On the bright side though, I forgot to mention that as of yesterday’s visit to the doctor, Ethan’s weight has reached the 10-kilo mark! WOoHOoOoOooooo!!!!
Scrap papers & elements from Lindsay Jane Designs
What an tiring, but eventful and enjoyable weekend it had been! Last Saturday morning we drove down to Damansara. We had planned on making this trip about a week or so back but was having some problems booking a room because it was the school holiday season. Thankfully, we managed to secure a room at the Royale Bintang last Wednesday! That’s the most convenient hotel to stay in because The Curve is just next to it, so that makes shopping so much easier. So we were all set! Although our plan was to leave Penang at around 9a.m., we all overslept and only was able to set out at about 10:15a.m. Therefore our plan to have lunch at The Curve went down the drain and we ended up (again) having lunch at the famous Pun Chun coffee shop in Bidor instead.
It wasn’t entirely a bad idea actually, and although the wan ton mee is severely overpriced, it was good. We thought Ethan is a wan ton mee fan, but he decided he didn’t want any of it that day, choosing instead to dig into the char siew pau. So much so that we had to tarpow an additional pau for him to continue eating in the car after leaving Bidor.
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After finishing the pau, Ethan was still going “mum mum mum…”, so I gave him cornflakes. He munched happily on the cornflakes all the way till we reached the hotel.
After checking in to our room, our boy was very fascinated by his new surroundings, walking up and down the room, into the bathroom, opening the cabinets and drawers. It was clear that he had all the energy in the world to go shopping! Since Daddy the driver wanted to get forty winks, I changed Ethan and got him all ready. We then met up with Ethan’s Aunty Pauline in the hotel lobby and went on our shopping excursion! There’s nothing like shopping to beat fatigue đ
Of course, I chose to go to Mothercare first and the neighboring baby and toddler shops. With Pete not around, there was a tendency for me to overspend… hah… I ended up with 2 pairs of peejays for Ethan, some clothes and another Baby Einstein DVD: Baby Noah, which was on sale at 10% off at Early Learning Center đ The three of us hung out at The Curve and even walked all the way to Ikano Power Center and back.
Soon, Ethan requested for “mum mum” again, and I took him to the Baby Care room in The Curve for a feed right before dinner. There was a short queue there and we had to wait for about 10 minutes before we got ourselves a cubicle. Honestly, the management at The Curve should consider having another room or perhaps expanding the existing nursing room, because even when I was breastfeeding Ethan, there were so many other mothers and babies waiting in line after me! Ethan almost fell asleep but woke up at the right time, just before we were about to leave for dinner.
Dinner was at MarchĂ©, with Pauline, Paul and Guat Tho (Ethan’s Ah Pek and Ah Mmm). Pete and I were craving for MarchĂ© since we frequented the restaurant in Singapore and were eager to see if it was the same here in Malaysia. We were however sorely disappointed that there was no root beer đ The one thing we were hoping to get!! Ethan, however, enjoyed his dinner very much. He loved the veal sausage and mushroom soup, and even had some of the pineapple and starfruit juice! He almost snatched my crĂ©pĂš away too, but I moved my plate away just in time!
Scrap papers & elements from Lindsay Jane Designs
After our post-dinner shopping, we went back to our room to retire for the night. Unfortunately Ethan had other plans and only fell asleep (I think) after 11p.m.
The next morning we woke up around 9:00a.m. and rushed to go downstairs for the buffet breakfast. There was already a long line when we arrived at the lobby, so by the time we got seated it was already close to 10:30a.m.
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Ethan again enjoyed his sausages, this time it was chicken. He finished 2 sausages I think, and even hijacked some of my pink guava juice.
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Then he also walloped some fruit loops. Breakfast is, after all, the most important meal of the day.
We then went back to our rooms to pack and prepared to check out. Shopped for a while at Ikea, because what is a trip to Ikano Power Center without visiting Ikea, yes? The beauty about Ikea is that it had these children stations where they put toys for the kids to play with. These stations were strewn all over Ikea, just to keep the kids occupied while their parents went about their shopping.
Of course, Ethan is also quickly learning to be an avid Ikea shopper, preferring to test out certain items that caught his fancy.
We then had lunch at a Japanese restaurant in Damansara Uptown, called Umai-ya. I tell you, I have no idea how much Ethan ate for lunch, because he at first was sharing the chawan mushi with me (I gave him chawan mushi mixed with rice). Then when I ran out of chawan mushi, Pete and Aunty Pauline contributed theirs too. And our boy was eating it non-stop. After lunch, I could actually see his tummy bulging from under his clothes! Hehehe…
We then visited the show unit of Aunty Pauline’s new condo, Menjalara 18. Ethan went about the show unit as if it was his own home, climbing up and down the sofas and the beds.
After that it was homeward bound to Penang. A rushed trip but a really enjoyable one. We do it next month again, yeah? đ
It was time to bid farewell to Singapore and our vacation. After all the adventure and fun we had, we were looking forward to head on home, but yet a little bit sad the vacation had come to an end.
I woke up feeling way much better than I did the day before. The nausea and fever had gone and I was definitely much more energized…but not as energized as Ethan. Hah.
We went downstairs for our usual routine breakfast at the hotel and then hurried back up to our room to pack. We then checked out, left our luggage with the front desk and went for a little walking tour around Little India. It would have been embarrassing had we not at least walk a little around the vicinity when we had stayed in Little India for the past 5 nights! And it was a good thing we had that walking exercise too because we managed to catch a glimpse of the famous Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, Little India’s oldest and busiest temple.
All in all, we walked quite a fair bit and ended up in Mustafa Centre, the famous 24-hour shopping mall, which sells everything from watches, DVDs and handbags to clothes and foodstuff. It was not a very conducive place to bring Ethan to, unfortunately, because the mall was jam-packed with visitors and also, the aisles were so narrow! There was simply no place for Ethan to roam and run around as he wished.
We were already running a little late by then, so we decided to take a cab from Mustafa Centre back to Perak Hotel, instead of walking all the way again. We loaded the cab with our luggage and went straight to Changi airport. After checking in and obtaining our boarding passes, we had lunch at the Soup Restaurant again, starting and ending our vacation on the same note.
And what would a visit to Singapore be without stopping by Bengawan Solo and getting some goodies there? After all, I was craving for the pineapple tarts! While I was busy choosing and (not) salivating over the cookies and layer cake in Bengawan Solo, Ethan kept Daddy busy by requesting to go up and down the escalators nearby. He was also very much the shopper as he roamed the surrounding area, in search of a good bargain, maybe?
We finally entered the departure terminal with very little time to spare before we boarded our plane. I quickly looked for the nursing room and breastfed Ethan for a bit. Then Ethan had some time to explore the terminal before we went to the departure gate. There is this fantastic floor game with lights that allowed kids to kick an imaginary ball on the ground. The *ball* would react to the kids’ kicking action. And that kept Ethan fascinated.
Hehe….Mommy rushed to Nuance Watson to get this:
It was all done in super-duper quick time because I already knew what I wanted.
Then we practically ran all the way to our departure gate, which, following Murphy’s Law, HAD to be at the very end of the terminal! The status was already showing as “Gate Closing” and it was really an adrenaline rush for all of us, similar to that experienced by contestants on The Amazing Race, I would think.
Upon boarding the plane, Ethan played around for a while but fell asleep in my arms shortly before the plane took off. He slept right through the entire flight, not even waking up for his meal. The very kind flight attendant, who was introduced to Ethan, took the trouble to provide us with a bag to tar-pow his meal back home.
We took a cab from the Penang International Airport back to our home sweet home. And we could tell that not only Pete and I missed our home, Ethan did too…. he giggled with glee when we entered our apartment lift. Home at last! đ
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Scrap Papers & Elements from Sworda Scrappin’Â
Ethan loves grapes. However, when we wash a bunch of grapes and sit down to eat them, he doesn’t eat them himself. Instead, his eyes will light up when he sees those juicy grapes in the bowl, and he will scoop a few up in those tiny hands of his, and with his mouth wide open, proceed to feed us those grapes. We have to eat them really fast too, because he takes delight in feeding those grapes one after another, at a very fast pace.Â
All I can say is thank goodness those grapes are seedless ones! *wink*