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Little Miracles · Ethan
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Ethan

All about Ethan

Bringing Love from Ipoh

June 11, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up | 2 comments

Ethan’s Ah Kong and Ah Ma from Ipoh missed Ethan so much that they made a trip to Penang on Sunday to hang out with him.  I had a piping hot homecooked meal ready, so we all had lunch together at home.  It was the first time Ethan had the chance to taste Mommy’s homecooked Claypot Chicken Rice, which he so enjoyed up to the extent that he kept impatiently asking for more, much to the amusement of his grandparents.  Ethan had some of the lotus root soup too (which was unsalted) and finished his meal with a cup of nutritious yummy yogurt.  Ah Ma also brought some homemade lychee and carrot jelly from Ipoh too, but Ethan wasn’t yet accustomed to the taste of it.  Never mind, Pete and I will gladly finish up the jelly! 😀

Ethan was at first rather shy when we picked up my Mom and Dad from the bus station, but still he kept peeking at my Mom from where he was sitting in his car seat.  When we reached home however, he warmed up to them and soon was giggling and laughing loudly.  Ah Ma and Ah Kong, I’m sure, had a good time “chatting” with Ethan, and Ethan will of course look forward to their next visit!

The Fun-filled Gurney Deviation

June 7, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up, Miscellanous, Parenting, Shopping | 11 comments

Last Monday we took our car for servicing at the Toyota Service Center near the E&O Hotel.  We walked to the Tai Tong dim sum place in Kimberley Street and after that walked to Prangin Mall and Komtar.  Since it was only 9:30a.m. then, almost all the shops were still not open.  We then decided to take a cab to Gurney Plaza instead, because trust me, how many rounds of going up and down the escalators with Ethan can we keep up with? 😉

Obviously we did not have the baby car seat with us, so Ethan had to sit on my lap all the way to Gurney Plaza (decided to close one eye la, because cannot be helped ma).  We hung out at Gurney Plaza for about an hour, where Ethan played to his heart’s content at the play area (interrupted by a pangsai incident), hopped over to Toys R Us and then took a cab back to Toyota to collect our vehicle.  Oh yeah, and of course we FINALLY collected Ethan’s studio photography album.

When the kids come out to play

June 3, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up, Parenting | 3 comments

I took Ethan to his first playgroup today.  I had planned on organizing this playgroup for so many months, I am so happy it finally materialized!  After feeding Ethan his tea at about 4p.m. (strawberry yogurt), Ethan and I made our way to Charlotte‘s house.  This was the second time I had gone out all alone with Ethan.  We were the first to arrive at 5:00p.m. sharp and I let Ethan and Charlotte warm up and get to know each other.  I brought along Ethan’s Sesame Street soft books to share with the rest of the kids.  Not long after, Bryan and then Hin Lerk arrived. 

Although the kids were rather shy at first, they didn’t take too long to throw their inhibitions away.  Ethan very quickly noticed the staircase and proceeded to walk towards it.  I had to take him up and down a few times, but he was still not tired.  There were plenty of toys to have the kids occupied too, in addition to the Baby Einstein DVD which only managed to capture the kids’ attention for only a short while.  All the kids were also treated to apple slices, which Ethan walloped happily.

Something else happened during the playgroup too though, and yes it involves Ethan boy…watch:

After the incident, when Charlotte was shown Ethan’s picture, she tapped her chest repeatedly, signalling fear.  I hope Charlotte is not hurt, although there were some teethmarks on her arm afterward…Ethan will only bite when he wants to show affection or when he is “geram“… maybe it is the former? 😛  I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt such a sweet little girl like Charlotte….that being said, I hope Ethan will still be invited for the next playgroup…..

Land of the Leng Luis

June 2, 2007 in Ethan, Vacation | 1 comment

We made a short trip back to my hometown in Ipoh yesterday to attend Pete’s cousin Tee Bin’s wedding.  We left Penang late Friday afternoon and arrived around dinnertime in Ipoh, just in time for the lao-thiar-meh (Chinese version of the stag night).    Unfortunately, no sooner had we stepped into the porch area where the buffet spread was, Ethan wailed as if in agony!  Amid sobs and sniffles, he clung on to either Pete or me tightly, and we had to take turns having our dinner.  This was extremely strange behaviour for Ethan, as he has always been exposed to huge crowds in the malls, and in church and had no problems being happy and totally at home in crowded areas.  In the end, we had to pacify him by taking him up and down the stairs, and taking him for walks around the swimming pool.  Thank goodness SIL Aunty Pauline was around, and since Ethan has an affinity towards her, Pete and I could finish our dinner (somewhat) in peace.

The next morning during the tea ceremony, Ethan received his first tea ceremony ang pow ever!  Because he was still petrified of the crowd and the loud voices, I had to carry him to collect the ang pow.  We then adjourned to the wedding lunch reception at Hillcity Hotel, where our boy was extremely active (we’re not surprised).  It certainly looked like he had already warmed up to the crowd and was enjoying every second of his exploratory adventure.  Many friends and relatives were thrilled to see him pacing around the hall, but had a hard time trying to carry him!  A relative mistakenly thought his name was “Ivan”, and even called out to him using that name!  Ethan’s primary interest however, was in the fish in the aquarium, which kept him occupied for quite some time.

Pete noticed that Ethan now has a variety of facial expressions and emotions, which he is using in full force.  Here are some rare shots which the camera managed to capture during our trip:

 Congratulations to Uncle Tee Bin and Aunt Wei F’rn!

Ethan turns 16 months

June 1, 2007 in Ethan, Funny Moments, Milestones | 1 comment

Here are some highlights from the month of May as our Ethan Boy turns 16 months:

  • Since we started giving him showers instead of baths, Ethan is enjoying himself tremendously.  So much so that he has even mastered the art of turning on the faucet!  You see, right below our shower there is a faucet which is positioned just above Ethan’s height.  He now can reach up to it and turn it on.  In fact, he likes to have the faucet turned way up, resulting in Pete and I getting thoroughly wet!
  • Ethan likes to be involved in whatever we do now, especially when it comes to food.  Whenever we are in a restaurant eating, he will demand for the food that we are eating.  Just the other day, while we were out grocery shopping in Jusco, Pete and I stopped by one of those sample stations which was promoting a special type of instant noodles.  We each took a small cup to sample.  Ethan, who was in the stroller, started banging on the stroller tray and called out to us.  It didn’t take Pete long to figure out that our boy also wanted a taste of the noodles…which is exactly what he got.  And that kept him contented all right…

  • Ethan has learnt how to imitate us.  A funny game which has been going on between Daddy and Ethan is when Daddy goes to the washroom to wash his feet.  As soon as Ethan spots Pete switching on the bathroom lights, he would get all excited and run over to the bathroom doorway.  As Pete washes his feet, he exaggerates by stomping on the bathroom floor, and guess what…Ethan will do the same.  Add in the giggle factor and you have a scene you will never forget.
  • Ethan is participating in our singalong sessions now, albeit in true Mr Bulat manner:

Daddy/Mommy (singing): If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands….
Ethan grins widely, grabs either Daddy or Mommy’s hands, one in each of his hands, and *makes* US clap our hands together…and this continues till the end of the song.

  • Lately, we’ve noticed that Ethan sometimes turns himself round and round in circles.  One minute he would be walking normally, and then he would suddenly just turn round and round.  Then he would stop, pause for a moment as if to recover his balance, then start walking normally again.
  • (I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed here) Ethan is *quite* regularly able to go without a drink of milk from his bedtime (which is usually 9:30-10:00p.m., and unusually 11:00p.m.) right up till about 4:30a.m.  He would wake up around midnight, and we would just comfort him back to sleep and put him back in the cot.  He is also now quite okay with Pete carrying him at night when he wakes up, and doesn’t necessarily need to rely solely on me.  On several occasions, when he is up at 11pm or around midnight, Pete will go into the room first and carry Ethan to our bed.  Initially Ethan will cry for Mommy, whilst sitting up on the bed facing the room door.  But after a short while, he will crawl towards Daddy and snuggle to sleep in Daddy’s arms.
  • Sometime in May, when it was just Pete, Ethan and me in the car, I started sitting in the co-driver seat in front (before this, I was always sitting in the back seat with Ethan).  Now Ethan will be comfortably strapped into his car seat at the back while Daddy and Mommy can be in front.  I am proud to say that we have no problems at all putting Ethan into his car seat, because we have trained him well since birth.  He had been sitting in the infant seat carrier till he was about a year old and then graduated to the convertible front-facing car seat.  Now, every time we “kai kai“, he will eagerly sit in the car seat and allow us to buckle him up.  At times, he would even hold the buckle ready for us to strap him in!  Then he would blabber and talk to us the whole of the journey.  Sometimes, when we turn back to look at him, we’d find him deep in thought… sometimes he would be smiling, and sometimes he would clap his hands in glee when he hears a tune he likes on the radio.  When we reach our destination, Ethan will patiently sit and wait till we have unbuckled him, and then he will reach his hands out and try to get out of the seat himself.
  • Random words that Ethan has picked up, (these are not confirmed to be what he says, since he is still mostly blabbering):
    • Ai chiak bek (Want to eat Oats)
    • Ter (Water)
    • Deh-dah, Di-deh, deh-deh, Daddy
    • Yah… (for almost everything)
  • Foodwise, Ethan is on 1 full feed of breast milk while I am at work now (he’s recently upgraded his feed quantity to 6oz at one go).  His second EBM feed in the afternoon is now replaced with approximately 2 oz of Isomil mixed with cereal (Rice Crispies of Snap, Crackle & Pop fame, oats or rusks).
  • Lastly Ethan continues to be enthralled by the mall, especially the escalators.  He has now added climbing stairs to his list of favorite things to do.  He loves to run around in the mall, especially in wide open spaces.

The Name Game of Fame

May 31, 2007 in Ethan, Milestones, Miscellanous | 6 comments

A few months back, I wrote a brief post about what the name Ethan meant.  I didn’t go into details then, but now since both Aunty Angie and Aunty Siew Hooi so graciously asked, I am going to elaborate more.  And hey, I’ll even throw in the meaning of his Chinese name for good measure.

When I was pregnant with Ethan, of course like all first-time mommies, I was excited as to what I would name him.  My reliable source of information was of course the internet, and I checked out many baby name sites before zeroing in on a few.  Pete and I shortlisted several names, but all of them were either too common, too many syllables, too weird or reminded us of someone we didn’t want associated with our son.  So names like Gabriel, Joshua, Kenneth… were all not chosen.  When I suggested the name Ethan, Pete immediately said yes!  You know, when you arrive at THE name, you would just know it… just like the time I selected my wedding dress.  I just knew it was the perfect one for me when I put it on.  At the time we selected the name Ethan, it was (I think) one of the top 5 names of the year 2005.  Although Pete and I kept our choice of name a secret during my pregnancy, we were already talking to him all the time and calling him by name then.

And so unto us a child was born, … and we named him Ethan.  Firm.  Enduring.  Strong.  That’s our boy 🙂 .  We also wanted a biblical name for him, and Ethan fit right into the bill.  In the context of the Bible, Ethan is a name of Hebrew origin, and was a wise man who wrote the 89th Psalm.

With his christened name chosen, we now had to select his Chinese name.  This was a much harder task than we’d imagined.  With his surname is fixed, i.e. Chua (蔡 Cài), we had to get two other characters for his name.  Since both Pete and I don’t know Mandarin that well (actually I can’t speak Mandarin to save my life!), and neither do both our parents, we decided to find out what the ancestral clan character was for Ethan’s generation.  You know, Chinese families typically go by a unique identifying Chinese character in their names for a particular generation?  We figured if we have that down pat, then we’d only need to look for one additional character… haha.  We checked with Pete’s Mom, who checked with Pete’s aunt, who then informed us that for Ethan’s generation, the pattern to follow was: Chua <something> Choong.  The “Choong” corresponds to the character 聪, from cōng míng (聪明), which means Intelligence.  That sounded good, we thought, so we decided to go along with that.

So that left us with only the middle character of Ethan’s Chinese name.  We thought it would be easy then but we were so wrong!  There were so few characters that sounded good with “Choong” at the end, and in desperation we bought a couple of Chinese Name books to help us select a name.  Pete’s Mom actually said it wasn’t necessary to follow the “Choong” ancestral clan name, given that it may very well not be the correct one for his generation and also because we had a hard time finding a suitable middle name to go with it.  She even suggested we named him “Ee Choong”, for “first son” and if we are blessed with baby number 2, then it would be “Yee Choong” for “second son”, and so on! 

In the end, we decided to enlist the help of our friends who were knowledgable in this field of name selection.  One of my good friends had her hubby calculate the number of strokes that was suitably auspicious for Ethan’s middle Chinese name and came up with the result that we should select a character with either 8 strokes or 16 strokes.  In fact, we were still undecided on the middle name even after Ethan was born.  Then Pete had a good friend of his use the information from my friend to select a middle name that would fit that.  In the process of investigation, Pete’s friend discovered that in order to obtain an auspicious middle name for Ethan, the character had to be either a water element or had to contain a water radical.  So after much deliberation, investigation and sleepless nights, Pete’s friend found a perfect match.  And it was really a perfect one, in every way.

Ethan’s middle name is Zé (泽).  If it is written in Simplified Chinese, it takes 8 strokes; if it is written in Traditional Chinese, it takes 16 strokes, thus fulfilling both conditions of “either 8 or 16 strokes”.  It also contains the water radical.  And it means Brilliance.  Ethan shares the same middle name as Jiang Ze Min and Mao Ze Dong.

We finalized his name just in the nick of time.  After Ethan was born, we were only given 14 days to register Ethan’s birth at the National Registration Department, and Pete and I had the registration done on the 13th day after his birthday.

So in conclusion, his full name is Ethan Chua Ze Choong (蔡 泽 聪 ~ Cài Zé Cōng ), which carries the meaning of Firm, Enduring, Strong with a Brilliant Intelligence.  Lately, Pete and I were commenting to ourselves that the name Ethan really suits our boy and his personality.  We can’t imagine him having any other name.  May he grow up to embody every aspect of his name. 

And now, I would like to know what’s in the name for the following babies:

Charlotte
Felicia
Sze Yi
Samuel

Instructions

**Start Copy*
Proposition: What is the meaning of your kid’s name?
Requirements: Write about what or how or why you giving the name to your kids.
Quantity: FIVE PEOPLE.

Tag Mode:

1st – You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below

2nd – Let the blogger you want to tag know they been tagged by comment in their blog or etc.

The list
Msaufong–SQ & Kiki
Shoppingmum and Kids–Justin and Isabelle
Chooi Peng–Kai Wen
Judy–Terry
Dragonmummy–Nicole and Marcus
Jasmine–Faythe & Vyktore
Anggie–Jeremy Chang Ee Jay
Chanel–Jeriel Lim Jing Yong
A Mom’s Diary
Shooi – Bryan 
Miche – My ACB
Sweetpea – My Little Fire
Yvonne – The Meaning of Ryan’s Name
ShoppingMum – Justin & Isabelle
Judy – Meaning of the name Terry
LiL’ deviL – Mini Hawke
Mrs. Wallace Notes – My Daughter Name
Raising Belle – Monkey Girl
Hin Lerk’s Diary – The meaning of his name
Our Baby Evan – What’s in your name?
Joyce– The Name Game of Fame

Weekend of Perfection

May 28, 2007 in Ethan, Funny Moments, Growing Up, Parenting, Shopping | 4 comments

We took Ethan for his 3rd haircut on Saturday morning, after breakfast.  We went to the Brothers Hair Salon in Sg Dua where Pete also had his hair cut.  And while waiting for Daddy to finish, Ethan had a field time at the barber’s.  I had to entertain him for the 20 minutes or so, taking him around the shop to see all the different things, and finally I allowed him to sit down in one of the chairs.  Look at how happy he is, looking forward to getting his hair cut…

After the boys had their haircuts, we went to Gurney Plaza.  Took it easy window shopping and checking out the sites and sounds in the mall.  Ethan adores going to malls, and I think he can sense that we are approaching one.  He had his first kiddy ride, although he stood up most of the time.  The ride is for toddlers aged 2 and above, so we had to be very vigilant when he was on it.

Whenever we go shopping, we would make it a point to stop by Toys R Us, because Ethan just loves it there!  It’s like his second home!  When we were in the Gurney Plaza branch last Saturday, our little explorer had fun roaming and giggling in one of those Little Tykes toyhouses on display.  It was as if he now owned his own little house, complete with phone, gas stove, door and windows.  It was so difficult to pry him away from it when we were ready to go.  Hmmm….I wonder how much one of these costs…

By the way, just in case you were wondering what happened at the last part of that video, Ethan opened the door of the little house and hit me, that’s why the recording had to stop. 😛

And on Sunday, when we were in the Toys R Us branch in Queensbay Mall, Ethan insisted on taking this car for a spin.

Then he would walk round and round the store, smiling and touching everything that catches his fancy.  It’s really a good exercise workout for him as well as for Pete and me because we have to chase after him the whole day long.

And of course, after all that exercise, Mommy needs her retail therapy.  What with Baby Gap open and all…  🙂  And thus ends another weekend, perfect in every way…

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

May 22, 2007 in Breastfeeding, Ethan, Food & Feeding | 4 comments

Yesterday evening when we picked Ethan up from Mrs Tan’s place, she proudly announced that Ethan willingly gobbled up every last bit of the rusk cereal mixed with Isomil!  However, when she tried feeding him the Isomil from the bottle, he only took a mouthful and then rejected it.  But she noticed that there was slight improvement, and he appeared to begin accepting the Isomil little by little.

I am now providing 1.5 feeds of EBM to Ethan while I am away at work (previously it was 2 feeds), in the hope that the remainder of the 0.5 feed can be covered by the Isomil in due course.  I am also slowly training myself to express milk at work just once.  It is an arduous process, but one which I knew I would have to undertake sooner or later.

This morning, Mrs Tan asked if she could give him 2 pieces of rusks for his breakfast instead of one.  Of course, I said!  Our boy is a healthy eater 🙂  Why not?

Kiss Me Honey Honey Kiss Me

May 22, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up, Milestones | 2 comments

Ethan used to show affection by biting on my chin.  But now, I am proud to proclaim that I have managed to train him to give me a kiss on the cheek  🙂  When I say, “Ethan, come give Mommy a kiss!”, he will walk over to me, hold my head in his hands and give me a kiss.  He doesn’t do it to anyone else except Pete and me.  Everyone else gets the “head-bang” treatment as a sign of affection.  Hahaha…

The Saga Continues

May 21, 2007 in Ethan, Food & Feeding | 4 comments

 

Yesterday, for the first time ever, I forked out my hard-earned money for a tin of formula.  Just for a small tin of Isomil, it cost me RM24.90.  And according to the instructions on the tin, once the tin is opened, the contents will expire 3 weeks from then.  SIGH.  The only thing I could think of when I bought it was how much money I had saved by breastfeeding Ethan for so long. 🙂

Last Friday when we picked Ethan up from Mrs Tan’s place, as expected, she told us that he totally rejected the Nestle NAN H.A. formula, not even wanting to take it as a mixture with his oats.  I had already expected this reaction and had braced myself for it because I know that the NAN formula tasted horribly bitter and since Ethan had already tasted other delicious food like siew mai, chicken rice and of course Mommy’s milk, why on earth would he want to take NAN?  Mrs Tan had also already packed up the tin of NAN ready for me to take home.  Haha…

So it was time now to try the third brand of formula: lactose-free Isomil.  My Mom told me that when I was a baby, I too was allergic to regular formula and was on Isomil, so it only made sense that perhaps Ethan is just like Mommy.  On Saturday morning, I mixed some Isomil with oats for Ethan but unfortunately he didn’t want to take it.  Strange…. I tasted a little bit of the Isomil and it tasted fine to me.  Not as sweet as Enfapro but definitely miles better than NAN H.A.!  So I dipped a few pieces of wholemeal nine-grain bun into the milk and gave it to him.  He took just a little bit, but at least that was improvement.  The next morning, I made a thick creamy cereal for Ethan with Isomil and his Farley’s rusks (which contain DHA too).  I showed him how to hold the spoon and exaggerated feeding himself with it.  Heh Heh…Guess what, our boy fell for it and had a considerable amount of the cereal with Isomil in the end!  Since the Isomil samples I had at home were all in sachet form, we thought it would be easier to buy a small tin and leave it at Mrs Tan’s place.  And that’s how we ended up buying that tin of Isomil.  I can’t wait to find out what transpired at Mrs Tan’s place today.

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