Milestones

Scrap Credits
Poppy paper from Happy Go Lucky kit from Shabby Princess Designs
Photomask #10 from Kylie M Designs
Photo Mask Sampler from DigiLover’s Addiction
Elegant word art (unbelievable) & Worn Alpha from Bethany

Ethan has shown a remarkable improvement in his language skills since we relocated to the States.  His prowess in phonics has been especially exceptional, and even Aunty Van, his daycare provider, has reported that Ethan is getting very good at phonics.

In fact, I have no doubt in my mind that he can already read.  And here are some scenarios to prove my point:

• As Ethan was playing with his Leapfrog Word Whammer on the fridge one day, Pete guided him to spell the word “bus”, by asking him to put in the letters “b”, “u” and “s”.  Ethan immediately said “bus!” when he was done.  And that’s not all.  One day as I was cleaning up in the kitchen, he pointed out a word to me by saying, “Mommy, cold!”  I turned around and looked.  He had spelt “koh” and he proudly announced that it was “koh!”
• His Aunty Van told me that Ethan read off the word “pink” on her sweater, even though there wasn’t a hint of the color pink on her.
• Ethan was *accompanying* me in the kitchen and he wanted to spell the words on the dishwasher.  He went, “O-F-F”, and I would ask him, “What does that spell?”, and Ethan would say, “Off!”
  Then he went, “O-P-T-I-O-N-S”, and when I asked, “What does that spell?”, he happily exclaimed, “Octopus!”
  Why, of course!  He recognized that the word OCTOPUS has similar letters to the word OPTIONS!
• Lastly, he surprised us one day when he was about to play on his computer.  We’d created user profiles on our PC, and we had to click on the profile to enter.  Ethan knows he has to click on the “Ethan” profile, but that day, he suddenly said, “Jors!” and pointed to my name!  Nobody taught him to say that but for some reason he knew that was how it was pronounced!
  Now, he would say “I wanna click on ‘JOYCE”!”  🙂
  Yep, he has already got the pronunciation down pat!

 
Scrap Credits
Vintage Valentine freebie  from Fanette
Cover Stories #4 Alphas from Kellie Mize
Sweet Love Sampler ring from Kristin Aagard Designs
Love Bug elements from Redju Designs

Ethan turned three on January 31st 2009.  Having survived the “terrible twos”, are we allowed to heave a sigh of relief now?

On the contrary…I think not! 😛

Weight

He was weighed in at about 29.3lbs when he visited the doctor last month, and that converts to about 13.3kilos.

Height

36 inches.

Developmental Milestones

• He is becoming more assertive in his actions, and knows how to take his stand when he wants something.  Surely a sign of independence, but sometimes can lead to tempers too.  He even says, “NO! Don’t do that!” when it suits the situation.
• Can count from 1-40 now, but strangely he leaves out number 16.  He is learning really fast, and he knows the concept, i.e. I have heard him attempting, “Forty-ONE, Forty-TWO,…”
• Calls out endearingly to his Daddy, for example, he would say in a singsong way, “Oh Daddy…!”, and sometimes when I pick Ethan up before fetching Pete after work, upon seeing his Daddy, Ethan would smile and go, “Hallo Daddy!” and “Miss you Daddy!”
• Does not really like to reply in the affirmative YES, but he uses the term “okay” sparingly.  Lately, he has even started to reply “Okay, Mom!” (yes, that’s right, Mom and not Mommy!).  Oh by the way, his favorite word is “NO” 😛
• Loves to show us what he has built or done, especially with his Lego set.  He’ll go, “Look! Look!” while proudly displaying his masterpiece.
• Learning to take turns by saying, “My turn!”
• Has a great sense of humor, and sometimes does things that makes himself laugh out loud.  He especially finds it funny when we accidentally drop things, and say “Oops!”, and he’ll laugh and say, “Funny!”

Food and Feeding

Depending on his mood, he will eat a lot or very little.  There have been times when he will finish 2 whole bowls of rice, and sometimes he would even take the chicken meat.  But sometimes, he would reject rice completely, choosing only to have bread or cheese or muffins or chocolate milk.

 
Scrap Credits
Fall Memories kit from A work in progress
Laugh Alphas from Cathy K Designs
HoldEmUps from Tara Dunstan
Love Word Art  from Jamie Lee Designs

Weight

Should be about 12.5kilos.

Height

36 inches.

Teeth

Loves to brush his teeth on his own, even carrying his step stool to the sink, asking for his toothbrush and toothpaste and imitating his Daddy brushing his teeth.  I have a feeling he swallows a little bit of the toothpaste though, but I am still using the fluoride-free toothpaste on him, so that’s perfectly fine.  Ethan allows me to brush his teeth for him too, when he is in the mood.  Of course, I am always happy to do so.

And oh yes, his teeth-brushing sessions always end with a good gurgling and spitting session. 🙂

Developmental Milestones

• Becoming more confident in the way he speaks, and can make short sentences like, “Look at that!”, “I wanna go outside!”, or “I don’t want it!” and my favorite: “Daddy, wake up!”
• Knows how to work his charm using magic words like “pees” (please) and “thank you”.  When I give him a Ritz Bits cracker, he will say ever so sweetly, “Thank you Mommy!” – melts my heart every time he does that.
• Loves to hop and jump around.  I guess it is just him practising and perfecting his skills.  In addition to jumping and hopping on level surfaces, he sometimes also jumps from a slightly higher level (like the bottom step of a flight of steps).
• He uses the term “Go Potty” when he wants to have a bowel movement.  Sometimes if he peepees in the potty, and we applaud him for doingso, he will say, “I pee pee in the potty!”
• Knows how to put away his toys.  I especially am pleased to see him detach his Lego pieces and put them away nicely in the box.  He’ll go “put it away”, and does the deed.
• Loves to share his toys, his food, his milk etc with one and sundry, … well especially his soft toys.  It’s so cute the way he goes, “Here, Mickey..”, and “Here, bear…” and then “Here, Daddy…”, and “Here, Mommy”, while he gives out the item he is sharing.
• Ethan is a very sensitive and affectionate boy, and is always asking for a HUG.  And he is very PASSIONATE about things.  Even when he is watching TV… he gets very engrossed when something bad is about to happen to Dora, for example, and says, “No, no, noooo!!!!” almost in a pleading tone.
• Has started to say numbers like “Twenty-ONE!”, “Twenty-TWO!”, etc…
• Wants to go swimming in the “swimming pool”, but we told him we would only take him when the weather is warmer.  It’s enticing to him because he sees the pool every time he steps out of our apartment.
• Becoming more sociable and he actually looks forward to meeting all his friends at daycare every day.  He knows all their names and sometimes during holidays or weekends, he would mention their names too.  And now, who wouldn’t smile when they see Ethan saying “Hi!” while waving, or “Hello Daddy!” first thing in the morning? 🙂
• Can tell us where we *should* go or where he *wants to go*, by saying, “This way!” and pointing to a particular direction.
• Demanding to be more independent and his favorite phrase now is, “I’ll do it!”  He wants to buckle up on his own, climb into the car seat on his own, take off his shoes on his own, etc.

Food and Feeding

Lately Ethan has started eating more, we noticed.  He has been asking for “more milk”, “more rice” and (yippee) “more chicken”.  His favorite food of course is still rice and he absolutely loves rice with “saw-soyce” (soy sauce).

I absolutely love the way he pronounces “milk”.  He used to say “nenno” but not any more.  Now it’s “merlk”…you know, the VERY precise pronunciation.