Little Miracles · Parenting

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…

Morning at the Botanical Gardens

May 21, 2007 in Ethan, Exercise, Growing Up, Parenting | 3 comments

After many moons of procrastination and laziness, we finally dragged our weary selves out of bed this morning and headed over to the Botanical Gardens for a morning family exercise session. It was already a little past 9 in the morning when we arrived, and although it was considerably hot, walking amongst the greenery kind of made it a little bit cooler. We brought Ethan’s stroller along, so we could push him some parts of the way and only took him out where it was safe to toddle around, i.e. not many joggers and runners blocking the path.

At first, Ethan was slightly confused with the new experience, as the last time he was there was so long ago. But I’m not surprised that it only took him a while to warm up and soon he was making himself at home with nature. He was intrigued by the trees, the leaves, the flowers, the road…just about everything in sight, blabbering and screaming loudly in delight!

We had such a good time that we are already planning and looking forward to this coming Saturday morning when (hopefully) we would be able to go again.

Papular Urticaria

May 17, 2007 in Breastfeeding, Ethan, Food & Feeding, Growing Up, Parenting | 2 comments

Huh, what? That’s a scary term to deal with. And it is the scientific name for what is commonly known as hives. That’s what Ethan has been diagnosed with…here’s the story:

When we picked Ethan up from Mrs Tan’s place yesterday evening, there were some small red rashes on his left cheek. I applied some Sebamed Baby Cream as soon as we got back and breastfed him. He fell asleep soon after and was still asleep even when Pete came back from his futsal game. Ethan woke up at about 8:30p.m. and played for a while before we bathed him. During his bath, we noticed that there were also small tiny rashes of a similar kind on his legs and a couple on his back. I applied some baby cream and Egozite on those rashes and some calamine cream on his legs too. Then early this morning, we felt his body was slightly warmer than usual and I promptly took his temperature. We had bought a digital ear thermometer a couple of months back, so it was significantly easier to register a temperature compared to our conventional armpit thermometer. The reading was 36.3 degrees, i.e. no fever. Phew!

But still, I was paranoid and decided to take him to see Dr Jessica, for fear of it being HFMD. After about an hour’s wait at GMC, we were ushered in and Dr Jessica examined Ethan. She remarked that it could be due to the Enfapro formula which Ethan had been taking for the previous 2 days, albeit mixed with his oats. Thankfully he had no ulcers and his fever had subsided. Dr Jessica just asked us to apply the Egocort cream on Ethan’s rashes and monitor his condition, in case there is a fever. We were to stop giving him Enfapro and instead, if we wanted, we could introduce the hypo-allergenic Nestle NAN H.A. formula. (I told Dr Jessica that I had a taste of NAN H.A. last night and it was HORRIBLE! So much more bitter than Enfapro and made me almost throw up!) In addition, Dr Jessica also gave us some sachets of Isomil, which was lactose-free, and she added that adults could also take it since it tastes like soya bean milk 🙂

We had lunch at Fatty Loh’s Chicken Rice at Tanjung Tokong where Ethan really enjoyed his chicken rice (and even demanded for more when we were done), and then we went home to pack up for half-day work. I packed one feed of EBM for Ethan to bring to Mrs Tan’s place and brought along that tin of NAN H.A.. I gave her specific instructions to STOP Enfapro for the time being and try NAN H.A. instead. Let’s pray that Ethan will be cured of his Papular Urticaria soon. I’m ever so thankful that I have been breastfeeding him for so long 🙂

My 2nd Mother’s Day

May 13, 2007 in Ethan, Parenting | 2 comments

It’s Mother’s Day today. A day for all mothers to kick back, relax and leave all the chores to Daddy and the kids. And it’s the second time I actually qualify to celebrate it. Ethan greeted me at 8:30a.m. today with an adorable smile. A smile that melted my heart and made carrying him simply irresistable.

We had a quick breakfast at home and then got ready to go to church. Surprisingly Ethan behaved himself rather well in church and although there were times he preferred NOT to sit still, he eventually fell asleep towards the end of the service. The priest then requested all mothers to step forward to receive a blessing for Mother’s Day, so I had to pass the angelic-looking Ethan to Pete to carry. He slept all the way till the end until we were about to load him into the car, then he awoke and started complaining. After some reassurance (and car air-cond), he quietened down and we headed towards Queensbay Mall. Yippeee….We were going to have lunch at Friday’s :), one of our favorite haunts. As we were turning into Queensbay Mall, Ethan exclaimed excitedly, it was as if he *knew* where we were going (I think he was only thinking “escalators”…hehe). Ethan was the picture of happiness when we arrived at Friday’s, and he smiled at every stranger that would so much as glance at him. I managed to record his cheeky antics while waiting for our food… this is how Ethan handles impatience…

At the end of the day, it was a terrific Mother’s Day, spent with love and MORE love. Happy Mommy’s Day to me! 🙂 I could not ask for more…

A First for Ethan and Mommy

May 3, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up, Milestones, Parenting | No comments

Pete was still down with the flu yesterday, and I had to go out to get a few items to cook. So I decided to take Ethan along with me to the minimart near where we stay. While opening and locking the door of our house, Ethan was really intrigued with the padlocks which I guess he hasn’t seen up close before. I loaded him into his car seat and we were off. Carrying him on my right and fumbling to pay the shopkeeper with my left hand was quite tricky, but since I did not buy a lot of stuff, I managed. 🙂 Although he could already walk, I did not put him on the ground for fear he wander without my noticing. We were out for about half an hour and then came back home.

That was the first time I had gone out all alone with Ethan…perhaps a first of many?

Attempt at Weaning

April 27, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up, Parenting, Sleep | 2 comments

Lately I have started becoming slightly conscious of attempts to wean Ethan from my breast (I say *slightly* because I think subconsciously I am not even sure myself if I want to wean…but eventually my boy will have to grow up, right?).

Every evening when we come home from work, Ethan will play with his toys for a moment, before he realizes he misses me, and then he will come over to me and ask for comfort suckling. Sometimes he will drift off for a short nap before he wakes up and takes his bath. But sometimes he will just sleep through and miss his bath entirely. That’s all right too, cos his baby sitter has started giving him a late afternoon bath as well nowadays, because he is so active that he sweats a lot. Anyway, when he is ready for bed, I will breastfeed him and tuck him in when he is done. I tell you, he looks so preciously adorable when he is fast asleep… angelic, even…

Previously when he wakes up during the night, or about midnight, I will breastfeed him again, a surefire way to get him back to dreamland. But a few days ago, when he woke up around 11p.m., I took him into the kitchen and gave him a drink of water. Ethan can drink from a normal adult cup now and loves doing so, but since I have yet to get him a lighter one he can hold himself, I still need to hold the ceramic cup for him now. After a few gulps of water, I took him into the room and laid down with him on the bed. Miraculously he fell asleep immediately! So he was just thirsty! And he slept till 4:30a.m. – which is good judging by Ethan’s standards okay?

Apart from water, I’ve also tried singing and rocking him to sleep sometimes. In fact most of the time, when he wakes up during the night, it’s not because he is hungry but more so because he feels lonely or perhaps just thirsty. So there you have it. My *feeble* attempt at weaning. May not be much thus far, but it’s a start.

“I want to play!”

April 19, 2007 in Ethan, Funny Moments, Growing Up, Parenting, Sleep | 1 comment

I don’t know what got into Ethan last night, but it was SO difficult to put him to bed. After his warm bath at about 9p.m., I breastfed him. Under normal circumstances, he would be in dreamland in about 15 minutes or less. Last night, he decided that he still wanted to play. He hopped down from my lap after he had his milk, then he walked over to his toys and began playing with his colored blocks. I cajoled him to go to bed, but he refused. Instead, he chose to walk around the house babbling incoherently, eyes wide awake, mind you! After some time, I decided to take him into our room and make him sleep there instead (this plan worked before). But instead of falling asleep on our comfy bed, he preferred to roll around, crawl around and even walk around the room… so much for my plan! I had to wait for him to tire himself out, I thought. I even asked Pete to pretend to sleep on the bed with Ethan and I to see if our boy would want to sleep too. But Ethan was adamant he wanted to play still…. so Pete decided to take him out into the living room, while I did the laundry and some cleaning up.

Finally, we noticed that Ethan had a hint of eyebags which denoted he was ready for bed, but still he was *conversing* with us loudly and excitedly. I took him into the room anyway, and he fell asleep after 10 minutes! 🙂 It was already past 11:00p.m. then.

Ethan woke up in the middle of the night, but I was not stirred from my sleep at all, until Ethan called “Mommeeee!” clearly. That got me right out of bed – well, Pete brought Ethan to me la. Hehe… well, actually I had no recollection of the incident in the middle of the night, except for the “Mommeeee!” part. Pete, who can wake up at the drop of a pin, was the one who told me what happened.

Separation Anxiety all over again

April 10, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up, Parenting | 4 comments

On Monday when we were walking towards Mrs Tan’s house and Pete was carrying Ethan, Ethan cried in a manja manner and wanted me to carry him. When we reached Mrs Tan’s doorstep, Ethan cried slightly louder and protested to being left with Mrs Tan and wanted to stick to me like glue.

Luckily Mrs Tan quickly interjected by saying, “Where’s the bird? Where’s the bird?” (She’d hang a birdie toy in the doorway of one of the rooms and it sang a song when touched). Well well… Ethan immediately looked toward the direction of the birdie toy, seemingly distracted. Pete and I said our goodbyes and made a quick escape.

I was kinda sad leaving Ethan at the sitter’s because he apparently knows now that he is being left with someone else while Pete and I are at work. 🙁 Mrs Tan says it happens to all babies. I can only pray that Ethan will understand…

14th Month Progress Report

April 5, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up, Milestones, Parenting | 3 comments

In a blink of an eye, my little boy is now 14 months old. And yes, I am still breastfeeding.

Weight
9.1 kg as of his last visit with Dr Jessica.

Height
76cm as of his last visit with Dr Jessica.

Teeth
8 in total: 4 incisors top and bottom (bottom side incisors growing quicker than top ones). Makes for a really cheeky grin.

Motor Skills

Ethan can walk as fast as he can crawl now, and lately I have been noticing that he is trying to step up stairs too, for instance when we were in church, he would try to step up the steps leading to a wooden door. Sometimes I have even caught him trying to stand on one foot…. yeah, like a stork. 😛

Oh yeah…and did I mention our boy can make music?

Ethan likes to play with his toothbrush. No no…not brush his teeth, but hold the toothbrush up in the air and babble incoherently.

Pete: Ethan, toothbrush… toothbrush (pointing to the toothbrush)
Ethan: OOohhhh bebababa..tatata……

Communication & Social Skills

Will try to join in the conversations we have, but what Ethan says is mostly babbling. Ethan voice is really loud and when he wants something, he will shriek and scream. We are trying to teach him to NOT scream but to converse properly when he wants to communicate something – no luck so far.
Whenever he sees Pete and I hugging, he will want in on the hug too, and will toddle towards us and hug our legs.
Every weekday morning before Pete and I leave for work, Pete would carry Ethan out and head towards the car. Lately when we are about ready to leave, Ethan would walk really fast towards Pete and hug his legs, requesting to be carried.
When I am taking my shower, sometimes Ethan would ask Pete to take him to our room (where I am in the bathroom), so that he can bang on my door :). Sometimes Pete would relent, but at other times, when Pete is busy watching ESPN or something… Ethan would walk over to my room door and bang on it himself 😀

Food & Eating Habits

We’ve been pretty lenient with Ethan’s food the past month and he has had the luxury of enjoying an array of outside food, among others, char siew pau. Last weekend, we were at Soba Yoshi’s and since I didn’t bring his porridge out, I tried (again) to feed him chawan mushi with some calrose rice. I tried giving him chawan mushi a couple of weeks back, but he was not very keen on it then. This time, the little fella walloped it like nobody’s business. He’s just a chip off the old block eh?

Since we gave him spaghetti at Friday’s a couple of weeks back, he has also taken to eating with his hands. We would feed him porridge, for example, and sometimes, he would put his fingers in, taking out chunks of porridge and whatever is in it, look at it, and then put it back into his mouth.

SAHM* for the day

March 28, 2007 in Ethan, Food & Feeding, Miscellanous, Parenting, What's Cooking | No comments

I took a day off on emergency leave today because Ethan came down with the flu and had slight fever. Must have either been contracted from the little girl he played with and hugged in church last Sunday or just a side effect from the chicken pox jab he had.

He still looked his usual self but slightly tired-looking. He slept for 30 minutes in the morning and another 30 minutes in the afternoon. I breastfed him the whole day long and I decided to breastfeed him for lunch too, as well as give him as much fluids as possible. When he woke up at 3:45p.m., I prepared some organic carrot noodles which I had bought some weeks ago. I cooked the noodles with some egg, lettuce and a little bit of ikan bilis powder. At first he would not take it, and kept turning away, but when I put the bowl of noodles in front of him with a teaspoon and showed him how to use the spoon, he became VERY interested suddenly…. not sure if he was more interested in the spoon or the food la…but anyhow, I managed to get him to eat a few spoonfuls. Feed the flu, the say…