Bible Verse of the Day

May 2007

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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…

Communication is an Art Form

May 12, 2007 in Ethan, Funny Moments | 2 comments

About 15 months ago, I was suddenly hauled into a world where communication took on different forms other than mere speech.  Crying, gurgling and whimpering were the order of the day… but by and by, Ethan began to learn other forms of communication as well.  Although he is still unable to form words, he is really showing signs of doing so soon, as he is now blabbering non-stop and appears as though he is conversing with us all the time.   Now we pretend to have conversations with him and it’s so amusing to see him respond so enthusiastically.

Just yesterday evening, we had a nice dinner at Soba Yoshi and as usual, before we left the restaurant, we allowed him to roam around for a bit.  At the restaurant, Ethan was yakking away and making all the waitresses adore him more and more.  We decided to take the coastal route back home and as Pete was making a left onto the coastal highway, Ethan suddenly began squealing loudly in delight, albeit in *phrases* we could not comprehend.  As I was sitting in the co-driver seat in front, I turned round to see what the commotion was all about.  Guess what?  Our boy was looking excitedly to his right, where he had a clear view of Queensbay Mall!  He thought we were heading there and was getting all excited about it!  We had to calmly tell him that we weren’t going there just yet.  Hehe…talk about missing the mall!

Showers of Blessings

May 11, 2007 in Ethan, Funny Moments | 3 comments

Yesterday I had to give Ethan his nightly warm bath on my own since Daddy had an eye infection and was resting.  Being too lazy to take out his bath tub and all, I gave Ethan a shower instead.  Ethan is no very used to water flowing on top of his head and all over his face.  Initially he’d protest, but over time, he has somehow gotten the hang of it and now merely wipes his face vigorously when the water flows down.

Giving Ethan a shower is always funny because as soon as I turn on the shower, he will start yelling loudly like nobody’s business.  Last night was no different.  Amid all the yells and squeals, he reached out to play with the streams of water from the shower nozzle and screamed in delight when I showered him down.  Now, isn’t that therapeutic after a hard day’s work?

15th Month Progress Report

May 10, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up, Milestones | 2 comments

 

Weight
At least 9.5 kilos, though Pete and I have reason to feel like he has definitely gained a whole lot more weight after the visit to Dr Jessica.

Height
At least 75cm

Teeth
Last month I noticed 2 pramolars appearing at the bottom gum surface, but now believe it or not, they are gone!  So total teeth count is now back to 8.

Food
Ethan is taking almost everything we take now, i.e. adult food.  He actually prefers rice to porridge, and I no longer cook porridge for him during weekends.  If we eat out, he takes whatever we take, and if I cook at home, he’ll take the same food as we do.  I am pleased to say that he LURVES Mommy’s cooking! 🙂 Last week, I cooked Too-Thor-Th’ng(Pork Belly Soup) and he gobbled it down with glee!  He’s also recently been introduced to a host of other new foods, among them siew-mai and yogurt, which he absolutely adores!  I found the full-cream yogurt that is suitable for kids (Fernleaf CalciYUM), and bought them for him.  Believe it or not, he even knows how to request for it!  He will come over to either Pete or me when we are eating our yogurt and go, “Mum mum mum MUM MUM!!!” while reaching for ours!

When we go to Innira’s, I’ve also given him his rice with just an teensy bit of curry and he is okay with it too.

One thing Ethan dislikes though is baby food from jars.  He will have absolutely none of it.  No pureed pear or prunes, no juice and certainly no yogurt from jars.  Our little boy is selective and only wants freshly prepared food.

Highlights

  • Ethan is finally able to drink from a straw, and does so with gusto, although lately he has sometimes been rejecting the straw, preferring instead to drink from a normal adult cup.  Yes, I’ve been training him to do so since a few weeks back, and since we haven’t gotten him a cup of his own, I let him use my ceramic one.  It’s kinda heavy so I have had to hold it for him while he drinks.  He spills just a little of the water on his front while drinking and would you believe it, yesterday, he even grabbed the whole cup from me, and held it to drink all by himself!

  • Ethan can walk pretty confidently now, teetering on the brink of running.  No more careful stances with extended arms trying to balance himself whilst walking.  Nowadays, he loves to walk while swinging his arms.  And he even knows how to steady himself if he is about to fall!
  • Calls me “Ma-meh” and calls Pete “Di-deh”.  Ethan is blabbering a lot these days and is showing signs that he will talk very soon.  He loves forming syllables with his tongue and can carry on a “conversation” with us, albeit very funnily 😛  He has learnt to say “mai” (“don’t want” in Hokkien) – when I try to brush his teeth, he will say “mai mai mai“.  Last night in an attempt to give him water instead of milk when he woke up at 11:00p.m., he pushed his sippy cup away and angrily said “mai mai mai!” SIGH.
  • Knows his way around our house very well now…errr…too well, sometimes.  He loves opening cabinets (note to self: need to fix the cabinet stoppers this weekend) and finding interesting stuff inside.
  • Every morning, when Pete has his breakfast, Ethan will walk over to him and place his head lovingly on his lap, as if to wish his Daddy “Good Morning!”
  • When Pete plays the tickling game with him, Ethan will walk really quickly in an attempt to escape.  He will hide behind me or behind my legs.  Sometimes, if he is cornered by Daddy, he will bend low in order to avoid being tickled…or…he will move behind Daddy so that Daddy can’t see him to tickle him.
  • Ethan is learning to share 🙂 When I feed him pieces of bread for example, he will peel off portions of the bread and tries to feed me.  He will pass an item to Pete or me (for instance, a greeting card or toy block) and smile while doing so.  Pete and I will reply, “Thank you!” and Ethan will repeat the entire process all over again.  When I give him a drink from a cup he will gulp down several sips and then push the cup towards me, motioning me to take a few sips too!

Messy messy messy!

May 7, 2007 in Ethan, Food & Feeding, Funny Moments, Growing Up | 3 comments

Yesterday morning, I prepared oatmeal for Ethan for his breakfast.  I had purchased a set of baby fork and spoon for him a few weeks back and being a little adventurous, I thought it was high time I took them out for him to try.  This first time round, I only used the spoon.  I blanched his baby oatmeal in some hot water to make it a smoother consistency and then added some organic soya bean milk which I had bought yesterday.  Being curious, I tried a little of my concoction and it tasted fantastic!

I then placed the oatmeal into Ethan’s bowl in front of him together with the baby spoon.  He immediately took to it like a duck to water.  I demonstrated to him how it should be done, and he was fascinated.  He attempted to feed himself and gosh, it was certainly a mess all right.. but can you tell that he is having so much fun?

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?

Trip to Ipoh and Taiping

May 3, 2007 in Ethan, Vacation | 6 comments

Last weekend, we made a trip to our hometowns on Ipoh and Taiping.  It has been quite some time since we went back (I think the last time was CNY), so since there was a long holiday and all, we decided to go first to Ipoh on Saturday and then to Taiping on Sunday.  We had planned on packing on Friday night and leaving as early as possible on Saturday, but Ethan apparently had other plans in store for us.  On Friday night, he decided that he wanted to stay up as late as possible, hence making it impossible for us to pack.  In the end, we had to do everything on Saturday morning itself; we had our dim sum brunch and were on our way about half past noon.  We arrived in Ipoh at about 2:30p.m. and it didn’t take long for Ethan to get acquainted to his Ah Ma and Ah Kong, and of course, the house… see how much at home he is?

There is toy in Ipoh that fascinates Ethan so.  It is actually a dustbin, but Ah Ma bought it not to be a dustbin, but more so to entertain Ethan.  It’s amazing what normal every day things can do to kids, huh?

 

After dinner on Saturday night, Ah Ma and Ah Kong took Ethan across the road to Kinta City for about half an hour, to have a field time at the escalators.  Yes, Ethan is still very much in awe of escalators and we can really feel the force towards the escalators every time we go to the mall.

On Sunday morning, we went to the famous Nam Heong coffee shop in Leech Street, Old Town to have brunch.  This is the shop where the famous white coffee originated from.  Ethan could not take coffee, at least not yet, so he had to make do with the roti bakar.  Yummy yummy…. see how he checked to see what it is before he puts it in his mouth?  Definitely traits of a discerning food connoiseur….

Before leaving Ipoh, Ethan had some fun at home, playing with Ah Ma and Ah Kong, while Mommy and Daddy packed up.

Ethan did not sleep at all in the car from Ipoh to Taiping.  He was busy checking out the surroundings and what he could see from the car window.  And when we reached Taiping, it didn’t take long for him to find his playmate – a punch-n-bounceback toy!  It was a toy which Aunty Pauline had bought and although it is rather heavy for a kid, our boy can easily put his arms around it and lift it up!

Too bad the mosquitoes in Taiping got a little too close for comfort and gave Ethan 2 little *presents* as soon as he arrived.  But Ethan was still his jolly good self, and since Ethan boy had so much energy, we decided to take a drive to the Taiping Lake Garden in the evening.  Would you believe he actually fell asleep in the car on the way there?  We woke him up nevertheless upon arrival and he immediately wanted to walk around on his own.  No, actually he wanted to walk TOWARDS the lake.  It was dangerous, so most of the time, we had to carry him.


We reached home on Monday evening, tired and missing Penang.  Ethan of course went around our house checking that everything was still there 😛

Actually I had planned on introducing formula to Ethan on May 1st but unfortunately Daddy fell sick, so I had to put my plans on hold, as breastfeeding would give Ethan the necessary antibodies to combat Daddy’s flu.

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