Bible Verse of the Day

June 2007

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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.

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