Bible Verse of the Day

In a blink of an eye, our Ethan boy has attained a grand young age of 9 MONTHS!
Things Ethan can do now, as noted by his baby-proud parents:

  • Sit unaided.
    Ethan used to topple over after a while but he is an expert at sitting now. He can sit pretty well in his bathtub too, but usually he will fidget around and try to roll over in the tub.
  • Clap hands.
    Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night, sits in bed and claps his hands. In the middle of the night, I tell ya!
  • Giggle adorably.
    Ethan especially loves it when we drop things (intentionally or unintentionally). He loves it when we attempt to juggle too! Lately, we discovered that he giggles when he sees me skipping around. All in all, if we imitate his actions, he will start giggling.
  • “Communicate”.
    He can say “Bababababa….”, “Wawawawa…..”. A far cry from “Mommy” and “Daddy” but well…..getting there.
  • Bear-crawl.
    I read somewhere that there are different types of crawlers. Bear-crawlers are crawlers who use their arms and upper bodies, lift their butts and drag their legs along to get moving. Apparently, bear crawlers move around really quickly. Pete and I can attest to that!
  • Stand with support.
    It is such a joy to wake up and see Ethan standing in his cot, holding onto the cot railing, and flashing us a huge, wide GRIN. Very rewarding indeed.
  • Do “cha-chi-kok”.
    Term used to refer to opening and closing of palms of hands. He normally does “cha-chi-kok” followed by hand-clapping.
  • Pass objects from one hand to another
    ….and then into his mouth!
  • Reach out hands to be carried.
    Usually accompanied by the very manja “uh uh uh”…now who can resist that?!
  • Pose for camera.
    If we bring a camera and call out to him while he is playing or crawling around, he will stop whatever he is doing, face the camera and SMILE! True model potential.
  • Eats his rusks independently.
    Sometimes banging it on the table and usually dropping it, but some of it does get into his mouth.
  • Peel off his diaper strap.
    ‘nuff said.

Shopping malls in Penang are in dire need of proper nursing and breastfeeding facilities for the general public. Ever since I took on the role of a breastfeeding mommy, I have been visiting breastfeeding/nursing rooms whenever I have the chance to do so. Some are so icky that I have even spotted cockroaches lurking around the room. Simply disgusting!

That said, I would conclude that the award for best nursing room in Penang would probably go to the one in Parkson Grand, Gurney Plaza. It is brightly lit, with 2 stations for diaper change and 2 private curtain-enclosed breastfeeding cubicles. The color scheme is bright and cheerful with nature motives everywhere. There is also a sink with warm water for the convenience of everyone.

I find it extremely comfortable nursing Ethan in the nursing room here. The curtains provide the privacy a breastfeeding mommy needs, and Pete and I have been frequenting this nursing room ever since we started taking Ethan out shopping with us. It was really easy to breastfeed him undisturbed each time we were there, but NOW….aiyo, it’s a totally different story.

I think the change was apparent sometime when Ethan was 4 or 5 months’ old. Each of the nursing cubicles has 3 big wooden wall hooks, in the shape of a snail, a butterfly and a flower. Every time I nursed him there, he would be really fascinated with these hooks and be totally distracted, up to the extent that he would NOT drink his milk! We have tried covering the hooks with plastic bags, covering Ethan’s eyes with cloth and we have even tried using my nursing coverall….but all to no avail. He will only take his milk if he is extremely HUNGRY.

You know what? My breastfeeding friend at work tells me that apparently her daughter is also distracted by the same things. Hehe…. I suppose that’s the reason why nursing rooms in KL are mostly non-bright with no additional cartoons or motifs.

Since starting off on solids when he was 6.5 months, Ethan has been taking all sorts of yummy food. But food which is only approved my Mommy and Daddy.

So far he has been enjoying:

Carbohydrates
Red rice, white rice, millet, wheat, oats

Vegetables
Spinach, carrots, pumpkin, potatoes

Fruits
Pears, apples, prunes, papaya, bananas

Protein
Chicken, and just last weekend, I introduced him to fish.

White pomfret, to be exact. And I am a proud momma to announce that my boy ABSOLUTELY loves it! It was a real joy to feed him his fish porridge. He would open his mouth WIDE in anticipation of the food, take in his mouthful of porridge happily and then clap his hands with GLEE after each mouthful!!! — and then start banging the table for more!!

Recipe for Happy Fish Porridge
Ingredients:
Red rice
White rice
Millet
Red dates (for flavor)
Steamed white pomfret
Steamed carrots (can also substitute with pumpkin, potato, ad lib)
Unlimited amount of LOVE

Method:
Cook rice, millet and red dates into porridge consistency. Mash white pomfret meat and add into porridge together with carrots or other vegetables. Serve lukewarm with LOVE to happy baby.

Ethan has achieved another milestone by being able to clap (with sound). All this time, he has been attempting to clap his hands, moving his palms together in a clapping motion but although he is able to do it quite well, he wasn’t quite able to produce any sound just yet.

Today, he totally nailed it. While sitting in his bathtub taking his bath, he just started clapping and clapping. So adorable… simply music to our ears.

When Ethan was but 2 months’ old, he was already kicking quite hard. The baby sitter even commented that based on her experience with other babies, he seemed to be stronger. She actually attributed it to my diet during pregnancy, and said it must be because I had really nutritious food then. Little did she know that I stuffed myself silly with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Spicy Crispy Chicken McDeluxe AND Pizza Huts’ Super Supreme… Heh… That’s junk food for ya.Pete’s theory, on the other hand, is that Ethan strength is attributed to the fact that I give him massages every day. Since he was born, after his bath, I will massage his body, arms and legs with baby lotion. Baby massages are known to be comforting to both mother and baby and helps with bonding and relaxing too.

Although it is becoming harder and harder to administer the massages nowadays, for the simple reason that Ethan is mobile now, he still gets his massages. Well, I guess….until he learns how to run away, that is …

Me, that is…
I was out sick from work yesterday because I had one of my worst bouts of flu ever. I went to see the doc, who prescribed some medicine for me. I was reluctant to take the medicine though, because I was breastfeeding and didn’t want to pass any foreign drug-like substance to Ethan. So I called my pediatrician and told her the names of the medicine I was prescribed. She advised me against taking them because they cause drowsiness and this will be passed on to Ethan through my breast milk.
So to cut the long story short, I didn’t take the medicine at all and instead let nature take its course in healing me by drinking gallons of water and sleeping as much as I could. I could still breastfeed though, albeit I had to wear a mask. Ethan was very kepo and started to touch the face mask I was wearing. Haha…. In fact, by breastfeeding him especially now, I am passing on the antibodies for this strain of flu virus which I had caught. That’s one strain down, and a few hundred more to go….

Yesterday night when Ethan woke up at 10:30p.m. Pete picked him up and very surprisingly, Ethan was able to fall asleep in his arms! Wait a go, Daddy-o!!!Looks like it won’t be long before Daddy can sign up for night duty eh? Heh heh…

Ta-daa!!

Our Ethan boy can stand aided now!We just got back home from our short trip to Ipoh and Taiping over the past 3 days, and when we reached our apartment, Ethan’s face immediately lit up!

I put him in his playard while I brought in our other stuff from the corridor. Next thing I knew, when I checked on him, he was grabbing the edges of the playard, standing away happily! He played with his toys and he looked SO CHEERFUL. It was as though he really missed them all, and he especially missed his home sweet home…

One funny thing I noticed is that Ethan is a very “ai-bin” (eksyen in Hokkien) little fella. He would grab the edge of his cot, stand up and then release one hand and look at us, as if to say “Ta-daa!! I can stand now! Applause please!” A confident young man in the making, perhaps?


Today I introduced teething rusks to Ethan. Since rusks contain wheat, we only waited till he was 8 months + (which is now) to introduce this complementary food. Upon the recommendation of a friend, I bought Heinz teething rusks, which are supposedly less brittle.Our boy took a liking to the longish rusks immediately! He sucked and nibbled on it, like his life depended on it! And when I took it away from him, he bawled like a …. well…. a baby! I tried a chip of it after that: it is really quite hard, and had no taste whatsoever.

So today while we had our dim sum brunch, we gave him another rusk to occupy himself while we ate. Normally, Ethan, being an active babe (and a demanding one at that too!), would not be able to sit still throughout our entire meal at a restaurant. But today, he had a teething RUSK… so while he busied himself with it, we had a nice non-carrying-baby brunch. Hallelujah to the rusk – definitely a great invention!

We are currently at our wits’ end trying to get Ethan to sleep through the night.

Plan A
When he wakes up and cries, we decided that Pete would be the first one to pick him up. Only if he doesn’t quiet down after several minutes, would I go and attend to him.
What Happened
Ethan woke up, cried and Pete carried him from his cot. Ethan kicked and screamed even louder for a good 3-5 minutes. But when Pete passed Ethan to me, he immediately closed his eyes, quietened down and fell asleep. Just like MAGIC.

Plan B
Remove part of the cot bumpers facing our bed, so that he can see his Daddy and Mommy sleeping from his cot (His cot is adjacent to our bed). We even put his favorite soft toys in the cot with him.
What Happened
When he woke up and cried, he immediately rolled over. Although he eventually realized that we were just sleeping nearby, he still kept on waking up frequently. So much for Plan B then.

Plan C
Allow him to sleep with us, as a sign of reassurance and security. Before this, Pete and I were kinda afraid to allow co-sleeping, because we were afraid we would unconsciously roll on top of him. But because we were willing and desperate to try anything now, we thought we would give it a shot.
What Happened
When Ethan woke up at about midnight, we removed his sleeping sack, I breastfed him, he fell asleep and we placed him between us. Guess what? He slept till 5a.m.!

So until we regain our strength and energy lost during the few weeks of sleepless nights, we’ll let him sleep with us.

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