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Ethan loves numbers! And the amazing thing about this is that we didn’t even force him to learn his numbers. He picked it up all on his own, with his own interest.
Here’s a really cute video of him counting, finger actions included…(a result of nothing else better to do while waiting for the food to arrive). Check out how he positions his fingers for numbers 3 and 8. Priceless!
I am very pleased that both my kids are fully on drinking cups now, be it regular cups or sippy cups. No more bottles to wash, no more bottle nipples to scrub…
When we left for the States, Ethan was still on the bottle, and I had planned on weaning him off it while we were there. I was about 70% successful. He was only taking the bottle once in the morning and once at night, and then slowly we eliminated the night one. When we returned to Malaysia, he went totally off the bottle for good 🙂
As for Hannah, since I breastfed her for 5 months without having the bottle, it was expected that she would not want the bottle, so now when she is at the sitter’s, she drinks from a sippy cup. A toddler sippy cup, mind you…the kind without the valve. We don’t have to worry at all about weaning her from a bottle 🙂
I bought these Tupperware bell tumblers from US, which comes in 4 different colors. Ethan drank from these when he was at the daycare in US. But now in Malaysia, he rarely wants to drink from them anymore, preferring instead to use regular cups. The pink one is Hannah’s. She drinks her EBM and water from that one.
The NUK sippy cup is meant for Hannah, but so far it doesn’t seem like she likes the spout very much.
We’ve also got these 2 cups for the kids. Got them from Gilroy Gardens. At first we didn’t want to get them because we only found Ethan’s, but then when we saw Hannah’s, we knew we had to get them both. Ethan sometimes drinks his water from his “Ethan cup”. It will be some time still before Hannah will be able to drink from hers. 🙂
Ain’t it fun being a kid, when you have all these pretty colorful cups to drink from?
Scrap Credits
While Softness QP from Missty Scrap
‘Sweet Baby’ Wordart vol. 2 from Dreams Inspired
Circle Dot Alpha (the number 8) from Laurie’s Scraps
Last weekend, we visited a friend and coincidentally there was also another baby at the house. I was asked how old Hannah is, and when I said “8 months”, there were gasps all around. Turns out the other baby is close to a year old, but Hannah looked a wee bit bigger than the baby.
Weight
Did not measure but should be close to 10 kilos now.
Height/Length
Getting taller and taller!
Teeth (yup, she has some growing!)
2 bottom incisors, and 2 more at the top are sprouting, I believe!
Motor Skills
Communication and Social Skills
Food and Feeding
She’s on Mommy’s milk 100% and is taking a little bit of solids too. She has a solid meal once a day in the evenings, but it is more for tasting rather than making her full. She takes a combination of any of the following now:
Her favorite right now is Pureed carrot + rice cereal + EBM. I normally add some rice cereal and EBM to the fruit/vegetable purees to make it creamier in texture.
I’m happy to note that the sibling relationship between Ethan and Hannah is significantly better now. Granted, he still sometimes prevents her from playing with most of his toys, but he now (usually) will say “I’m the big brother, Hannah’s my little sister”, and I find that really sweet.
Ironically, I got them cute outfits that had the words “Big Brother” and “Little Sister” sewn on them, and thought it would be a good idea to have a picture taken of both of them in it.
Precious, precious, simply precious shots! 🙂
…although it was tough to take the pictures too, because Hannah kept wanting to touch Ethan’s hair and ears, while Ethan wanted to prevent her from doing so, while saying “Cheese!” at the same time! LOL
I asked Ethan to put his arm around Hannah in the last picture above 🙂
Don’t they both look happy? 🙂
A couple of days before Ipoh Ah Kong’s birthday, I took Ethan card-hunting. We were looking for a birthday card for his granddad, but I had no idea it was so difficult to find one specifically for granddads. We saw loads for Moms, Dads, Grandmas, Brothers, Sisters, even Aunts and Uncles.
Anyway, we found one just in the nick of time. Ethan chose the card, and I helped him prepare the card to be sent.
Ethan wanted to sign his own name on the card, and I gave him the pen to do it. That was when I discovered my little boy could write E, T and H all on his own! I guided him to write A and N, and then we sealed the envelope, he helped me glue the stamps on it, and happily put it in the post box.
Ah Kong was very pleasantly surprised to receive the birthday card, and Ethan was just as happy! What an awesome way to send love! 🙂
Last week, Ethan only went to school for 3 days. His school was closed for 2 days on Thursday and Friday, because all the staff was involved in a charity concert the school had organized. This meant that I needed to find something for Ethan to do that won’t keep him bored.
So on Thursday morning, I took him to the children’s library. It was just a very small one, but Ethan was VERY excited to step into a library…so much so that I had to remind him to NOT be too noisy (not that there were a lot of people there to disturb anyway).
Ethan chose several books and we sat at the table to read them. Then I taught him how to put the books back in the rack or the bins so the librarians could arrange them back again.
My only complaint about the children’s library was that the books were very old, and during the time we were there, I didn’t really see any books that were that good. But the important thing was that Ethan had fun!
I told him we could borrow the books, but he told me he wanted to BUY them! LOL
Anyway, in the afternoon, we had lunch at Fatty Loh’s at Nagore Road, and then drove to Queensbay Mall, where we went to the bookstore to get some magazines, and then went to the post office to post some letters. There were some Halloween decorations up then, and Ethan went absolutely crazy! He of course wanted a picture taken too, but he was moving so much it was hard to get a good shot.
Then we did a quick round of grocery shopping, and headed back for home.
Friday morning, we baked some chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Ethan was asking for it the whole morning, and he was quite the helpful kitchen helper indeed. He helped me pour the mixture, mixed it, and then he helped to lay out the cupcake wrappers in the molds. Oh, and of course he helped in eating too!
We did have a great time, and I am quite sure I answered his question when he said, “School’s closed today, Mommy?” 🙂
When I feel down, when I feel hurt, when I feel sad, it’s amazing how Ethan always manages to make it all feel better. Just like whenever he wakes up from a nightmare, and comes to me asking me to make it better for him, likewise, my little boy does the same for me.
Yesterday, I felt really gloomy and sad. Clumsy me had knocked over my freshly expressed bottle of EBM and 2.5oz had spilt onto the kitchen counter. While cleaning the mess, Ethan asked me what I was doing, and I told him I spilt the milk. He looked at me gently, came over and said, “Don’t worry Mommy, we’ll pour more milk later, okay?”
And then after I had downloaded some photos from my camera, one of the nicest shots I had taken of Ethan and Hannah ended up corrupted. I was fiddling with it on the PC trying to restore it, and Ethan wanted to know what was wrong. I sadly told him that one of my favorite pictures was spoilt. He immediately put his arms around me and said, “Here’s a hug Mommy. Don’t worry, everything will be okay.”
You just gotta love him 🙂
(By the way, I am still trying desperately to restore that picture. If anyone knows how to restore a corrupted jpg file, please let me know!)
Followers of the “Children should be seen and not heard” school of thought would certainly click their tongues in disapproval and shake their heads in despair should they see and hear what Ethan is like these days. When he is watching TV or doing something and he is concentrating: Ethan: Be quiet! Shhhh…. (holds finger to his mouth). No talking!
*****
Daddy attempts to change the TV channel.
Ethan: No watching FOOTBALL, Daddy!
and lately…
Ethan: No Daddy, change the channel to Playhouse Disney, PLEeeeeeeeASsssssssE!!!! PuhLEeeeeeeeASsssssssssssE….???!!!
*****
When someone laughs at him, with him or loudly:
Ethan: It’s not funny, uncle!! That’s not very nice!
*****
At the restaurant, a waiter approaches us.
Waiter: Sir, do you need a baby chair for your son?
Ethan: NO! I’m NOT a baby! (points at Hannah) Hannah’s the baby! I’m a BOY! I’m THREE years old!
*****
At the restaurant again, the waitress assists Ethan by pushing his stool closer to the table.
Ethan: NO! No touching me!
*****
When I am having a conversation with someone:
Ethan: No talking Aunty! Mommy talk first!
*****
When about to go out:
Mommy: Okay buddy, go put on your shoes.
Ethan: No no, not SHOES…sandals!
In school:
Teacher: Alright, take off your shoes.
Ethan: Not shoes, teacher. SANDALS!
Last week, Ethan surprised us yet again with another one of his newfound abilities: Coloring INSIDE the lines. I bet he must have picked this up from school, because we never pruposely force him to color inside the lines. I prefer to allow him free reign of how to express himself artistically. And look how handsomely that has paid off!
I’m so proud of my boy, and can’t believe how much he has grown up! 🙂
“Mommy, Mommy, can I have your Coach bag when I grow up?”
“PLEEEEeeeeeeeaaaaaasssssssssse?????”
Definitely a trait inherited from Mommy 🙂