Bible Verse of the Day

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.

I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt!

April 27, 2007 in Ethan, Food & Feeding | 7 comments

We bought 4 cups of yogurt yesterday night and decided to try if Ethan likes it.  I gave him baby yogurt before a few months ago, but he didn’t like it, and I had to finish it all up in the end.  😛

Anyway, I gave him a spoonful and he gave a sourish-looking face.  Some of the yogurt dribbled out from his mouth but he swallowed most of it.  Then I took a spoonful myself, and exaggerated how GOOD it was…..:) I followed that with another spoonful for him.  Sour face again.  Then I ate another spoonful, and when I fed him his third spoonful of delicious mango yogurt, he took it happily and smiled, showing whatever teeth he had 🙂  He even asked for more after that!  And when the whole cup was finished, he still insisted he wanted some more, even though I told him “No more…”  Hehe… will try with strawberry yogurt tonight.

The yogurt I fed him is the low-fat variety, but I might try making my own high-fat yogurt with the low-fat starter later on, when I have introduced milk powder, or other forms of milk to Ethan.  After the yogurt extravaganza last night, and after his bath, Ethan became superhyperactive and Pete claims it could be because of the yogurt.  You think?

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.

Music Selection

April 24, 2007 in Ethan, Funny Moments | 2 comments

So we’re well aware that Ethan is musically-inclined.  And he loves music.  Aren’t kids supposed to like nursery rhymes and Barney-like songs?  Well, the closest I got to him liking kiddie songs is when I sing these songs to him: songs like “The Wheels of The Bus”, “If You’re Happy” and “Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes” will make him smile.  But you know what kind of music REALLY makes him happy and clap his hands?

Music from FlyFM. Yup, the radio station.  That’s the station Mommy and Daddy listen to in the car, and every time a song is played, he will clap his hands and grin happily.  From rock to rap to pop, that is a surefire way to get him clapping.  Funny though that he doesn’t clap to nursery rhymes….

Ethan’s New Baby Sitter

April 23, 2007 in Ethan, Growing Up | 3 comments

Ethan has a new baby sitter, however the baby sitter is only available in our house.  Check it out: 

Look at how much he enjoys playing with it!  Hehehe… that’s the wooden educational toy we bought for Ethan from Ikea…psssst! Great for adults too!  Pete set up the toy on Saturday night and we introduced it to Ethan on Sunday.  He was intrigued immediately and was playing with it quietly for a good half an hour while I took my shower and did some household chores.  And after we came back from church, Ethan immediately headed for that toy and began playing with it intently again.  We’re not sure how long this craze will last, but for now, it’s as good as a baby sitter at home.

Little Green Soldiers

April 23, 2007 in Ethan, Funny Moments | 1 comment

Last weekend we made our somewhat mandatory visit to Queensbay Mall and stopped by Toys ‘R Us.  Pete spotted the little green soldier toys that was so popular back when we were kids.  You know those dark green soldier figurines?  Well, now they have it sold nicely in packs like these:

 

Pete, who was carrying Ethan, picked up a packet to see if it was any different than in the heydays, and of course, Ethan grabbed hold of the packet immediately.  He held on to it as if his life depended on it, even when I tried to take it from him.  He even screamed loudly in protest when I did that.  Tsk tsk… he’s much too young for this la…. although his Daddy is beaming with pride. :p

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