Ethan Ng's Raspberry Bubbles & other Joys

Ethan's 4th birthday is coming

2008-11-26T02:02:00.002+08:00

The party is this saturday and I am not done! arrrggghhh. I have to confirm the people and liase with FrisknRomp, the organisers du jour about the party's activities. so anyway, I start to tell Ethan that we can't do this next year, and obviously he's not listening.....

I so want to give him everything, yet not give him so much that he won't treasure what he has or learn the skills to get his own stuff. But it's tough, it's easier to just watch his face light up when you tell him he's having another party. I actually think it's less energy sapping to plan another cos then it becomes the next bribe. Maybe I am getting a little too tired. Plus trying to blog meaningfully across a number of topics at 2 am in the morning isn't helping. They'll be waking up at 6, bright-eyed and bushy tailed and me, harassed and harried, but sooo proud of my little darlings, and despite the fatigue, looking forward to another fun day with them. I don't know how long I can last out, think my funds are non-existent already and I will be forced back into the workforce to pay the bills, the price being less time with my little precious darlings. So it hurts so much, I just want to focus on the birthday and hope I am spending the money right, by giving him memories of a wonderful childhood which will help carry him through life.

Rollerblading

2008-11-26T01:32:00.002+08:00

Ethan can now roll along on his blades. It's been a journey of many false starts but I think we're finally getting there. He's going to be better than me soon and I'm still learning how to stop. Ethan is trying to salam like his father!!!

Rollerblading

2008-10-13T01:15:00.002+08:00

Ethan was having his roller blading lesson yesterday. It was probably lesson three??!! and at lesson 2, hw could not even get out of the grass and yesterday he just got onto the cement and started moving. I am sooo proud of my little boy who has grown so much and so fast.

So it's been more than a year

2008-10-07T12:29:00.002+08:00

So I have been busy with everything else. But time again to chronicle the little cute things that Ethan does, and also when he's with Micah his little bro.

Ethan's grown up a lot and has been attending school. I must say I have been spending less time with him for obvious (2nd kid) and not-so-obvious reasons. I don't know if it' the pregnancy or the looking after 2 kids or the lack of exercise but I have been barely able to keep it together. I have taken no-pay-leave and am slowly recovering from what is possibly chronic fatigue.

Ethan has been blossoming in many different ways and he is as sweet as he ever was. And still such a joy to be with. He is as energetic as ever so we can barely keep up. I hope to be able to post photos and notes on what I can remember of my sweet Ethan in the last few months.

Ethan doing his "pose"

2007-12-07T07:58:00.000+08:00

Ethan on 7 October 2007. See how much he has grown up?

Ethan's first stay at the hospital

2006-10-19T14:24:00.000+08:00

Ethan suddenly had vomitting spells in the middle of the night sometime in September. It's been so long (more than a year) and yet the feeling of fear and hopelessness is still quite fresh in my mind.

The bummer was, I had work to do that night. So I had sent hubby to go be with my baby. I finished about 2am in the morning and so went up to check. There was a wierd smell in the room and to my horror, I realised that my baby had diarrhoea right there on the bed. My stoned hubby apparently slept right through it - Men!!! I cleaned Ethan up and then fed him some more water. He was so exhausted he was just whimpering, my poor baby. After that he had some more diarrhoea and vomiting that I lost it. I was just wailing. Something is seriously wrong with my baby and I couldn't do anything about it. Hubby saw my distressed state and offered to bring Ethan to EastShore. So we went.

Ok, so I don't like people sticking needles into my son. It makes him cry which tears at my heart. It's worse when they can't find a vein and keep sticking into him. By then all the stress and baby crying has resulted in niagra falls on my face, and I was miserable. They recommended he stay in the hospital and be dripped. Of course I requested for a private room to be with my lil'one.

Ethan fared remarkably well for the next few days he had to be in the hospital and was attached to a drip. I think he had to stay for 4 days. Of course at the end of it he was running around the place and we were begging the docs to let him go home. I started feeling unwell right about the third day and started vomitting myself. Apparently his Gastroenteritis bug thingy is very virulent. I was sent to bed by my doc who threathened me with saline drips and hospital stay!!! So Ethan was discharged to my mum's. Guess what, they all got it. My mum, hubby, the maid, my brother.

So we sent for reinforcements. My cousin Margaret came and helped out. Her husband, Eric came by to bring her home. Needless to say they fell ill too. In fact, Cousin Eric landed up in the hospital for 3 days. Ugh. Dark times.

hip bandana

2006-08-13T23:37:00.000+08:00

I bought this bandana for Ethan when he was about 8 months old. It's taken this long to fit and also taken this long before Ethan is vain enough to wear it!

swimming in blue

2006-08-13T23:26:00.000+08:00

This is Ethan having fun at the pool at my friend's condo.

so much to update and so little time!

2006-08-03T17:45:00.000+08:00

work's been very disagreeable, so I've had no time. hubby's work also disagreeable so he hasn't been able to send me photos, ugh.

Reading
some time last week, think it was the weekend, I was trying to rearrange Ethan's cards and Ethan read "spoon" off one of the cards he saw! proof that Glenn Doman is working!!!

Vocalizations
Ethan can say so many words already. Ethan can count one to ten, get from A to D in sequence, realises "p" comes after "o" and "z" after "y". Other words - "home", cut, spoon, knife, fork, daddy mummy, gong gong, mamak,yeye, nainai, cut, car, drive, no, yes, ethan, got, "ku" (uncle), fan, make nan nan, biscuit, pear, grape, apple, bao bao there, go, don't like, papa (okay not quite papaya), nana (okay not quite banana), good, moon;
don't know if I have gotten all

I am very proud of my little boy though. i think he is progressing very well.

My boy doesn't want to come home at night

2006-06-11T23:53:00.000+08:00

Ethan suffering from separation anxiety. He doesn't want to come home with us cos he wants his grandma. I know it's better than him missing the maid, but I still feel terrible. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I am now getting my mum to help with the Glenn Doman english cards. Ethan doesn't want me to do the cards with him anymore. He does love the picture cards I still get to do with him though since I have been doing those since he was a few months old.

Makes me want to just quit and stay home to be with my little sweetheart.

My boy read a word today!

2006-06-11T22:32:00.000+08:00

Ethan read the word "ball" when it was presented to him. No pictures to guide him.

Other firsts :
Ethan realised yesterday that he can float with the help of arm floats and that has made the world of difference to hhow he feels. He loves his pool time. Again, I am still waiting to get photos from the daddy.

First trip to the beach on the sand

2006-05-15T23:36:00.000+08:00

Ethan was at the beach 2 weeks back and loved it! He was happy to dig in the sand and even more fascinated with the water! I couldn't persuade him to try his feet on the sand though and had to let him play in the sand in his shoes. what a shame but I am confident I can help him overcome this fear of "dirt". Let's see how I fare!

"separation anxiety"? doesn't quite cut it

2006-05-10T08:56:00.000+08:00

I leave for work during the work day week, tearing myself away from my lovely boy. They call it "separation anxiety", such a clinical name. But what it feels like for me is a real heart wrenching, chest tightening, eye tearing, brain numbing pain that starts from the chest and spreads. And it dulls and quiets at work, until I get too busy to think about it, much like how one ignores a skull cracking migraine. Then at the end of the day as I approach my mum's place, my heart starts to expand and finally slowly when I first hug my son, then the pain of the day of being away starts to slowly ebb. I hear it all the time, "You'll get used to it", "It's better like that, there's no way you can manage him yourself" but really I didn't and now having returned to work for the last 12 months, it's gotten more poignant, if anything.

My heart sings

2006-04-12T16:37:00.000+08:00

Ethan kissed me today, on the lips, when I'd asked him. No urging required. It's things like this that make my heart sing.

Also when he eats a lot of the pasta or noodles that I cook for him. spagetti from whole tomatoes, with minced beef and pork, onions and veggie stock. or minced pork and noodles in chicken & dried scallop soup with diced carrots and soft egg toufu.

My heart sings when my Ethan hugs me in the middle of the night and then spoons with me to sleep.

Pensive thoughts at the end of an "era"

2006-03-16T16:53:00.000+08:00

It's been a pensive birthday. Ethan had just recovered on Sunday from his month long bout of flu, cough and phlegm and I was heaving a sigh of relief. In a moment of inattention, reaching for my "bugs" hair scrunchy at the TV, I turned round just in time to see Ethan pitch forward from the bed he was sitting on, swinging his little body down in an imperfect fireman's catapult from a fence. I lunged forward just not-in-time to catch or steady him but just-in-time to see him hit his upper lip on the bed frame.

My head was trying to tell me that the blood welling up in his mouth looks like a lot cos it's mixed with saliva, but my mummy instincts were going into overdrive. Ethan was in soo much pain he was silent with his face scrunched up in pain before he let off a loud wail. My mum made much of it. I made much of it. We tried to drive down to a hospital nearby. Of course my mother blames me and makes it patently clear it's my fault. I've actually seen my mum bang Ethan's head into the pillar in my car porch but she is obviously beyond reproach. Double standards.

well, the nurse also thought we were over-reacting, no teeth missing, Ethan jumping up and down playing, able to drink water with the only sign of the accident reflected by the dried blood specks on his face (it looked soo much worse when it was wet).

2 days later Ethan doesn't eat. Apparently ulcers. and he didn't suckle. long story short, Ethan has thrush and I got boob fever again as a result of the pain causing Ethan not to suckle. We're both on meds and it's no fun.

And after spending another $290 on nursing bras my size, it seems Ethan is not as interested in nursing any more. Probably due to the thrush, but then again, my baby is coming to 16 months. [Again, my mother insisted the other day that Ethan only reached the end of his 12 months on 31st Dec instead of 1st Dec. Of course she was pissed when I counted it month by month starting from the first month and got her to agree month by month. she probably thinks she's still right.]

It's a pensive birthday. Today is likely to be the start of my baby not suckling any more. The end of an era. I will probably feel this weaning more keenly than he does. I have come to rely on breastfeeding as that automatic connection and the irreplaceable one-thing no one can replace in the eyes of my little Ethan. I may not feel like that if I didn't have to work.

I sometimes feel resentful of the familial committments that have forced me to work. I do not even have the luxury of saving so that I can stay home and be with my kids since my parents depend so heavily on my income [The other day my mum just asked for a DVD recorder - no way!]. I don't want Ethan to feel the same when he grows up but I can't help worrying that I am not exactly building a nest egg for myself cos of the thousands I need for my parents. I worry it will be a vicious cycle.

But c'est la vie. At least I have my baby and come dinner time, I hope to be able to store up on more hugs and kisses and really, that's better than any present I got for getting older this year :-)

Fire Hydrant

2006-03-08T11:50:00.000+08:00

Ethan is inexplicably afraid of the Fire Hydrant attached to my mum's block and the other blocks in the estate. It's really dusty so I didn't want to touch it with my hands, so I touched it with my shoe to show Ethan that's it's really okay. After many times, it was clear that Ethan was still afraid but very thrilled to see the Fire Hydrant get stepped on, even by himself (helped by us of course). Then Emmanuel went one further and started to kick the Fire Hydrant. That totally captivated Ethan who now wants to go down everyday and see his parents kick the Fire Hydrant to "death". Yesterday Ethan made a kicking motion near the Fire hydrant by himself and by this morning, knows how to do a pseudo front kick. Emmanuel is obviously very proud and is trying to teach little Ethan the nuances of the side kick, the front kick, the turning kick and the roundhouse. Am just hoping that we don't end up having a son who'll be injuring others he doesn't like.

Chinese New Year in a nutshell

2006-02-01T11:48:00.000+08:00

19th Jan and here's my baby in the car, playing. It's always a challenge to get him into his car seat and it's always a joy to see him shrieking and playing.

Chinese New Year and Ethan has been so sweet. He's been playing and adapting really well to the very little sleep he's been able to get this season, what with all the visiting. Ethan "performed" 2nd day of New Year eating 7,8 spoonfuls of porridge from Cousin Margaret's spoon. Of course fat hope us duplicating this on 3rd Day.

Gross but mum had to rush to our house to soap my poor crying Ethan's butt cos crap was stuck and won't come out. Ethan was crying and straining until he was exhausted and there was a little bleeding. But after mum came and crap was released, Ethan went straight back to playing.

My sweetheart got up from his cot to hug me first thing this morning. Seems he knew I scalded my hand twice making milk for him last night. Couldn't do anything about the scalding cos I had to try to boob him to sleep. Of course Emmanuel only woke up after Ethan screamed. Ethan also only screamed after I scalded myself, before that he was a sweet koala holding onto to me from the back :-)

yawning

2006-01-27T12:26:00.000+08:00

My little baby yawning. Ethan crawls very fast now and loves to play with his beach ball. This photo is taken mid Jan 06.
Ethan is also such a joy in the mornings, he wants to be hugged and kissed and he sleeps in his cot beside our bed. In the middle of the night when he wants comforting, he crawls up to me and cuddles and searches for boob. Now when Ethan doesn't spend the night with us, when I;m sick or have too much office work, I end up not sleeping well anyway. It's such a comfort to have Ethan and it's an irony that while I have to wake up in the night, I sleep better with my baby beside me.

Ethan walked on his own today!

2006-01-06T16:15:00.000+08:00

AFter many false starts and clinging onto skirts, heard from my mum that Ethan took his first unassisted steps today. Not a fluke! 7 to 8 steady steps and no falling, no support! My little precious is growing up! Time to get his daddy to process more photos so that I can post them up!

Christmas and New Year

2006-01-06T15:31:00.000+08:00

Yes I have many blessings to count and being able to spend Christmas and new year withmy sweet sweet Ethan ranks up there amongst them. We tried to do a stint at church on Christmas and Ethan lasted all of 40 mins. Quite good considering his first foray only lasted 15 minutes when he was about 4 months. And it's been a good Christmas with Ethan being excited over every Christmas tree spotted and lighted stars noticed.

However, I got hit by a nasty nasty bug the period before the New Year but recovered enough over the New Year to be able to be with Ethan. 4 days of non-stop fever - not funny and it meant that I didn't have enough time to spend with Ethan and I didn't get to spend the nights with him. *Pout*

Ethan's gotten cuter if that's possible and can point out buses when asked. Favourite VCD series is "Wheels on the bus" and he will also start to dance to the songs. Ethan's settled into a routine for the day, kind of, when he's with us. Out for Breakfast then home for a nap. Then out for lunch and some place where he can look at stuff or play, and then home for a nap. Then very likely swimming in the late afternoon and then retire for the night. Busy busy days with Ethan but filled with so much joy!

Underweight at Christmas

2005-12-23T15:11:00.000+08:00

Yes, I notice it too. How all the post titles are about my darling's height, weight etc but it's the way things are I guess. I worry that he's not putting on enough weight. I call home to check what he's been eating, or not, how much sleep he's had and what he does. I have an insatiable appetite for every detail I hear from my mum and zero boredom for repeats. I do so miss the time I should be spending with my little Ethan every day, teaching him new things, being there for when he realises that banging his head on the floor can hurt. I ache to be there everyday and I see every minute I am not with him as time lost. Never before have I been so aware of the inidividual grains of sand that slip past the neck of the hourglass as when I am NOT with my little precious.

But what to do, I have mouths to feed. The joy though, when I AM with little Ethan has been unmeasurable. I will forever find interesting his curiosity, his ability to pull at my heart and cause it to expand with feelings I never thought I had.

Ethan has 4.75 teeth and ate an entire biscuit today from my hand. Hand feeding Ethan is a great stress reliever, I can't remember what deadlines I have, what bills I haven't paid, have no ability to pay or who said what irritating thing in the office that day. I only have eyes for Ethan's smile as he chews his little biscuit and opens up his mouth for more.

We brought Ethan to see the Christmas lights along Orchard Road last saturday. The lights weren't such a big deal but Ethan was totally entralled by the spindly bits of the Christmas trees. He finds that it's "gee-lee" to put his hand on the pokey spines of the Christmas tree branches and it amuses him to no end. Add many small lights and big shiny baubles and we have a winner!

We brought him to the paed on Thurs morn and Ethan is 9kg only at 1 year and 3 weeks. That's bad! Ethan is supposed to triple his birth weight at 12 months. That should make it 10.2 kg. My poor baby. My mom made another attempt at rice that same day and failed as miserably and less messily as before and declared Ethan non solid-feedable.

But while he's not eating solids, he's still otherwise healthy and totally adorable. Every morning, Ethan wants his hugs, his kisses and spoons with us to wake us up. It makes my day first thing in the morning to wake up to happy smiles, slobbering kisses and happy squeals. Makes me happy just to be alive and in the moment.

Back from Rome!

2005-12-14T17:53:00.000+08:00

We're back after 10 days in Rome and we missed Ethan SOOO MUCH! He didn't recognise me for like 10 mins after I got back. Boo hoo hoo! Was NOT supposed to boob him anymore but he latched on with a vengence and every hour, Guess he did miss me after all :-)

It's good to be back and be able to smell my baby!

2005-11-14T17:34:00.000+08:00

Ethan my Yoga-baby, with 4 teeth, his 2 top teeth look like my original 2 front teeth - big!

We've finally moved!

2005-11-14T15:16:00.000+08:00

I've been sooo busy, I haven't been able to blog and that's unfortunate cos I really want to keep up this little blog on Ethan. Well, will just go into stuff in drips and draps from here depending on what I remember then!

We moved and Ethan has had a tough first few days in the new house. Ethan's not been sleeping well and I've had to offer more boob to help comfort him. Ethan's slowly adjusting though, so that's good news.

because of that, we haven't really been taking many photos. Also the screw-ups with the contractor has taken precious time away from my precious tot, cos I've been upset and stressed, so stressed in fact that I've landed up in A&E twice. But what brings me through the day is again my little precious Ethan. He's the one motivation I have for moving that box faster, unpacking faster, cleaning faster cos I just want to be able to rush home to hold him again.

Things are still messy and Ethan's become a little more bold. We're slowly getting him to try to be with Moby without Moby being irritated. We're a tad worried about Moby's sharp claws and Ethan has no concept of respecting Moby's sharp bits for the moment.

I've bought Ethan yet another toy - this time it's a "car" shaped like a huge yellow brinjal that we can push him around in. He totally loves it cos we found out he's too short to use his legs to power it like the Flinstones, so we've been pushing him around in it.

Frustration!

2005-10-05T09:36:00.000+08:00

anyone knows how you can get men to help out more? I mean daddys taking initiative and not waiting to be told to wash bottles, how many, to volunteer once in a blue moon with yellow polka dots (yes it's that rare) to do the night feed? I always have to say something, repeat it, command, get nasty before it sometimes happens. So I end up doing most of it, even when I'm sick and the only one working the next day.

Bronchitis!

2005-09-26T15:16:00.000+08:00

Ethan's been sick, hence no blogging. I spent the whole of Saturday night hugging Ethan upright so he would sleep more comfortably. The poor baby can't breathe!!! It's so sad the way he cries when we have to syringe all the nasty medicine into him. Ethan was crying until he was hoarse. His nose was so stuck with phlegm, my poor baby was crying every hour and he couldn't even boob! He was unable to smell me cos he was crying eyes closed and rooting, my heart broke when he latched only to let go and cry in frustration cos he could breathe and so couldn't latch long enough to get any boob juice.

That said, the little tyke is much better during the day. yesterday, I put out 3 flash cards and explained that one was a cucumber, one was a cherry and the other a brinjal. Then I just jokingly asked him which one was the cucumber. He picked it out!!! Then I asked him which was the cherry and he picked out the right one again!!! I'm impressed. 2 consecutive hits not likely to be luck, but that reminds me that I need to find the energy to read to Ethan more. Have been quite lazy :-P

I'm saddest when my mum accuses me of being a bad mother, cos apparently I am supposed to not sleep AT ALL but after work, Feed my son and change him, check his temperature every hour, wash his syringes, clean the house, do the laundry, clean the floor, make the bed, pack Ethan's clothes, wash his toys, pay the bills, boil and change drinking water in the house AND find time to groom myself so that I don't look like a frog (my mum's exact description except in mandarin). And for good measure, since I'm the only one with a job, I need to make sure that I spend some time at night on my office work, which my mum concedes is necessary. and since we're renovating, that'll leave me enough time to type out emails to the renovation contractor while I'm bathing and brushing my teeth. Have made Ro promise that if I ever become like that to my children, to smack me real hard. But I can't help feeling sad, like I'm not doing the best for my little Ethan.

2005-09-14T16:31:00.000+08:00

Ethan at his car seat July 18

Ethan's first 2 unassisted steps

2005-09-08T13:32:00.000+08:00

My mum said Ethan took 2 steps by himself yesterday!!! Am proud of my little baby. Been busy with trying to move house and had to deal with my maid running away. So haven't had time to blog or do anything else much. I no longer need to pump during the day and only get to have my boob time with Ethan at night, but little Ethan is still very apppreciative nonetheless - the sweet little thing! Ethan's been more manja, if that was possible. He now wants to be hugged when he's asleep and refuses resolutely to be alone AT ALL. He crawls to me now when he sees me. Not possible to describe the feeling - just feels like the heart is overflowing...

Ethan's 3rd tooth!

2005-08-30T08:54:00.000+08:00

yes it is coming out. and the little tyke is such a joy to be with. Ethan is able to wave good-bye and he is sooo manja nowadays. He wants to be held and hugged all the time and has a loud voice.

We are soo thankful for little Ethan. We are also sending our best wishes to our friends Lionel and Michelle, whose twin dotters were born 24 weeks. We hope Lara and Laraine grow up quickly so they can hug their parents! Am trying to remember how to do a link, but for now, here's their blog address: www.simtwins.blogspot.com

Pure Bliss

2005-08-21T23:04:00.000+08:00

I gripe a lot. It's a bad habit. I actually have it quite good. I always have been given opportunities to solve my problems before they come, like getting a promotion before my dad needs more for his medical bills. And I got to marry a really great guy who loves me. Now I have this little bundle of joy, truly he is, who greets me every morning with a toothless grin. Ethan is genuinely happy to be with me and totally unabashedly so. That's the cherry on top of my cake.

Ethan's been happily screaming to be at the steering wheel. He enjoys moving the steering wheel around, also kicking the horn accidentally when it happens. I hope he continues to be soo unrestrainedly joyful when he gets to do anything he wants to. We all become so restrained as adults.

I want to be as happy as Ethan and I am already happy. It's been Pure Bliss.

testing limits

2005-08-19T17:40:00.000+08:00

I had to go to Australia for 4 days and hated every minute of being away from Ethan. Apparrently my little baby missed me too and woke up fairly often seeking for boob comfort. I was back on Wednesday and for the first time in 4 nights both of us slept so well.

I was dog tired and still recovering so had to take half day to stone at home. Ethan was really testing my patience yesterday. Biting me even when I had said no. Think he's testing to see how far he can go and showing his unhappiness at not being able to get boob for 4 days by being petulent. I slept with him from 830pm till the morning and then all is forgiven. I did so miss my little angel.

2005-08-08T00:11:00.000+08:00

Ethan's first cereal and first semi solid. Ethan is really leaning as far back from his chair as he can get

First Night away

2005-08-02T23:33:00.000+08:00

My heart is breaking. Ethan and I are both down with flu. Ethan's spending the night with his grandma. It's the first night we are sleeping apart from each other since Ethan was born. If I didn't have so much work and if I wasn't already going to Australia for work mid August, we wouldn't have to do this. My poor baby can't breathe properly and I'm not there to comfort him. I do realise it's better if I sleep well and get better so that I can continue to look after him but I can't help how I am feeling right now.

I hope Ethan gets better and I jolly well better recover by tomorrow. I miss my baby!!!

Crawling and Eating!!!

2005-07-29T21:24:00.000+08:00

Ethan was such a good boy today! He crawled for the first time. Also other firsts today: ate some french toast without throwing up, 10+ small flattened pieces. My baby has learnt how to swallow. I am soo proud of him, I feel like my heart could burst! He also finished 2 TABLESPOONS of brown rice mixed into a porridge. We used to be able to get like 2 baby spoons, so today is a BIG day for my little darling. He also held his own bottle to drink milk, not first time but still, today is a big day for my Ethan. It's worth it just to go through a tough day to hear about how my little baby is growing up.

Ethan's 2nd tooth popped out!

2005-07-27T22:03:00.000+08:00

and now he's no longer as keen on teething biscuits. My mum's worried cos the teeth look a little crooked. Have been trying to remember to ask Eileen what to do. So many things to do and sooo little time!

Ethan also has been practising sitting up by himself and he's really very quick now, from stomach to seat and also from sitting to standing by holding onto a wall or something. Still can't balance when he's able to stand up without aids. Also my mum noticed a lot of babbling and trying to communicate.

Ethan also has some Moby characteristics, hahahaha. Ethan held my head with his hands in my hair and then he kicks me!!! Naughty boy! We've been teaching him not to do that by smacking him. I do hope we don't raise too much of a brat.

Turds away!

2005-07-27T21:59:00.000+08:00

Ethan's got constipation big time. The poor little angel cried through his last poopy session 2 days ago cos them turds just won't come out. So in the end, my mum had to stick in a suppository. My poor little baby!!! Anyway the turds came with a little blood, ugh. This is what happens when I dry up and little Ethan takes in more formula.

We'll be trying to stick more water into the little tyke and trying fruits. Hope it works!!! I'm still smarting from his pain!

Ethan stood up today!

2005-07-25T11:56:00.000+08:00

without holding onto anything! Yeah lah he did cheat a tad tad bit cos he could push the back of his butt against the sofa, but hey, that's still an achievement in my books!

Ethan stood up by self but still cannot balance so butt pushed against sofa

2005-07-22T16:28:00.000+08:00

Ethan and his daddy :-)

2005-07-22T16:16:00.000+08:00

recent swimming session at my mum's. Ethan loves his pool time. July 17th

splashing around July 17th

Preparing for a new "special time"

2005-07-19T23:34:00.000+08:00

No doubt about it, I am drying up. I only had to pump about 5pm today. I was really uncomfortable but it did take until almost 5pm before I didn't care about what happened and come hell and high water I just needed to get the milk out of my system. So looks like I will have to face the fact that I won't be breastfeeding soon. and that's SAD.

I'm really going to miss my special time with Ethan. Shame really, cos Ethan has such a clear preference for boob juice direct from boob. So I was thinking of what we can do in future to replace that, so that we can continue to bond. I'm thinking maybe it can be stories. I love fairy tales and have been reading all sorts of stories to Ethan since he was 3 months. His interest in stories and books has tapered somewhat compared to months ago, when you can see the pure joy on his face when he knows it's book time. Looks like it'll be book time versus boob time. What the heck, so long I get to spend time with my little precious Ethan!

The other thing I noticed about Ethan taking in more formula, he's not quite as "turgid" or as "solid" as before. His flesh has become a little softer, like ripe durian, and I truly believe it's got a lot to do with less boob juice. I'm just thankful though that he's stayed healthy, maybe it's the breast milk antibodies or maybe not, I'd like to think it is.

I will be treasuring whatever boob time I have left, session by session, minute by minute. I might even want to keep a video.

2005-07-18T16:54:00.000+08:00

My baby makes me happy. June 18th at family lunch celebrating dad & bro's birthday along with Father's day.

2005-07-18T16:43:00.000+08:00

Bathing Ethan at home, taken June 19th

Ethan trying to stand in the tub

Ethan loves to suck on his towel :-D

Milestones

2005-07-17T22:01:00.000+08:00

Ethan's now able to push his butt high enough and fast enough until he gets enough momentum to sit up!!! I should try to capture it in video, it's amazing! and so utterly cute!!!

Ethan now is trying to learning how to stand up by himself, without holding onto anything. Ethan's been able to pull himself up (see other posts) for a while already and still hasn't quite learnt to balance. I don't see how he'll be able to successfully stand up unless he learns to balance but we're happy to let Ethan learn and explore his world.

Ethan in motion. Ethan walks so well now! with some help of course! July 15th

With his fledgling crawling skills (still backwards and circular)and his can-do attitude, we're terrified he's going to seriously hurt himself falling off the bed. The other day, think it was Thursday, we got home early, and I was feeding Ethan on my mum's mattress on the floor. Ethan flipped twice and landed on the floor on his back, hitting his head a little. Lots of crying. I still feel bad about my slow reaction time.

7.5 months and I felt he visibly grew up in a few days. Ethan suddenly feels taller and heavier. His cute feet seem to have grown too, and like, overnight!

We just took a batch of photos, but as usual will have to wait for his daddy to burn me a CD then I'll be able to post the photos up for this blog.

Ethan's also been super manja.

manja Ethan holding onto Daddy June 11th

When I carry him, he now puts his head on my shoulder and he's been snuggling up when we sleep. When I feed him, he puts his feet on me, thighs or elsewhere so that I can't go anywhere. This weekend, he's been using my boobs as a pillow, literally. He flips on his belly, reaches over and then rests his head on the nearest boob. It's touching cos it takes Sooo Much effort for Ethan to do that. Ethan even leans forwards to rest his head on me when I let him sit on my stomach. He then leans forward liek sit-and-reach, with his arms out and then "hugs" me with arms and head. I never want to ever forget how sweet he is. Really, this is one of those "die happy" moments.

I'm still storing up on hugs. And kisses though now "kisses" is more like tongue slobber but hey! It's how my little one does it - I'll take it any way it comes... First "kiss" was last week I think, maybe over the weekend. I really should blog more often.

Ethan's first tooth

2005-07-17T21:50:00.000+08:00

Yo! I can't believe how long it's been. I've missed blogging about Ethan but it's work, crap! Ethan's daddy drove me home on Friday when my mum proudly announced the eruption of Ethan's first tooth. It's the actual thing!!! And it's so tiny, but clear as day, caught in the right light.

My little baby actually bit my nipple again and thanks to the little tooth, my nipple was bleeding. Ugh! Think he was protesting the lack of milk forthcoming. It's been tough and now I fully understand why some say breastfeeding is best even in terms of convenience. With less milk now, it's been tough on weekends cos I have to rely on someone else to get Ethan fed. Today he sat on the bed and held his own bottle to drink. He always could but was never willing, must have been really hungry today. Still only took 20ml and then we had to hoist Ethan off to my mum's to get fed. One hour of trying to feed little Ethan and 20ml was all he took and it had been 3.5 hours since last meal, so we had no choice. My nipple was still in pain, and now still sore, so off to my mum's.

Ethan only eats the very sweet. Thank goodness my dad's the best at picking out super-sweet fruits. Ethan therefore wants his water apple. First time he opened up his mouth to eat a fruit! 16th June

Nope, Ethan still not quite eating, so it's still pretty much milk, breast or formula, thank goodness he'll willing to take formula. But like his father, Ethan has a sweet tooth. Me and my mum think he's going to develop what I call "emperor tongue" like his daddy. Emperors get 1000 dishes and they can only get through it by eating only the best and the sweetest from each dish.

Flame mowed off

2005-06-27T09:44:00.000+08:00

I've been exhausted for some unknown reason. Well, maybe not so unknown. Work's been bad and I've been stressing over the house purchase....

On to happier things, Ethan had his first hair cut on 11th June. It was recommended by a colleague/friend who also gets her little ones' hair cut there. we waited for like the longest time ever and Ethan though exhausted was the sweetest most patient little angel he's ever been. However, when time came, he was bawling. And the hairdresser cut off his flame!!! despite us telling her to only just get the sides, she just kept hacking at the top, saying it needs to be even. Ugh! We should have been more insistent. We kept telling ourselves that it'll grow back :-(

We then rushed Ethan back for his bath and nap in the capable hands of my mum. We dropped him off and then went to catch Mr & Mrs Smith. Cool show but I missed Ethan terribly. Apparently he was fussing cos he missed us.

Hope the flame grows back soon!!!

First foray into the pool

2005-06-14T15:46:00.000+08:00

Ethan's first dip into the pool!!!

Ethan at Chinese Swimming Club with me

Ethan with daddy, check out the double float!

Ethan peddling furiously and getting nowhere

My little darling Hercules

2005-06-10T10:24:00.000+08:00

According to my mum and my maid, Ethan pulled his half-filled bathtub towards himself yesterday. With one hand!!! No other help and he was sitting beside the orange bathtub (can see in the photo below) when he pulled the tub closer so that he can play with the water.

2005-06-10T10:15:00.000+08:00

Ethan asleep on his daddy at some diving expo on 5th June 2005. Ethan had just got his 6th month shots and weighs 7.8kg and is 66cm tall as of 4th June. We plan to be able to bring Ethan swimming soon.

gastronomique!!

2005-06-09T15:55:00.000+08:00

Ethan is taking a few baby spoonfuls of porridge or super-sweet papaya or stewed carrot. hurray!!! I have also gone for my first ever yoga session after more than half a year of larding it out. Am determined to slowly get back the old me.

My mum has put lots of effort into making sure that Ethan's food tastes good and is ultra-nutritious - thank goodness. My milk seems to be drying up and even Emmanuel feels for l'il Ethan cos we all know how much he enjoys his boob time. My mum and bro has noticed that Ethan's losing his "han-bao-bao" cheeks. But we can't force the boy to eat....

2005-06-03T09:59:00.000+08:00

Ethan playing and learning to crawl

laugh until no eyes :-)

Ethan's gut

2005-06-03T09:50:00.000+08:00

Ethan's not been eating much and he pukes more often?? that's the impression my mum and I have. Poor thing has lost weight. He eats now about 300+ml of milk a day and only about 100ml per time, sometimes less. That's not normal for a 6 month old right? Doesn't seem to digest the weee bit of semi solids we stick him. anyone out there knows if there's a problem?

Ethan's first "crawl"

2005-06-01T09:23:00.000+08:00

I got home on Monday to find my mum crying cos apparently Ethan had fallen off the bed when my mum was gone just to put out some fish for the maid to fry. My mum had already put Ethan right next to the wall, with a 20" by 20" cushion blocking him from the floor. My mum was gone probably a minute half and Ethan had managed to navigate onto, then across the cushion and then onto the floor.

We figured he was alright but we've been keeping an eye on him in case he has a concussion or something. But my mum has since been putting him on the floor and trying to find out how he moves. Ethan apparently doesn't crawl like other children. He was on his back, then he flipped over to be on his belly with this arms supporting his head high. Then he keeps shaking his butt and thighs until he moves backwards!!! and that's how he probably fell.

hahaha, am hoping to catch Ethan in action this weekend. So not quite a "crawl" per se but it's still a way he gets around. :-) Let's see if I can get a pic up for this blog. Cheers and a great school holidays period to all!

On the subject of names

2005-05-30T09:12:00.000+08:00

Emmanuel and I toyed with the idea of naming our son Zornorph (Destroyer of Worlds), yes with the parenthesis as well. Obviously the idea just became a bit of a joke.... And if my first child was to be a girl, then it might have been Sabrina (Queen of the Universe). These names came from games, I think. anyway, we had to bow to convention cos it's not our life, so better not to make our children's lives more difficult than it already is.

pulling himself up

2005-05-30T09:08:00.000+08:00

Ethan's able to pull himself up from a sitting position to a standing position if support is provided. My boy is growing everyday!!! Looks like he might avoid the crawling stage completely. We'll see. I hope Ethan takes more readily to some mushies. Not much interest so far. I find it hard to get out of this "ah-soh" mode unless I stop breastfeeding.

2005-05-28T00:19:00.000+08:00

Ethan in tub at my mum's

2005-05-28T00:10:00.000+08:00

series of Ethan laughing while sitting up by himself. He's stable enough to even flial his arms around :p

series of 3 photos

these were taken early May

Signs of the first tooth

2005-05-26T09:55:00.000+08:00

Ethan's lower gums have a white ridge appearing just to the left. My Mom spotted it yesterday and of course showed to the proud mommy (i.e. me). Hmm, it's amazing what we get thrilled with.

Ethan also managed to balance in a standing position for what was probably a second or two, without support from chair or me.... Not quite considered standing, but considering it's before he's full 6 months quite an achievement!!!

Freedom, reliance and walkers

2005-05-20T10:29:00.000+08:00

I have been wondering about walkers. Emmanuel and I decided not to put Ethan in a walker cos we heard that they delay the baby learning how to walk cos they start to rely on the walker instead of learning how to balance. We had thought to wait until he's almost one and then put him on one of those front weighted trolley things so that he can use that to help himself learn how to walk. The difference with these thingmajigs is that Ethan should have learnt to balance on his own by then.....

But just the other day, I was thinking again... Ethan's not inclined to crawl and he's impatient. My mum's got a perpectual backache and now sees an ostheopath to help manage the pain. Am sure it's got something to do with Ethan wanting to be carried ALL the time. Ethan wants to be free, he's curious and learning, so lying on the bed isn't much fun.

That got me thinking again. Maybe we should let him have the joy from the freedom of movement. Heck if he learns to walk slower, at least he can zip round the house on his own two legs. If he falls, well, he should start learning that he can fall and it can hurt. Mummy, daddy, gong-gong and mamak cannot be there all the time to cushion him, though we will all try, fatigue, backache and all.

Maybe I think too much. There's no need to extrapolate the question of walkers into a methaphor about freedom and reliance and the consequences henceforth. Maybe like Ethan, I should just try to reach for the next toy, grab a kiss from a loved-one and just enjoy the day.

Storing for the future

2005-05-20T10:21:00.000+08:00

I hug Ethan every morning and smother him with kisses, even if it's 5am in the morning when he's decided that his day has started. No matter how tired I am. I look at Emmanuel, my husband and Derek, my brother and remember that when Ethan grows up, he won't want his stuffy old mom to hug and kiss him, so I'm storing up. Now. Every morning and every night, I treasure these times when I get to hug him tight and he still wants me to.

2005-05-19T14:06:00.000+08:00

Ethan standing and jumping, all gums!!!

2005-05-19T13:56:00.000+08:00

Ethan on 7th May, on the bed, looking cute to snare more playmates

Semi-solids - battle of wills

2005-05-18T14:48:00.000+08:00

After 2 weeks, I made a second attempt to introduce semi-solids to the little tyke. The first time was unplanned, Ethan was too hungry cos Emmanuel and I spent half an hour putting his high chair together. We were both sweating buckets in the hot humid late afternoon and Ethan was 2 hours past his last meal. We tried 2 teaspoons of nestle rice cereal with 30ml of EBM, warned by some to be too "sweet".

Ethan's a hot baby and rapidly decided the hot chair and the all this cooing to try to put stuff in his mouth wasn't working out. The attempt was aborted in seconds and Ethan taken to an aircon room to enjoy his favourite left boob/right boob.

The second attempt, carefully planned for Sunday 15th May, was to be an important milestone witnessed by proud grandparents and Emmanuel's high end Cannon digital camera. I dressed up (kinda). This time I had bought a whole packet of Gerber rice cereal, said to be "not too sweet" and thus won't "spoil" babies. I had 50ml of precious fresh EBM and mixed the amounts carefully.

Ethan shrunk to the side of the high chair furthest away from the spoon but we managed to spoon some into his mouth and he swallowed some. It was considered a mini success.

I needed Ethan to start liking semi solids cos I had intended to slowly then wean from breast as his intake for semi-solids increased. This will mean less fatigue for me and a gradual return to my pre-preg clothes and feeling more like the old me.

So it's a disappointment when in the last few days, Ethan demonstrated his lack of enthusiam for semi-solids by crying, wailing, projectile spitting, puking and drooling out all the carefully prepared different sorts of semi solids. My mother tried cereal in a bottle in the evening and wasted another 50ml of EBM. On Monday, cereal with 120ml Mamex was finished across 2 sessions over 3 hours - not too bad. On Tuesday, crying and refusal to swallow from bottle or spoon. So my mother tried a jar of organic apple and apricot baby food. The first mouth was projectiled to a distance away. The second spoonful was puked out along with whatever EBM left in his little stomach.

Today I heard my mother stewed $5 worth of beef steak until she got the beef essence to cook porridge. More crying and wailing. My mother has decided to only try a month later.

2005-05-18T14:47:00.000+08:00

Ethan and I - notice the bags under my eyes? And Ethan has hair standing up high above his head. That's why I've never had Ethan shaved.

2005-05-16T18:32:00.000+08:00

He's my daddy

2005-05-16T18:31:00.000+08:00

Ethan just past his one month birthday at Chinese New Year

Ethan finally flipped!!!

2005-05-13T10:01:00.000+08:00

without struggling that is. Ethan was able to flip by himself by 3 months but since he really hates to be on his belly, he hasn't had much practice. he really doesn't like to flip either. Ethan prefers to stand and at the tender age of 3.5 months, Ethan wanted to stand and be carried face front so that he can see stuff.

Yesterday Ethan actually flipped while playing, without encouragement and without stuggling. Then he moved forward a little so that he can cram my boob in his mouth, all on his belly. Like all first-time mums I was a little concerned about Ethan's not caring to flip or be on his belly. I compensated by trying to get him to sit. Am proud to say he's been sitting by himself since just before 5 months without support.

Ethan still much prefers to stand, or walk or jump and has been able to stand holding on to a stationary object from 4.5 months. Ethan can hold onto the edge of the sofa and maintain a standing position, until he decides to walk, and then he falls :-)

Am curious now to find out if he ever will crawl, guess we won't know til we get there.

In the beginning

2005-05-11T15:33:00.000+08:00

Hey! Never thought I'd be one to blog but guess now there's a worthy topic. My beautiful baby Ethan.

BTW, it's raspberry bubbles cos Ethan likes to blow raspberries and has been blowing them for about 2 months already, when he was three months old.

Ethan was born 1st December at 3.405kg and is the pride of my life.

Ethan at the hospital when first born

From 3 weeks ago, Ethan's been able to sit by himself, no support! no hand holding and he's not supporting himself with his hands either. Will capture a pic for all to see soon!

We're planning to make a second attempt at feeding Ethan some rice cereal this weekend. We hope this time it'll be better planned and managed.