7kg at 3 months 3 weeks!!

During his visit to the paed yesterday morning, we took Ethan's weight again. Indeed my baby is really growing up fast as at 3 months 3 weeks 2 days, he is now 7kg!! No wonder he looks almost the same size as his pretty little cousin Moira who is 2 months plus older than him! I wonder what will his weight be when he goes for his 4th month check up in less than a week's time - will update on that later. Anyway, see their pictures below taken on Friday nite when they (SIL & her geng) came over for a visit (they are our neighbour from downstairs only hehe...)

Technorati Profile

Ethan saying hello to Moira

Ethan posing for the camera but Moira was eager to touch and squeeze cute lil' baby Ethan. Hence, the hands of hubby and SIL trying to stop Moira from doing so :)

Why the sour faces sweeties?? hehe..

OK! Time's up for camwhoring! ;p

His first attempts to roll over!!

Yes! My baby is growing up!! Today he has attempted a few times to roll over !! Although not successfully yet but I bet he soon will be able to do so. That means no more leaving him alone on the bed or anywhere else!

I've managed to capture him on video for one of his roll over attempts - have a peek :)

But if you have no patient to wait for the video (1:08 mins), here are some pictures taken on his first few attempts hehe...

Yay!! You're almost there baby!! Keep on trying!! :)

Blame it on the weather...

My precious started having runny nose last nite...so this morning hubby and I decided to bring him to the paed to get him checked. I thought it would also be good for the paed to check on his mucus problem again. Anyway, the doctor said his temperature was slightly high but still ok. Just need to check on him now and then. His flu is not that bad but he still seems to have "kahak" problem though a bit better than b4. He was given flu medicine and another course of the same medicine for his "kahak". Again the paed advised us the do's and don'ts of baby with sensitive airways. Hopefully the flu medicine works so that he doesn't have to be on antibiotics. Due to his flu, we were also told to be careful and not to bring Ethan out to crowded places especially if there are people who are not well. In other words, to keep Ethan away from people who are ill which is of coz understood. So there goes our plan to his grandma's to meet Ethan's 2 months plus old cousin Adriana ...was planning to take many pictures of them together...guess that have to be shelved for now :(

The hot and cold weather nowadays is to be blamed for the many cases of flu and cold among kids. According to the paed, currently, even food poisoning and diarrhea seems to be in season too - didn't ask why though. Anyhow, parents be extra watchful with your lil' ones :) As for mine, he is fast asleep at the moment hehe...

He made my day with his gorgeous smile :)

I woke up a bit later than the usual 5.30am since we don't have to rush to work and my peep was still enjoying his beauty sleep till around 6am...so when he called out for me with his baby language, I will as usual prepare his milk and feed him. But as I unzipped his mosquito net this morning, I was welcomed with a bright gorgeous smile of my precious :) Ahhhhh...tht really made my heart melt and I can't resist but to tease him more so I can prolong that gorgeous smile of his before I carried and fed him...his smile indeed made Sunday morning a bliss eventhough I had an online tutorial class at 7.30am!

I didn't managed to catch his smile on camera this morning but here are some random pictures of him smiling & laughing...

Have a blissful Sunday everyone!! :)

Toy Recalls: Thomas & Friend Now

Only yesterday I was talking about baby toys and today in the paper, again, I read about recalls on China made products...and this time around they are recalling toys made in China... what has become of China's products...don't they realise that they are jeopardising their economy and not forgetting people's lives!!?? So many things from food, children clothings to now toys are being recalled...tsk tsk tsk...so parents, beware of China products...I think I should start "Say No to China Products" in my own home.... hmmmm...Anyway, do read the news below..

The Star Online

Thursday September 27, 2007MYT 9:06:44 AM

WASHINGTON: Dangerous levels of lead in more toys and children's necklaces made in China are being recalled, including five more items from the popular Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line.

RC2 Corp's "Knights of the Sword'' series toys and some of its Thomas and Friends items, along with floor puppet theatres and gardening tools and chairs for children, were among the more than 601,000 toys and children's jewellery announced in the recall by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (www.cpsc.gov).

The recalled toys contain high levels of lead in their surface paint, and the necklaces and jewellery sets contain excessive lead in some of their metal parts.
Under current regulations, children's products found to have more than .06% lead accessible to users are subject to a recall. The US Government warned parents to make sure children are not playing or using any of the recalled products.

"I don't think consumers have seen the end to lead paint recalls,'' said Julie Vallese, a spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

"There's been a very concentrated, concerted effort by both the CPSC and the industry to do a top-to-bottom investigation of the products to make sure they are not in violation with any toy safety standards,'' said Vallese. "Today's recall is a result of that work.''

The recalls include:

• About 23,500 more necklaces, bracelets and pendants imported by TOBY N.Y.C. of New York. This expands the company's recall of jewellery sets announced on Aug 22.
  About 850 children's Spinning Wheel Necklace necklaces, produced by a company in the state of Rhode Island.
  
• Happy Giddy Gardening Tools and Children's Sunny Patch Chairs, imported by Target Corp, a major US general merchandise chain of stores. The recall involves 350,000 of the toys. The gardening tools and chairs were manufactured by Starite International Ltd of Taiwan.
  
• About 200,000 Thomas & Friends Wood Railway Toys and 800 Britain's "Knights of the Sword'' series toys, distributed by RC2 Corp.
  
• About 16,000 children's toy rakes imported by Jo-Ann Stores Inc.
  
• An estimated 10,000 Floor Puppet Theaters produced by Guidecraft Inc. The recalled puppet theatres, each with a chalkboard surface on the front and coloured side panels, were sold in the US in speciality toy stores, gift shops, catalogues and websites. - AP

Baby toys

As mentioned in my previous entry, shopping for me nowadays is more for baby stuff and that includes baby toys. You would not believe the number of toys we have bought for our lil' Ethan (again this is another "side effect" of being first time parents hehe). Even before he was born we've collected one box full of his toys already!! And if we include the toys that we've added after his arrival and not forgetting presents that he has received, his toys may easily fit in 2 or 3 (or maybe more??) boxes! Previously, I have limited knowledge about toy brands. I was only familiar with toy brands such as lego, barbie dolls (not even sure if this is a brand), Fisher Price, etc. But when I was expecting Ethan, I was exposed to a whole different types of toy brands especially for babies. Now I know there are many good educational brands like Lamaze, Safety 1st, Leap Frog, Learning Curve, Tiny Love, Playskool, Chicco etc etc..(hmmm don't you think I should get paid for mentioning their brands?? hehe..) There are just so many to choose from and if I'm not mistaken, I think we have bought some from the first 4 brands mentioned. Anyway, so far, we have bought toys for our lil' cutie pie - newborn, 3 months, 6 months of age and older...I know, I know, again "advance shopping" huh hehehe..but as I mentioned, blame this on the "side effect" of being first time parents...hee..

BTW, just to get this on the record, Ethan's first toy is a mini blue metalic football from his daddy :) I guess it was a natural instinct being a football fan that he is or maybe just imposing his early football influence on his little star hehe.. Oh oh...I almost forget, if you drive and use Shell petrol, you might remember the special mini Ferarri car models that you can buy for RM7 each if you've spent RM30 on petrol? Well, I think there are 6 (or more?) different models of Ferarri and guess what, my hubby bought the whole collection for Ethan! If you read carefully, the toys are suitable only for children 3 years and above! Now tell me who is more excited about baby toys...me or hubby?? hahaha...ok ok, enuf of a bit light husband-teasing hehe...jangan mare yer sayang hehehe...

Anyway, we've noticed that our little sweetheart has started to appreciate his toys. It started when he had just turned 3 mths old...he would stare, smile or "laugh" or even tried to reach out for his toys though he doesn't know how to grab them yet...so a few of his toys are out from the box now.. hmmm...I guess I would be picking up toys after him soon...

Ethan was fascinated with the moving lights on the mini mobile fan (thanks to Jewelle!) and he was reaching out for it

Ethan staring at Mr. Smurf . He smiled when we first showed him his Smurfy soft toy :)

My baby playing with his doggie toy - he was trying get the toy near to him so he can lick it ;p

Oh btw, here's a useful link that describes what types of toys your baby should be playing with according to their age... again, I think I should be paid for this :) Hmmmm... I think I should seriously start blog advertising like Jacq, Jewelle and PapaJoneh eh hehehe...

Talented Ethan

No, its not about my Ethan but a talented young boy also named Ethan...My dad forwarded me this particular interesting video clip on Sunday during his visit...he was pretty excited about it and I don't blame him coz the kid is really a genius! He could play the piano pieaces (no, not the simple ones but some of the greatest ones ok!) just through his memory and he is only a kindy boy!! Check out the video clip and I'm sure you'll agree with me how charming the little boy is ;p I would be ecstatic if my Ethan could speak and play piano like him...hehehe...

Quite a weekend

Last weekend was nice though a bit of a rush towards Sunday nite for me...you'll know why later...

Saturday:

Do the usual stuff for baby i.e. feed, bath, change etc etc...do laundry, took our lil' one to the paed due to Ethan's sudden shuddering, had a nice brunch with hubby, visited Ethan's grand aunty Roslyn, cooked dinner and rushed for my assignments which were due Sunday midnite...but attempt to get it done on Saturday nite failed as I was too sleepy to burn the midnite oil...urrggghhh...there goes a relaxing Sunday!! Sigh...

Sunday:
Handled baby and his stuff, cooked lunch cum dinner (ayam masak kicap with mushroom + potatoes - so just need to re heat for dinner hehe...kerja malas!), 2nd attempt to finished my assignments but brain not functioning well - very unproductive, had a visit from my dad, and finally managed to submit my 1st assignment ard 9pm and the second one just after midnite...why past midnite? Coz yours truly was just too tired and sleepy (I wake up ard 5.30am everyday to feed my precious) that I just had to take abt half hour nap on the sofa and asked hubby to wake me up at 11pm so I can meet the deadline. Woke up I did thanks to my dearest, but I was half asleep while doing my 2nd assignment. The result - I missed the deadline by a few minutes but thank goodness my dear Prof let me go and I'm very happy when I got an email from him this morning as he gave me a rather generous mark for it! So all tht sweat didnt go to waste eh..and thanks to my hubby for helping out in looking after our lil' one hehehe.. but 2 more assignments for submission again this coming Sunday...arrrghhh...

With grand aunty Roslyn - Aunty Roslyn said, "wah pandai tinguk camera oh". Daddy said, "of coz la coz suda kena train mummy dia kan". The paparazzi Mummy just kept mum and rolled her eyes up hee...

Our worriness is cured

A week ago, we brought Ethan to the paed for a check up and found out that he has sensitive airways. The doctor gave him his medicine and asked us to give it to him for about 3 to 5 days. But if the mucus still present we were to bring him back to the clinic. Five days gone and we could still hear the mucus in his throat though not worsening. So off we went to see the paed again on Saturday and the doctor gave him different types of medicines i.e. to help him clear his airways and to help clear the mucus. Anyway, I started his medicine that evening. And on Sunday when I was about to bath Ethan in the morning, I noticed that his left leg shuddered for a few seconds which I first thought was shiver due to feeling cold as he was only wrapped in towel then. But it happened again a few times after that although only once or twice. But I started to worry when my hubby brought him to our upstair neighbour and he told me that Ethan shuddered again when our neighbour tried to hold him in a standing position. After that we started to observe him quite closely and noticed that he shuddered a few more times and sometimes with closer gaps. Tried to call the paed but of coz it was already closed (it closes earlier on a Sunday). Hubby suspected it could be the medicine that he was taking. Anyway,we brought Ethan to the paed again this morning, and hubby was right. Upon checking Ethan and asking us questions, the doctor told us that the shuddering was due to the medicine that he was taking (the syrup type that supposed to help clear his airway). The medicine is not suitable for Ethan as it made him a bit excited, thus the shudderings. So doctor asked us to stopped that particular medicine and just continue with the other one first. So phew...relieved indeed we were after that...at least now we know why...

So parents, if your baby's leg suddenly shudders (no fever, eats well and still active), and he/she is on medication, check with the paed coz the medicine could be the reason why...However, the paed also mentioned that if baby is not on medication but shudders it could be due to immature nerve system...tht's just for your info :)

And oh just for the sharing, if your baby has sensitive air ways like our precious, his paed said NO to:

• aircon
• mosquito coils including the electric types
• carpet
• smoking in the house

On a different note, being the paparazzi that I am, I took the liberty in taking pictures of my precious just before we left for the clinic :)

Look, same sleeping posture! ;p

Finally, I managed to catch him smiling on camera!!! Yay!!

My precious started to "smile consciously" just before he turned 3 months old (before, it was just "gas" according to the doctor and books-smiling with his eyes closed and about to go to dreamland) Anyway, him smiling consciously wasn't a thing that happened so often initially... he would smile at you once in a while (when he feels like it I guess hehe...). But of lately, especially after he turned 3 mths old, he started to smile more often and response to your yak-kiti-yak with his gurgles and gorgeous smiles hehe...very cute indeed I tell you!! You see, I've been wanting to catch his big smile on camera but to no avail till yesterday evening!!

Wohoooo...hooray hooray....so folks, here's my peep's cute "Eskimo" like smile :)

After I've managed to take this pic and showed to my MIL and my other half, I'm one satisfied mom!! hahaha... see how desperate I was to take his smiling picture but finally... I succeeded... ahhhh... the feeling is just great!! ;p

Latest sleeping pattern of my peep...

One of the most difficult things for newbie parents (like me&hubs) to deal with is baby's sleeping habits. We have all heard and are familiar with the so called "panda eyes" for most new parents and their complaints about lack of sleep. My hubby and I are no exception too especially in the beginning...BUT....psssstttt...for the past 5 days, my baby has been sleeping from ard 9pm till abt 5.30am! Yes!! How wonderful isn't it!! Yeeehaa (no, make that double yeeehaa) to both me and hubby!! :) Having said that, honestly speaking, I must say Ethan has been a wonderful and lovely little baby. I would say he is not as demanding as I expected a baby would be and looking after him is still very manageable...Prior to his new sleeping pattern, I only need to wake up twice the most to feed him after his midnite feed....I guess probably the numerous warnings from friends may have gotten me prepared for the worst hee...no doubt we did have our share of sleepless nights but I would say those were bearable still :)

Talking about sleeping habits, I've read and have been told that it is always good to train your child from infant on their sleeping habit. I've read that one of the most important things you can do in terms of getting your newborn to sleep better is to establish a routine, and to stick to it. By establishing a routine with your baby from a young age you will ensure that the transition into more regular sleeping habits is both a quicker and smoother one.

Anyway, hope this new sleeping pattern of my sweetie pie will continue so his mommy and daddy will be able to enjoy solid nights' rest again...shall keep our fingers and toes crossed real tight! hee...

My peep is probably taking his nap at his grandma's now or probably awake for his milk...shhhhh...

My sleeping handsome ;p

Just being curious...

Just out of curiousity to test the accuracy of the meter...I tried different sets of pictures of us 3. See the results below:





Hence, my conclusion is, the look-alike meter is "pretty accurate" since different sets of pictures give the same result hee...

My Celebrity Look Alike ??..

Hmmmm....since they do celebrity look alike, why not give it a try right... Although I don't really agree with some of the results but it's fun to play around with ;p

http://www.myheritage.com

Ethan's Look Alike Meter

This "look a like" meter is useful as I can never tell if my baby looks more like his dad or me...well, it applies to all babies as I'm just hopeless when it comes to matching babies' faces to their parents'. But this meter says that he looks equally like me and my hubby :)

Aunty Izah & Cousin Fara

My sis in law (SIL), Izah (wife to Alvin's brother - Bryan), and her adorable little girl, Fara, are back in town from JB. Looking radiantly pregnant, the very soon second time mum and everyone in the family are waiting excitedly to welcome another addition to the family some time end of next month i.e.October. Will it be a boy or a girl?? I shall announce when the time has come ok :) Come the new baby, my in laws will have 3 golden pig grandchildren and I'm myself is a Miss Piggy too :)

Little Fara with Izah

Ethan with his Aunty Izah and cute little cousin Fara

Posing with Aunty Izah

4 years old Fara & baby Ethan

Cute little Fara

Cuddlly Fara with Grandma

Another pose from lovely Fara

Coloring time with Grandpa

Ethan's New Found Friend

We bought Ethan another soft toy, Smurf, on Saturday and he seems to like him a lot... check out my little prince with his new found friend...

Mr. Smurf

Getting acquainted..

Best of friends..??

We could be twins...hehe...

Ethan is 6.5kg!!??

We brought Ethan to the doctor today for some check ups. As always, the nurse will take his weight. Guess how heavy he is now...He gained abt 700gm in just a week's time and is now 6.5kg at 3 months 8 days!! Just a week ago he was 5.8kg at exactly 3 months old...It was so unbelievable when the nurse told me that he is 6.5kg...geee...baby does grow up so FAST!!

All 6.5kg of my precious...

My Champs

Besides football, wrestling is another sport that my other half loves to watch on telly. When I was still expecting our precious Ethan, I have sat numerous times next to my dearest while doing my reading. But there were times I would sneaked a peek at the programme just to have a look on what was going on especially when the commentator was very loud. Hubby was of coz not keen on me watching it coz it looks so violent. Not good for the baby... as we dowan our precious to become a violent person hehe...well, I did refrain myself from watching the programme for just in case...but I think our precious may have caught some of it already as he loves to punch around with his super boxing gloves aka his mittens!!

"Ok, come on daddy, let's fight! I'm all geared up now!".

I think with his chubby cheeks, I shall call him our heavy weight champion!!! ;p

My two darlings and precious champs :)

NO MORE Butter Crunch "Chips More" Cookies!!

Thanks to my dear colleague, I've become addicted to this super yummy butter crunch Chipsmore cookies!! At first I wasn't that keen but my colleague (jaga ko Flo!! All your faults!! hehe..) managed to persuade me in trying a piece when she was munching away a few days ago...tried I did and what did it made me turned into? A Chipsmore cookies monster!!! Oh noooo...what'll happen to my December goal i.e. to fit into my jeans and other clothes??!!...for the past 2 days I've bought 2 packets of the delicious cookies and finished it (happily and with no guilt at all!!) within hours!! This morning, even after a nice fried mee hoon breakfast & a banana at my MIL's, greediness overcame me and I happily and shamelessly gulped half packet of the cookies again!! When guilt finally sets in after my "gundoot" stints (thank goodness!!), I told my colleague, ok that's it, I' m not gonna buy it anymore otherwise I'll turn into a big fat cookies monster !!! So no more Butter Crunch Chipsmore Cookies for me ever again!! PERIOD!! Well, at least till I can fit into my jeans again..hehe and with my fingers cross that is..hee...no no...I'm serious!! I've blacklisted it! But for those who love chocolate chips cookies, this is one that you should not skip trying!! Jewelle?

My former addiction

BTW, the rain didn't stop till early this morning since yesterday evening... we even stayed overnite at my in laws to avoid baby Ethan catching the chill....Anyway, it was such a nice cosy time to sleep in this morning (wished it was Saturday) that my precious slept through and passed his 6am feeding time...he was happily and soundly asleep till 7.30am...I enjoy watching him in his sleep coz he looks so peaceful, relaxed and settled :)

On Looking Good Postpartum: my skin dangerously need some pampering...HELP!!

Okay this is not a complain, just some observations hee.....(yeah right...) one thing about being a mom is that your days of facial sessions (incl. shopping and window shopping sessions) has come to a halt or almost non-existent or very limited ;p So I guess this is evident on my face as I can see my pores are getting more (yikes!) and bigger (double yikes!!)...more black heads (oh NOOoooo....)I can also feel the dryness on my skin (wrinkles wrinkles go away... please please pretty please)...it's not that I don't care about skin care anymore but I guess after a tiring day I am just too lazy and couldn't be bother to put on the toner and facial treatment essense on me face...instead I just do a short cut and slap only the moisturiser on my face b4 am off to attend to my baby, chores, other stuff or just "pengsan" on the sofa while watching telly with my hubby...hmmm...must arrange something with my dearest this upcoming long weekend (yay! Thank goodness it's TYT's bufday!!) coz I think a visit to Kose for a much needed facial is required b4 my face turn "moon surface" like!!! Arrrgghhhhh, a big NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.....I dowan a tired looking mommy look!! I want a funky mommy look!! How vain can some people be! But honestly if you look good you feel good right hehe...

Talking about looking good, hmmm... what shall I do with my "3 mths pregnant" look tummy (a bit embarrass with it thus the small fonts but mau jua masuk blog kan...budu!)...frens told me that it takes a while for the tummy to "subside" post pregnancy. Some said it can take up 8 mths to a year...but some don't even have to wait coz they gone flat right after!! (me turning very green !!) Anyway, I hope I can get rid some of it if not all of it (which is like mission impossible coz pre-pregnancy pun memang ada uda!) by December to fit into my jeans and other clothes again...sigh...my selection of clothing is very limited now...don't feel like buying coz am quite confident I can fit into my old clothes again(wahhh action!!...plus remember my mom's said I can open "night market" so it'll be a waste ) ...it has gone down a bit but I guess am just being impatient not forgetting eating junk foods is not helping too... oppss guilty as can be..kik kik kik...

My baby's look when he is enjoying his milk...look at his facial expression and hands...it's like "wow..this feels like heaven!!" hee...oh, when he is near full or full he will put his hands on his chest automatically (one by one)...hehe...

Happy 3/12 months old Ethan!!

Yep! My little baby is 3 months old today :)

Hubby and me brought him to the clinic in Petagas for his general health check as well as for his 2nd dose of tripple jab... my poor Ethan cried of coz, but only for a short while..phew...

Anyway, I've learnt a couple of new things from the nurse today:

1. Baby's formula should be kept inside an air tight container to prevent "masuk angin" even after you have closed the can's lid
   
2. Baby should not be put on a walker so as to encourage him to walk on his own initiative (good for brain development) + safety reasons (he might get over excited and fall during his quest for an adrenaline rush hee...)

So how much has my baby Ethan grown? Here are details of his development as compared to previous month:

Month 2

Weight : 4.4 kg

Length: 53 cm

Month 3

Weight: 5.8 kg

Length: 58cm

Took some pictures of him this morning before going to the clinic...he was ok with mommy clicking away initially. But his mood changed after a brief moment with the paparazzi ...his pictures will tell you the story...hee..

"ok mommy you can take my pic, see am posing for you now but be quick!"

"errrrmmm....ok, that's enuf mommy.."

"yeah yeah...tell daddy enuf I said already.."


"Don't say I didn't warn you mommy..."

"I told you mommy, NO MORE PAPARAZZI!!!! Uwahhhhhhh....."

Opppssss...sorry peep...mommy & daddy got carried away a lil' bit with the paparazzi thingy hee...