The boys 1st trip to the cinema

Hubby and myself have been talking about bringing the boys to the cinema for quite a while...and after some thoughts we finally brought them to GSC Suria Sabah last saturday. Earlier on I was reluctant to bring Ethan to the cinema as Ethan being Ethan will not be able to sit still thus will be a bit hard to handle...I was afraid he will be running up and down the cinema aisle or worst still making so much noise that we have to leave the place in minutes upon entering! But now that he is bigger and has improved in terms of staying put and listening to instructions we thought why not to give it a try...as for Eli, we thought we just gamble tagging him along..if he cries I will bring him out and go for window shopping hee..I had my SCC ready with me in case that happens hehehe..

Anyway, am glad to say that Ethan was okay considering it was his first movie at the cinema. We watched Hop since that was the only children movie available on that day. Ethan managed to finished the whole movie except a trip to the toilet which ended up hubby buying popcorn to perhaps lure Ethan back to the cinema theatre ;p Eli on the other hand was a bit uneasy in the beginning especially with the loud sound effect and the huge screen! hehe...but he settled down after a while though he was a bit apprehensive in between which I gave him his milk to calm him down...but towards the last 15 mins he couldn't take it anymore so I brought him out...and guess what I ended up doing with him?? I had to go up the escalator and down the staircase a few rounds to keep him quiet from his crocodile tears!! Yeah just like his big bro, he loves going on the escalator too. He even refused me carrying him when we went down using the escalator to the parking floor...he only wants hubby to carry him..perhaps he thought I will not bring him on it again after I stopped to entertain his 'request' earlier on ;p Oh well, at least the boys had an enjoyable time and we managed to strike of one of the many things that we wanted to do with Ethan (and Eli for that matter). So yeah a trip (the first one that is) to the cinema is off the list now. And since the boys were rather well behaved we can consider bringing them out for a movie again next time ;p

Men in uniform

He might not be a man yet but to me he does look good in his school uniform ;p

Finally, after weeks of waiting, he finally gets to wear his new uniform along with his new white rubber shoes & socks. The look of a growing boy... I loike :)

Ethan in Playschool

We've enrolled Ethan in playschool since 4th January so that he will have more activities thus be able to learn more new things. Furthermore, he will be able to socialize more with children of his age and hopefully be more discipline and independent. I think teachers seems to be better at it then parents or grandparents as we tend to be soft hearted and spoil our own children or grandchildren ;p More importantly I want him to have some activities so that he will not feel neglected when Eli arrives since he will be pretty occupied at school during my confinement and maternity leave.

We've have expected that there will be some resistance from him or any child that goes to playschool, day care centre or school for the first time. He didn't realised that we will leave him at the day care on the first day. He probably thought we brought him out for an outing to play at the school and have some friends around. He didn't even realised we were gone when we left him alone there. It was only after sometime that he realised we were missing and started to sob for a while. But his teachers told us that not for long as he was more fascinated with the amount of toys in the centre ;p But he learnt pretty fast as the next 3 days was a bit of a struggle to leave him there as he protested and cried when we left him.

It was a heartache to hear him cry but we just have to bear with it as that's what all parents will have to go through once the children starts going to school...and not only the crying but also having to bear the possibility of the children getting sick more frequent while adjusting to the school bugs. In fact Ethan had to rest at home for 2 weeks the other day as ordered by his paed as his cough and flu didn't go away for almost 3 weeks plus high fever after kept getting infected...his paed did warned us that this is expected till his antibody get adjusted to the new environment ...he even told us that he won't be surprise if he keeps seeing us for the first few months...I thought to myself oh dear what have we done...but then again it is something we will have to go through sooner or later anyway...

After the 2 weeks rest from playschool and him fully recovered, I thought we will have to start all over again sending him to school...but surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I thought...although he did resist and sob for a while but only for a very short while before he started playing with the toys there.

As of now, I'm glad to say that there have been improvements and changes in him since he started schooling. He listens to instructions and can wait for his turn as opposed to previously. He also plays with his new found friends there and got pretty attached with one particular teacher i.e. Teacher Jojo ;p Just this morning he didn't want to let go of hubby's hand when he sent Ethan to the playschool but as soon as he saw Teacher Jojo, Ethan totally forgotten abt hubby! haha...The only concern I have is that he is still not eating the food at the centre...the teachers said he is still new and still adjusting to the new environment...but luckily he still drink his milk and now mixed with cereal since he doesn't want to take rice at the centre..and he eats his bananas without fail everyday. I'm please with that coz at least banana is still carbo so he won't be starving. I do bring him some biscuits or toasted bread from home too in the morning. So at least he still have something in his stomach...just hope he will start to accept the food prepared at the centre soon..

Overall we think he does like being in the school despite the mild protest in the mornings coz each time we fetch him after work he will not exactly want to go home per se. In fact, he will sort of want to show us what he can do in the school by playing with some of the playground 'toys' like the slide, the rocking horse etc. He even protested when we carried him to the car to bring him home ;p

But what I like most is seeing his happy smiley face whenever he sees us in the evening...just show how glad he is to see us and that he misses us hehehe....the thought of it just melt my heart :)

On the way to the playschool for the first time

He was pretty much occupied with the toys there that he totally forgotten abt me and hubby ;p

Enjoying himself :)

In his school uniform and sunglasses ;p

Musikgarten: family music for toddlers

We've been wanting to enroll Ethan for some kind of activities to let him learn new things and at the same time to socialize with other children of his same age group. This is also to prepare him since we've decided to send him to playschool in January next year. Coincidentally one of my friends have suggested for me to enroll Ethan in Musikgarten since her son is also in it. She told me we could go for a trial which is only RM35 for 4 sessions. After discussing with hubby, we then decided it would be good for Ethan since he does seem to have some inclination towards music and songs.

We've so far brought him to 2 classes/ sessions. We've told ourself that for the first class he may not even bother to join the class which indeed was true except when the teacher started to bring out the music instruments. I think he only joined 1/4 of the whole 30 mins session that day ;p He was more busy running around the class then joining the other children singing and doing movements with the teacher. But the second session was even worst as he kept asking to go out from the classroom so that he could play outside!! We kept coaxing him to re-enter the class which he did but always end up asking us to let him out! But at least he joined for a short while when the teacher took out one of the music instruments and let him have a go ;p Oh well, we still have 2 sessions to let him try...I guess if he still doesn't seem to be interested to join the class we might postpone his actual enrollment to a later stage ..perhaps when he is more ready and after seeing his progress in his playschool ;p

Some of you may have heard of Musikgarten but for those who have not heard about it, Musikgarten is basically an early childhood music education for children from birth to age nine.

You may ask,

Why should I pursue early childhood music education for my child?

The answer given my Musikgarten is that:

"Music awakens and stimulates neural pathways in the brain that are associated with higher forms of intelligence, such as abstract thinking, empathy, mathematics and science. Music's melodic and rhythmic patterns provide exercise for the brain and help develop memory. Remember singing the ABC song to learn your ABC's? Studying music helps children establish good listening habits, which are essential for achievement in school. Overall, music activities are perfect for child development. Music immerses the child in language, evokes movement, stimulates the brain and fosters physical coordination - all in a group setting that builds community - a holistic experience."

Ethan falls under the 16 months to 3.5 years old category and below is the course content for his age group:

16 Months - 3.5 Years
Participate with your toddler for 30 minutes each week in singing, Chanting, moving, dancing, listening and playing simple instruments.

Musical play activities:
– Help develop a strong musical bond with your child and closer family ties.
– Bridge the natural connection between music and movement.
– Enhance your child’s musical aptitude and listening abilities.
– Lay the foundation for singing and vocal development, listening skills, and purposeful movement.

Features:
– Movement activities for coordination, body awareness, exploration of space, body control and the pure joys of movement.
– Folk songs for singing, dancing and listening.
– Focused listening examples from both daily life and music instruments.
– Instruments to explore: rhythm sticks, jingles, rattles, drums, and resonator bars.
– 4 wonderful semesters, each with a 60 minute CD, a parent activity book and an instrument or scarf to use at home.

Personally, I do feel this is a good programme as not only will it prepare the children for future music instruments classes. But the programme also encourages social skills, motor skills as well as helping the children to be more discipline.

Fingers crossed and hope Ethan will be more cooperative for the coming classes ;p and should you want to know more details about Musikgarten in KK, you can call 088-721733.

The pictures below were taken during his first session :)

While the rest were following the class, Ethan was busy inspecting the stuff inside the classroom ;p

He was quite happy to join when the teacher brought the xylophone out though ..but the teacher had to persuade him to return it to her so the others can have their turns heee...

You can see Ethan still wanted to play with it even though his turn was over hehehe...

29 months

Ethan at 2 yrs 5 mths

Weight: 16.1 kg

Height: 89-90cm (approx.)

And we finally remembered to let him have a go on his new car booster seat whihc we've bought a few weeks ago but kept forgetting to replace his car seat with it ;p

A bit apprehensive in the beginning...

then he got excited... I asked him to "play" the violin while listening to the music and he happily did :)

Enjoying the rest of the ride to his class at Musikgarten which I will blog later...

Chop chop chop...

...was the sound of the scissors as we finally brought Ethan to the hair saloon to have his hair cut after 1 year 9 months and 3 weeks ;p Yup, that was how long we kept his hair except for two trims on his fringe and his side burns when he was a baby... We actually wanted to wait till he is 2 years old for a new look. But since he has been complaining "itchy..itchy" and will ask us to scratch the nape of his neck and sometimes his scalp, we've decided it's time to give the hair saloon a visit.

As it was going to be his first real hair cut, I brought along some toys and his current favourite brochure (he has a thing about brochure ..he will look at it for a long time as if he was reading it hee...) to distract him if he gets restless during the hair cut. Have a look how it went ;p

There goes his long curls...

Ethan with his questioning look : "what is this uncle doing to my hair mummy??" ;p

Since he didn't want to wear the cover to keep the hair away from him, we took off his shirt, put on some talcum powder on him and started giving him one of his toys...and from sitting down...

...to standing up...and to a different toy.....and then his current favourite brochure (which btw was a sales promotion from Chan furniture hehe..)

Ethan looking bored and giving me the "are you finished with your stint as paparazzi mummy??!" ;p
another changed of toy ;p

..and from sitting down to asking hubby to carry him and here Ethan giving hubby a peck hehe...so sweet of him hee...And finally...from this look...
Ethan now looks like this :)
So what say you? More boyish looking? ;p

Overall, it only took the hair stylist about 10-15 mins. Ethan was great with just a little bit of moving around. I would rate him 8/10 ;p I guess the toys and brochure were good companions too hehe...it took me and hubby a while to get use to his new look but I think am beginning to like it though I do still miss his curly hair ;p

Oh mind you, the hair stylist thought he was a girl when he first saw him! hahaha...poor Ethan...not your fault baby...its all mummy's and daddy's fault coz your curls were just too adorable to be cut ;p

First dip in the pool

Ethan super excited during his first dip in the pool :)

One and small step at a time..

Our precious darling Ethan has started to take his first couple of steps since last week. Though he is not fully confident yet but at least he tries to take 1 if not 2 steps now. But oh...the latest improvements was yesterday when he walked 6 steps at MIL's!! Hooray Ethan! Go Ethan Go!!

"So do you think I have a sexy butt?"

Laughing away while enjoying Hi-5! on Astro - the Chuppa Chuppa song hehe...

He blinks his eyes when he is asked to do so ;p

Vote for ETHAN!!

THIS POST WILL STAYS ON TOP TILL END OF JULY ;p

* New entries can be found after this post ;p *

UPDATES: 17:24 28th July - Ethan is in the top 2 among 17 contestants and is 5% vote (176 votes)behind the first one (229 votes). So please keep your vote coming folks!! Thanks so much for your support!! :)

Hello folks, I've entered Ethan in a Cutie Child contest recently and would love to have your vote for Ethan :) If you have been generous enough to give Ethan 1843 virtual hugs (see left side bar) for Ethan, I'm pretty sure you'll be generous enough to vote for him for the Search for the Cutie Child Contest!! :) So please make your way to the site or click on the picture below and vote for E T H A N please!! :) This contest is for the month of July and you can vote once a day. If you have friends that would like to vote for Ethan please forward this post to them too. The more the merrier!! heee...THANK YOU ALL IN ADVANCE!! Muaaaahhhhh!!! ;p

MIA

Hello folks, I've been missing in action from my blog recently...reason being, my precious Ethan had intestinal infection. So I was busy with him and I didn't have my laptop with me since Thurs night too...thus, the quiet blog ;p

Anyway, I didn't suspect anything when Ethan first vomited at Aunt Roslyn's home last Monday night...I thought he might be just over eaten or that he played too much... But I didn't expect him to vomit again upon reaching home and again when he was asleep on that same night. I started to worry that I kept checking on him every hour in case he vomits in his sleep again..but thank goodness he didn't. He seemed ok the next day but MIL told me that he had a bit of diarrhea. I thought maybe it was just something mild...but when his diarrhea (watery stool) continued and he vomited again on Wednesday with mild fever, we decided to bring him to his paed and that was when we were told he had intestinal infection. We were told it will last for another 2-3 days. Besides his medicine, the paed asked us to change his milk temporarily to Novalac milk for diarrhea but Ethan refused to take it. As I didn't want him going to bed with an empty stomach, I just gave him his usual Similac milk. However, I did mix his milk the next day and luckily he could take it in. The doctor told us that the infection could be due to a few reasons:

• consumption of improperly prepared/contaminated food - care taker's hands not washed after diapers change before preparing his food
• improperly cleaned feeding materials
• baby's hands not cleaned after touching dirty surfaces/toys

The last reason seems more relevant to his cause of infection. Especially now that he crawls on the floor more and likes to touch everything and put his hands in his mouth. Ethan lost 300 grams within 2 days due to him vomiting, having diarrhea and his lost of appetite. Though he was still drinking his milk and water but he was reluctant to eat his porridge. Luckily his lost of appetite only continued for 2 days and he didn't refuse his Heinz baby biscuits (phew...). He still continued to have diarrhea till yesterday evening though his stool was getting better. But if you would have seen him during those few days, you won't notice that he was ill as he was as active and playful as ever... very much my typical Ethan boy :) Here are some pictures of him over the weekend...

Ethan enjoying his sleep on Friday morning :D

Ethan inside his toys' box on Friday night

My Lil' E wearing his dad's sunglasses just this morning ;p

Lil' S. Jibeng ;p

BTW, he started to imitate some words or sounds from the telly and me over the weekends...this include "ah", "quack-quack", "miaw-miaw" and believe it or not, he imitated me saying "lolou" this morning when I told him not to touch his "lolou" (his "little birdie") whenever I change him *eyes rolling*

The morning after...

As we reached home from my parents' house after Ethan's birtday party, both hubby and me opened Ethan's presents and arranged them nicely on the floor in the living room (Ethan's new territory hee..) . It was hubby's great idea to see Ethan's reaction and of course to give him a nice surprise the next morning ;)

Ethan's presents before and after we, the parents, happily opened them up for him ;p

Below are a couple of video shots of how he enjoyed getting all those lovely gifts :) The first one when he first saw all the presents and the second one showing him playing with his favourite present which was hand picked by himself - the big teddy bear from his grand uncle Nicky and grand aunt Doris :)

See how happy and excited our precious lil' boy was, thanks to all family members, relatives and friends for the wonderful birthday gifts and "ang pow" (red packet)!! :)

Let's get the party started

We had a small 1st birthday bash for Ethan at my parents' home last Saturday. Here's a video and some photos for the sharing :)

Here's a link to Aunt AgnesDiary entry on Ethan's bday bash :)

First Xmas Presents

Ethan gets to open his X'mas presents recently...see how he was doing with his first X'mas present...

The curious cat...but wait...

...not till he has a taste of it first....

..and finally...his first X'mas gift from Uncle Alex, Aunt Jasica & cousin Allie..

Another milestone

My baby managed to roll over on his own for the very first time just an hour ago!! Initially I tot my hubby had to help him but I was wrong...Previously he could roll to his side but he would still need a helping hand to roll over till he is on his stomach. Well, not anymore :) Oh ...he started drooling for almost 2 weeks now (see picture on the left)... I'm also wondering if he is teething coz since yesterday he seems to have slight fever - on and off...and since two days ago, he sometimes sleep on his side...Both hubby and my little baby are asleep at the moment while I'm trying to keep my eyes open to complete my assignment so that I can enjoy the weekend!

First Day of Hari Raya

During the first day of Hari Raya, we visited Aunty Anda and her family. We had fun and it was an enjoyable Raya gathering especially with the delicious home made dishes prepared by Aunty Anda. My favourite dish was of coz Aunty Anda's most sought after rendang beef :)

This was also the first time we brought Ethan for a long outing. We were there from around 1pm till 5pm and baby Ethan didn't make a fuss except when he is thirsty or hungry. When it was his nap time, he just sleep comfortably in his pram :)

MIL posing with her sisters (Aunty Anda & Aunty Roslyn), Clement (Alvin's bro),

Emie (Alvin's cousin) and Emie's GF

Ethan with Grand Aunty Roslyn, cousin Zach and daddy

Drinking water with Daddy

Ethan with his grandma and his other lil' cousin

My milky baby!

Another one of Ethan's first : him being in his pram :)