Mommy? Me?

Anniversary

2006-12-04T07:45:00.000-05:00

Anniversary

Happy Anniversary of Dead Blog!

I didn't know that my wife are this busy for over 1 year! Will try to get her back to blogging.

Sorry

2005-10-11T21:02:00.000-04:00

It's been a long long time since I updated the blog with words. Well, my parents went back to M'sia on the 6th. And it's great to have them around. Now that they're gone, I guess Ethan suffered a little. He got used to having people accompanying him 24/7 but not anymore. Guess it's a little frustrating for him. Not sure whether he missed his grandparents, but I do miss my parents.

Since they have left, so why am I still taking such a long time to write a new post. Well, let's just say that I'm very very busy. With what? Moving! Yup, the other day while my parents were still here, a building inspector came and knock on our door. The basement apartment isn't supposed to have people living unless they met the requirements and laws. Apparently, when my landlady bought the house, it's already build this way. Anyway, she received a summon and we're required to move within the end of this month. Since we've been living in this house for more than a year, a lot of things have piled up. So now...we're packing, packing, packing. Mund's bros aren't going to live with us, actually all of us are moving to different places. I think it's kinda a relief too (those of you who knows, will know why I'm relieved)

Anyway, I guess it's hard for me to type more. It's unfair that Mund is doing the packing and I'm sitting here comfortably in front of the computer. It's the best time to pack since Ethan is sleeping. When he's awake, he'd sticked to us like glue. So, no packing when we're alone...cause either one of us had to take care of him. Haihh...that's what makes the packing process so hard to do. And...I won't be able to update more, until I've moved. Even after I've moved, I don't think we'll get internet connections that quick. So if you really want to contact me, best is to email me. Hehe...so take care y'all.

2005-09-30T21:45:00.000-04:00

Kick you.
Posted by Mund

Sightseeing in NYC

2005-09-28T13:45:00.000-04:00

Ferry ride to Statue of Liberty, luckily no one got seasick.Ethan doesn't seem to be too amuse at Lady Liberty
It's chilly 80+ floor up at the Empire State Building.
The famous Brooklyn Bridge at dusk ,taken at Pier 17

Scenery from the amusement park of beautiful Coney Island

Bus Tour to Washington D.C - The Story

2005-09-26T18:02:00.000-04:00

We've never brought Ethan for any big trips so far, so going on the bus tour to Washington D.C was his first trip. Not knowing what to expect how Ethan will behave, we went there prepared for any tantrums, any non-stop crying and so on. Not only that, we brought extra Pampers, extra formula, extra clothing and etc. We managed only to use half the Pampers we brought by the way.

Once we got on the bus, Ethan was purely excited. He's checking out the seat, the window, the people walking on the street, and how he could look at his grandparents if he stand up instead of sitting. He just doesn't like it that much when the tour guide speaks through the microphone, as he tried to shout back at him. Not long after, he's being rotated from Mund's lap to Grandpa's lap to Grandma's and mine of course. He likes it best when he's on Grandma's lap, then stand up and peek at us. Then Mund would play game with him where he pretended to be sleeping...and then try to scare him. Ethan laughed so loudly and he practically fall down on Grandma's lap.

Normally whenever we reached any destinations, we would be the last to get off from the bus as we need to unload his stroller as well. Ethan would then be superstar where everybody will smile at him. He would try to grab on their sleeves for attention and then flashed them with the brightest smile ever. We would be ignored...just like always whenever we took him out. Only at home he will pay attention to us. Out in the streets he would be on the prowl, looking for the next victim to target at and make their day. Especially on the subway, he would look for whoever is interested in him, and then throughout the trip, he would smile at that particular person if they responded.

Towards the end of the first day, Ethan was very tired, and he slept on my shoulder, but he was awaken a few times because we still have places to visit, and we had to put him on the stroller. At times he awakens, at times he continued sleeping. Such a pitiful sight to see him being woken up and couldn't sleep back. But still he maintain his emotion...no hellish crying or tantrums.

Funnily, hotel is not his thing. Once we entered the room, he wouldn't want to be put down on the bed. Probably he recognizes that it's not his (our) room. Esp the bedsheet on Days Inn is so appalling, whoever decorated the room must have been a pattern freak. It's between Indian and Arabian fashion I guess. Once Ethan settled on the bed, he wouldn't let Mund or I out of the bed. We had to be on the same bed as he is. He would complain even if I walk about. Bathing him was a mess too. He wouldn't sit on the tub, and both of us had to hold a screaming infant and scrubbed him clean. Not so sure about the clean part, but it was done speedily, so that the wailing will end. Luckily, putting him to bed isn't much of a challenge, as the magic nipple of mine is always the best 'sleeping pill' for him. There's two bed in the room, but for security of Ethan, we slept in just one, in case he roll off the bed. Next morning, we woke up with Mund on the other bed. According to him, Ethan kick him off the bed and have the other half of the bed all by himself.

As for the next day, it's just about the same as the first. He like to sightsee as well, cause he wouldn't pay attention to the camera of which he like to pose at normally. On the bus, he would try to win some hearts again..and that's about it. Conclusion is Ethan will definately be on the next vacation. Next stop: Niagara Falls

Coming up next: more pix taken with grandparents in NYC.

Bus Tour to Washington D.C

2005-09-23T00:15:00.000-04:00

Peeking on his parents between the seats as Grandpa looks on
Ethan keep wanting to walk thus Grandma and I had to hold his hands.
Posing in front of the Statue of Abraham Lincoln
Proud grandson of two very happy grandparents.

Coming up - Bus Tour to Washington D.C - The Story

Meme

2005-09-17T23:09:00.000-04:00

Since I was meme-d by Marsha, I have no choice but to post about this before updating about the stuffs that's been going on in our life since the arrival of my parents. Hence, the following comes...

20 years ago (1985)
I'm just a mere 3-year-old toddler, and unfortunately my memories doesn't go back so far. The earliest memories I had went back only to my kindergartener years only. I remembered memorizing books instead of actually reading them cause I can't read! I still remember the series I read most was 'Peter and Jane'. I wonder if they still exist in today's kindergarten. I was also a very reserved child, hardly socialize with others and have only very few friends. Always in my own world, but I don't remember having any imaginary friends though.

10 years ago (1995)
Getting from a primary schooler to a secondary schooler wasn't hard at all. Yeah, the environment changes, but most of the faces are the same as most of the students are from the same primary school. I got into the first class for Form 1, from there my academics deteriorate to second class for Form 2, and third class for Form 3. I think I really go with the flow...I remember being 20ish position in every form, and the reason I was put behind is because of the quota that malays should be placed in better class even though their results was worse than the chinese. Apart from school, I was always at tuition classes or piano classes for almost everyday of the week. Tuition was really fun, I still love Mr Chee's way of teaching. I enjoyed those times, cause those were the only time I was away from home. Teenage years was boring cause my parents were strict ones, I hardly get to go out with friends.

5 years ago (2000)
College! Yay! I got to make my own decision, I get to go where I want, and it's fun! Almost felt like a bird finally getting out of that golden cage. TARC was nice, although unlike 'fun' people, I had to stay in the hostel. Get to stay in the same room with my lifetime best friend, JY and most of the time we even double date (her then bf was best friend with my then bf) Everything worked out good until she left for SIA due to some personal reasons. But things didn't go any worse, my next roommate is also an Ipoh gal, we got along very well, and had a lot of fun as well. Sorry can't really go into details as my mom is also a reader of this blog. Hehe. Some things are better kept unsaid.

3 years ago (2002)
Came to US for further studies. Felt a little odd since Campbell Uni was located at a very rural area. Still remembered the feelings when the school van took my friends and I back to the Uni. It took around 45 minutes, but I was scared shitless. Felt as though an accident is going to occur cause the driver drove on the right side of the road. Felt worse whenever we had to take a turn, cause that's where it's most confusing. And felt even more unsecure when the driver is talking on the cellphone and driving at the same time. Worst thing was that the longer the journer, the less we saw of buildings. All around was just trees, grasses and lands that goes all the way to the horizon. Where is he taking us?
Anyway, I grew to love Campbell so much, I miss it even now, although I've only spent one year there. The people were the friendliest, warmest people I've ever known. Still miss being in the choir as well, as we're the travelling choir. Been to quite a few towns in NC travelling with them, but unluckily I don't have any cameras with me, so all will just remains as memories. Being the only asian the choir wasn't that bad either. Of course there's one or two who discriminate, but most of them were very very nice to me. I love Campbell Uni!!

2 years ago (2003)
Graduated with Bachelors Degree, left NC to come to NYC, embarking on a career of a lifetime. Who wouldn't want to be successful in NYC? But everything went crashing down after knowing that I wouldn't get an OPT (something like a working permit for foreign student who graduated in US) It's hard for me to take as I've always been very ambitious. Imagine going to interview, impressing the interviewers, getting positive feedbacks only to be decline because I didn't get the OPT yet (at that time I didn't know I will never ever get them) Anyway, whenever a door closes another opens. I'm lucky to have a great guy friend who took me around and look after me. Anyway, he became my bf and now, my husband.

1 year ago (2004)
The birth of Ethan Lim!! Wants to know more? Read from the archieves!

And so, I pass on this meme to Mund and Andrew. Hopefully Mund will continue on with this, and as for Andrew, I'm sure it won't be a trouble for him as he's an avid blogger.

Not a Sleeping Prince

2005-09-07T05:35:00.000-04:00

Ethan can sleep very well although there's noises around, like when the tv is on, he could still sleep soundly. But he's very sensitive when we are talking that we had to whisper. It's rather strange as there are people talking on tv, but it doesn't seem to bother him. Is it because of the language? I'm not really sure. Another thing that he's very sensitive to is when my phone rings. My Nokia ringtone isn't turn on really loud, actually the tv is louder, but yet, my phone works more efficient than an alarm clock. Ethan would sit up, blinking his eyes trying to open them wide, and wouldn't go back to bed unless I end the conversation quickly and put him back to bed.

He has a kind of fascination with phones. At times he could watch me in awe, as I'm trying to concentrate on the conversation. The reception in my room isn't all that clear, so I normally had to stand close to the window, next to the bed. Ethan would crawl at his fastest speed and climb on me, as though saying he wants to chat as well. I would at times turn on the speaker phone so he could hear the other side of the conversation as well. He's most excited when he heard Daddy's voice. He would go 'ah...ahhh...' as though he's answering. Sometimes, he would try to locate Mund, turning his head left and right because he found it intriguing to hear his voice, but couldn't see his face. If he's on his own crib when the phone rings, he would jump up and down, and even shout when I'm on the phone. Funny thing is, if I'm on the phone with someone else other than Mund, Ethan would lose his interest rather quickly.

We bought Ethan a bolster around 2 weeks ago. Main reason is that he likes to hold us while he's sleeping. So, we thought that it's best to get him a bolster. We let him pick by holding a few bolster in front of him while he's on the stroller, and the first one he touch is the one we bought. It's a poor replication of Mickey Mouse, but I guess it's a wiser choice than Hello Kitty or Tigger (from Pooh). See, Ethan got good taste. When we reached home, we took it out and showed him, and he smiled at Mickey Mouse. Nowadays...no more smiling, but Ethan is pulling, tugging and biting at it.

Also, I'm not sure if I could still blog as frequently as I'm used to (yeah, that's about once a week or so) as my parents are coming for a visit soon for the first time ever to US. They will be here for approximately a month, and I'll take them around the city of course. Maybe there won't be many words, probably they will be a whole lot more of photos. Hopefully I will still have time to update while they are here. Mund had already applied for holidays and he'll be able to accompany us for about 1 week as well. Now, it's his choice to choose whether should we go to Washington D.C, or Boston, Philly and Baltimore trip. We couldn't afford to go further although we really wished we could visit LA or Las Vegas.

For some reasons, I couldn't upload photos today no matter how many times I've tried. Must have been something wrong with blogger or something. Will try again later on, but for now, just the post. Check back later y'all.

Taking Steps

2005-09-01T22:04:00.000-04:00

Trying to balance himself and pose to the camera at the same time

Yes!! Ethan has taken the giant milestone. He has started to take steps, and maybe you could say that's walking as well. But then, the best he had done so far is taking a step each on both feet and still manage to balance himself. He start out first by jumping (bending his knees) without holding onto anything, and then suddenly he jumped so high that his foot took one step forward. I was amazed, so I have him do that again, but this time, I also ask Mund to watch. And yes, Ethan did it again cause he just love the applause from us. He's still a little afraid to really walk, so when I put him to stand on his own, at times he would just do a free fall and he knew I would catch him. Or he would take a step or two before doing the falling thingy. And if he really doesn't feel secure doing any of those, he will just bend down and sit. But the current record is just two steps and still able to balance himself. Yay!

The other day I was washing dishes and I left Ethan on the bed with Mund. Mund had started to doze off before I start, but I knew Ethan won't be happy in his own crib. When I almost got the dishes done, I heard a small cry (the one that indicates Ethan needs help) and I rushed to the room. Guess what I found? Ethan was sitting on the floor. How did he get there? We had no idea. Our only theory was that he somehow push himself down slowly from the bed. He'd done this before in the past. The way to do it is to dangle his legs on the edge, and then slowly wedge his way down, while his hands would hold onto the bedsheets. He'd probably been cruising along the bed until he's tired and tried sitting down. And his cry for help was probably because he doesn't know what to do next. Ethan doesn't really like being on the floor maybe because he'd fallen for quite a number of times. There was once I put him sitting on the floor, and he dare not move at all and then cried. Anyway, I knew very well this time he didn't fell off the bed, otherwise it wouldn't be a whimper, it would be a mega crying session.

Ethan had fallen asleep on the stroller after a walk in the park

Normally I would take him to the park and like always after playing on the swing, I would guide him with walking. He loves to walk while holding on my fingers. Since it is now fall/autumn, there's a lot of leaves on the ground. He would at times aim to step on those leaves. No longer walking on a straight line, he would stray here and there trying to step on more things, be it garbage or leaves. Today, he met a new friend. Again, I didn't ask for the baby's name, but he's a 15-month-old cutie boy. He can walk, but he rather hide behind his mama's leg. Ethan just do what he does best, which is smile. He smiled to the boy's mama and then gently touch her forehead. I tried to get him to shake the other baby's hand, but Ethan rather continue walking. The other baby is really really cute, he flashes me smiles but at the same time is very very shy.

After Ethan had his congee for lunch, I set him on the bed while I took my lunch. Halfway through he came and look for me, I thought that he still want to eat, so I gave him two mouthful. Then I realize that his hands was rather dirty, and my first thought was that I forgotten to clean him after he had his meal. At times he likes putting his hand in his mouth while eating, thus making it very dirty. But something distracted me, and when I take a good look, I found half of the bed covered with Ethan's stool!!! Apparently the diaper leaked and he knew something was wrong. He came to me quietly, probably was scared that I would scold him. He smeared a whole lot of it and I really hope that he didn't put his hand in his mouth. Nope, I didn't take a picture of it, I don't have the time. I just had to clean up after Ethan and the mess he'd created. After that, my appetite for food was gone.... so I just threw away what's left of my lunch.

Ethan's friends/acquaintances

2005-08-25T21:36:00.000-04:00

Ethan frowning, while you get a cute smile from landlady's son.
Hmm...for this post, I'm just going to introduce a couple of Ethan's friends. Not exactly friends, cause they don't really mingle all that much, but these babies are just about Ethan's age. And they are cute too!
Although the other baby looked smaller, it's because he's slumping in the stroller
First of all, is my landlady's son. He's born 3 weeks earlier than Ethan. I still had not remember his name or any of his two elder sisters. This cutie is one active fella. I tried holding him once, and I got my hair pulled within 2 seconds. Three of them together really creates a lot of noises. Luckily the apartment is a little noise proof...otherwise they will really give all the tenants a big headache. Not that we could complain, after all their mother is the landlady. Another thing I don't really approve of is that the mom let him eat almost everything. From potato chips to ice creams to bones. Yes, I saw him once holding a piece of pork with bones that has almost no meat left...and he was still chewing on it. While Ethan is still lazy to chew and at times will choke a little cause he just try to swallow everything.
The princess waving bye bye to me...
Another baby I'm introducing belongs to a neighbour cum ex-landlady. Yeah, I move around a lot, that's why I have so many landladies around the block. Her daughter is born about a month earlier than Ethan. She's rather chubby, but actually weigh lighter than she looks. She has very fair skin, but tends to develop rashes. This princess isn't as active, and I haven't got the chance to hold her yet. She has an elder sister and an elder brother. The elder bro is a very sociable boy. He loves to follow me around and chat about, although I don't understand half of what he says. The princess' elder bro. Photo taken 2 years ago when he's still very cute.

Oh no...diarrhoea!

2005-08-20T22:17:00.000-04:00

After Ethan got back from the doctor, not long after that, he developed a patch of rashes on his left arm. Mind you, that's the arm where he'd taken the tuberculin injection. Not only that, he had diarrhoea as well. When things doesn't get better, I took him to the doctor again 2 days after the first visit. First of course, is to check on his hand, I suspected he had tuberculosis, luckily I was wrong. Doctor say it's just rashes, caused by viruses. When I told doc about the diarrhoea, he say it's one of the symtoms caused by the viruses as well. He also ask me to check for fever and sore throat although at that time Ethan was fine. Also, he asked me whether or not Ethan is eating well, and I told him that I stopped giving him food, but instead just formula and breast milk is fed because of the diarrhoea. Silly me, I wasn't supposed to do that, I should do the exact opposite - stop all the milk and give him only food. Opps...luckily it's just for 2 days and Doc said that it's no big deal, no medicine or cream will be prescribed, just let it go off by itself.

The diarrhoea was a big problem because we ran out of baby wipes. Normally we get the supplies in bulk from a Toysrus store near Mund's working place. But they close it down for renovation to convert it into a Babyrus. So for the meantime, we had no idea where to get it. It's available at a lot of pharmacies, but they it's rather expensive since they are sold individually. So, while waiting for a better way to get the wipes, I use the ones from SIA. Yes, that's short for Singapore Airlines. Wondering how I get 'em huh? Well, let's just say I have friends who provided me with them everytime they visit us. But too bad, both of them had retired... so no more freebies. But thanks a lot to JY and PS. And in no time, the SIA wipes run out as well. So, I suggested that we order in bulk online from Amazon. But it won't arrive so fast since we didn't want to fork out money for express shipping. I went to a nearby 99 cents store to get some ghetto wipes. The paper is coarse, and dried up easily and it doesn't pick up much of the faeces. The worst thing was that Ethan cried whenever I touch the wipes on his bum. Probably because it sting and his behind had developed redness due to excessive exposure to faeces. So, now we're wetting Bounty napkins (for use mostly in the kitchen) and it's not so painful for him. But he still squirmed about and tried to escape. So now, I had to think of what I could usefully dispose of the ghetto wipes. I think my orders from Amazon should arrive on Monday, but Ethan had just already recovered from it, both from diarrhoea and the redness on his bum.

Now...one big fat kiss for you Mommy...just don't complain about the saliva.

Anyway, let's talk about something a little more uplifting. As you all know, Ethan know how to give me kisses. But apparently, mommy's lip and daddy's lip is a big different to Ethan. When I pucker up, he'll give me a kiss, but when Daddy pucker up...Ethan will either stare at him or poke his fingers there. At one time, he cringes up his brows, as though he doesn't understand what's happening. Then I try to give him a demonstration. When Mund pucker up, I give him a kiss...then Ethan follow suit. Haha...it's so funny! We had to demonstrate for a few times, and now he get the idea. Now, Daddy receives just as much kisses as Mommy....

Doctor's Appointment

2005-08-15T14:16:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we took Ethan to the doctor. We actually went there last Friday, but we didn't know that our pediatrician went for a vacation. It's a hot hot day in New York City. Temperatures soared above 90 degrees. So, I dressed Ethan in a piece of white bodysuit and rubbed sunscreen on his exposed limbs. While walking to the subway station, I even walked beside him holding an umbrella to shield him from the sun while Mund pushed the stroller. It's a ridiculous sight to some as I'm walking funnily trying to adjust the way I hold the umbrella.

When we're there, not much of patients are around, we only need to wait for one baby and then it's our turn next. This is really good compared to Friday, where there's long queue. Mund carried Ethan inside the examination room. The nurse teared the old paper from the 'bed'. I don't know how to explain it, maybe someone can provide me with the correct terms. The sound of paper tearing freaked Ethan out. I guess this is one of the reasons he hated the sound of plastic bags. He was still ok, not crying yet when he was placed on the weighing machine. He's a little over 22 pounds, not much gained since his last visit 2 months ago. He was exactly 21 pounds then. Next the nurse put him down on the bed to measure his height. He cried immediately, and kicked his legs about. The moment I picked him up, he's quiet again. He's 2 inches taller than last time, which put him now at 31 inches.

Next, doctor came in to look at his ears, abdomen and private parts. He has to put down again on his back. Again, he cried with all his might. He even tried to get up on his own, and when that doesn't succeed, he grab on doctor's hand and pull himself up til 45 degrees. Of course the nurse is subduing him otherwise he could really sit up. This time when I picked him up, he was holding on me so tight, grabbing my neck til it hurts. I passed him to Mund, and even he complained that Ethan is grabbing too tight.

After that, we were lead to another room where Ethan's finger was pricked and bloods was taken for blood test. He wasn't afraid, as I was holding him on my lap. He didn't even cry, just fascinated by the process. When adhersive bandage (or plaster) was sticked to his finger, he tried to shake it off, like doing the bye-bye motion. The nurse proceed to give him a tuberculin shot on his arm. It surprised me as he didn't cry. Normally he would, but all of those shots were on his thigh. Is it more painful to take shots on the thigh? I never had any there... and no, I'm not planning to try either. The nurse reminded us to call if his arm became reddish in 48 hours, which meant having tuberculosis. When all were done, we left after saying bye bye.

PS: We didn't bring out camera out so no photos for this post.

Baldie's Kisses

2005-08-10T10:40:00.000-04:00

Oh my God!!! Where's all my hair gone? I can't find 'em

Yes, finally Ethan had gotten his long awaited haircut. We couldn't bear the way he sweated his whole hair as though he's sporting a wet look. Summer in NYC is hot and since autumn will be approaching soon, this is the best time to get his haircut. I hold him tight to sit on my lap facing the mirror as the hair stylist just razored through his head. He was ok for only 20 seconds before the screaming. I'm not sure what bothered him more, the buzzing sound of the razor or the sight of losing his hair. When screaming doesn't work, he began to cry. He wailed and wailed, stopping only when he's out of breath. He wouldn't sit still and the piece of cloth that covered both of us was almost wiggled free. Hairs were all over his face and all over my body. After that fateful day, he had kinda developed a phobia over loud noises. He will cry when someone is using the hair dryer or the tap water is running. Yeah, he's bald but not really clean cut as we couldn't endure the crying any longer. So there's some patches of hair near the nape of his neck and some behind his ears. Luckily it's not that obvious.

Ethan is also into making faces. One of it is to squint or blink his eyes a little, at times accompanied with a very fake smile. Normally it's done when we're using louder tone when speaking to him eg. when we're scolding him or so he thought. It's his way to get off the hook and boy it does work. I mean who could resist a cute face like that? He probably learned that from Shin Chan who kills with his sparkly eyes. Let's just hope we won't be seeing 'Buttock Devil' or 'Si Fart Gwai' from Ethan anytime soon. No, actually I never did expose Ethan to Shin Chan's cartoon...so I had no idea where the heck he know how to do that. This s little guy is getting smarter as well.

I also taught him to kiss on the lips by playing a game. Whenever he kissed me, I would laugh and that would make him laugh as well. So, when I scold him, he'll try to put on that cute face first. And if that doesn't work, he will come to me and give me the juiciest kiss on the lips. How could anyone be angry anymore? He really knows what to do to stop the reprimand. But he's barely 10 months old. Where did he learn all this things to make people happy?

Ethan is not walking as yet, but he's getting there. At one time, he was standing without help while facing the mirror. He tried to turn to our direction and take a step. Before he could lift his foot, he fell flat on his face. After that he dare not do it anymore. So what's the stunt he's pulling nowadays? Jumping. Yeah, baby! He had been jumping while holding onto things now for a while. But now he had even tried jumping by himself. Not exactly jumping like the feet is off the ground, but he bends his knees and go straight up, imitating the actions of jumping. He had managed to jump for 3 or 4 times before falling. Once, he jumped and then stopped and still able to keep his balance. Of course, like always, he will have a nice smirk on his face, proud that he'd accomplished something great.

One last funny look at me posing with Daddy before my haircut.

Yesterday, it's the first time ever that I took Ethan out without companies. Normally I would have Mund with me, otherwise some friends. The reason I hate to go out alone, is to take Ethan up and down the stairs when we're taking the subway. No, the subway here isn't as advance as Malaysia where we have escalator up and down. Only at major stations there will be an elevator. Even when Mund went out with me, I will help carrying the stroller and that's already very heavy for me. The stroller is about 11 pounds and Ethan is about 22 pounds. Plus I'm also carrying a bad containing formula, water, pampers and etc. So today, it's the first time carrying him, and surprisingly it's not as hard as I've imagined. I was real scared that I wouldn't have enough energy and might dropped him. I tried a different way carrying the stroller compared to Mund's. I've seen a few moms carrying stroller on the side instead of the front like Mund's. It's easier that way I guess.

The purpose of me taking Ethan out was to meet Mund for lunch during his break time. He tried today's special which was Ebi 'something' Don, basically shrimp over rice. And I ordered Chicken Soba. Ethan loves the soba, it's so soft and easy to chew I guess. But when we're almost done, Ethan was making faces til he's red. And normally that happens when he's making feces. Haha... I asked Mund to change him as I'm not done yet with my lunch. Mund took Ethan to the toilet and not long after, the whole restaurant was filled with baby's crying. I tried clearing the table first (it's a self-service Jap restaurant) and then rushed to the toilet. Mund said he doesn't need my help, and he came out after he was done with Ethan. I proceed to carry and soothe him, and he was quiet within seconds. And since he's ok, I wanted to go to the toilet myself. I asked Ethan to go to Daddy's, but he's reluctant. Which is magical, cause Ethan always wanted anybody to carry him, no matter even if it's a stranger. I tried a few more times, and he just cling on to me like a baby kangaroo in the mother's pouch. Since he's reluctant, I just chucked him into Mund's arm, and walked away. He then cried! Wow! Never happened before. It's just so funny!

Look at Ethan's video.

2005-08-02T10:20:00.000-04:00

I've been looking high and low for a place in the world wide web to upload and share video. At first I've been very excited to hear that Multiply will provide space not only for good resolution pictures, but also videos, and musics. Not long after, I've uploaded two wonderful videos of Ethan to share with my contacts. When I've decided to load more, I deleted the old videos (since there's a quota) only to find out that it doesn't matter that I've deleted. I've used up all my quota and couldn't upload anymore video unless I upgrade my membership to either gold or platinum. Of course those will require payment. So again, I'm on the search for a video sharing site. After blog hopping for a while, I found someone using YouTube. The uploading doesn't take all that long either, but now I'm in a dilemma again. Should I let it be viewed by public, or should I send out invitations to my friends and family? I don't think they like the idea of me asking them to join so many sites. So, here it is...I've uploaded this and this videos of Ethan. Tell me what you think. I'm not sure if dialup modem can access to it or not, but it's worth a try.

Oh, by the way, I think quite a number of you still doesn't know that I've uploaded a bunch of pictures in multiply. Go check that out too! In case you can't view the photos, I'll have to add you to my contact list, so let me know ok?

Mouth Exercise

2005-07-29T07:45:00.000-04:00

Can you laugh like that? If you look closely, you'll see both of his bottom teeth.

As I've expected, Ethan was bored with nodding. He's doing a lot of mouth movement lately. He could make some sound I couldn't describe. But basically it's done by putting the tongue on the 'ceiling' of your mouth, and then just pull it down. And he even start to pucker up by himself. But he wouldn't do it if I'm doing it. Not really sure why. Oh yeah, finally he's calling me Mama. Strangely when he pronounce Mama, it's done with his lower lip curled inside.

The teeth on his upper jaw is sprouting out. One of them is already showing the pearly white. The other one is still making it's way out. Thus, these few days Ethan is in a lot of pain. I think it's because the teeth on the upper jaw is bigger than the one on the bottom jaw. Normally after Ethan finishes his meal, I will clean his gum with a wet handkerchief. He is very reluctant to open his mouth for me recently. There was time when I touch that particular spot, he just either winced, yelled or even cried out loud. Poor him. There would still be so many space to fill with teeth. I wonder will all of them be as agonizing...

Almost every evening, I take Ethan out for a stroll in the park. On Mund's off day, we would still go somewhere else, shopping, eating out, etc. Which means that Ethan get to go out almost everyday. He loves to sit in his stroller looking out to the world. He loves it more when he get to play on the swing. So I wanted to take him out to the park yesterday, it just started to rain. Ethan was all ready to go out, complete with wearing his shoes. So you can imagine how dissapointed he is when I take him back to the room. For a whole hour, he just wailed and complained non-stop. The only thing that make him calm down was to nurse him.

To: Reen

2005-07-25T12:22:00.000-04:00

It's strange how God arrange fate. Perhaps our path are destined to cross these few days. I'm more than blessed to have your companionship. It's been so long since we've last get together, and I'm surprised that we were given one last opportunity to have our tete-a-tete before you return home. The most amazing part is that none of us had even planned this. Perhaps you are right all along, that 'everything happens for a reason'. I'm sorry to hear about your journey and the missed flight. But I hope your stay with my family makes it all the more better. I could never have a nicer friend than you. No, you are more than that, above all, you're my shepard. So, here I wish you all the best in a new phase of your life. Good luck in job hunting and may all your wishes come true. Not to forget, Bon Voyage!

Yes Sir!

2005-07-17T13:11:00.000-04:00

This is how he climb on top of us, literally.

Nodding had sneak its way to be Ethan's favorite past time for the moment. For no absolute reason, he would just hold on to his crib's bars and begin some ferocious nodding. At times he's so into it, he looks like someone in a rock concert. While he's at it, he will make 'em' sound everytime he nods, as though saying yes. A very amusing behaviour, but I'm sure it will be replace with something else before the end of the month. We even tape a video of him doing that. We asked Ethan all sort of questions, of which he nods to each and every one of it.

Ethan love it when I hold both his hands and guide him with walking. When we first started with it, I had to kinda tug a little on the left hand for him to lift his left leg, and vice versa. Now, all I do is hold on to his hands and walk behind him. But at times he will mixed up his pace, like walking with his right leg twice. He'll get better I know, let's just hope he doesn't speed through it. I can't imagine myself running around the house tailing him. Hmm...maybe that's the only way for me to lose weight huh?

Whenever he gets the chance, he will voice his protest. If he's playing with the remote control and I took it away, he'll cry. If he's expecting me to take him out to the park and it rains, he'll throw a tantrum. If he wants to take my phone while I'm using it and I don't let him, he will complain. If he wakes up before I do, he'll do everything to get me up, etc - slap me, pinch me, shout at me... Yes, he's getting a little handful but Mommy is no weakling. I'm still able to match his challenge so far.

Gutsy!

2005-07-11T07:36:00.000-04:00

I think I'm really getting lazier and lazier to blog. It's not that there isn't any updates that I would like to blog about. It's not that I have writer's block. And it's not that I don't have the time to spare. Somehow the fire that had motivated me to blog has somehow sizzled down. I've moved on to something more exciting, and that's reading. Recently, I've bought 17 books from Catherine Coulter and 7 books from Nora Roberts. It's a little cheaper to buy used books in bulk. My favorite author has always been Judith McNaught. Since I've read almost all (maybe 80-90%) of her work, there's no way I'm buying her books in bulk. I used to have an ambition to write as well...but there's too many ideas of a storyline, but none of them good enough. Furthermore my grammar needs a lot of polish before I could really be an author. So as soon as I've tried to write, I stopped not long after.

Anyway, let's talk about Ethan. That little guy have a lot of guts and is a little show off as well. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but almost every evening I took him to the park. Most of the time I would let him get into the baby swing (unless there's a long queue which occurs during weekends). He love to swing. Started from cushioning him by bringing his own thick blacket to support him. After a while I try to take away the blanket while having him hold onto the poles on both side of the swing. The last time he went swinging, he try to let go of his hands! Both of them!! I was so terrified that I stopped the swing abruptly, in case he fell to the back and knocked his head. I get him to grab hold to the poles and swing him back on, and not long after, he again let go of his hands! And he balanced so well that he didn't fell backward. Also the proudest smile was carved on his chubby face. His palms were opened up wide, as if showing me, 'Look Mommy, no hands!'. But he's a wise guy too, keeping his hands near the pole in case he lose balance. Picture above was taken when he first started.

Although Ethan can pronounce 'Daddy', 'Baba' and 'Mama' nicely, he somehow get the notion that I'm 'Dada' (sounded more like Deh Deh). Mund and I tried to correct him by telling him I'm Mama but this is what usually happened:-
Me: BB, this is Mama not Dada. Dada went to work already, call Mama.
Ethan: Dada!
Me: Mama!
Ethan: Dada!!
Me: MAMA!!
Ethan: Daaa Daa... (with a smile on his face as if he's the correct one)
And the only way he'll ever call me Mama is when he's frustrated or angry or unhappy. Like on last Saturday when Mund dropped something on the floor and Ethan had woken up. Mund had to get ready for work, thus he put Ethan on the bed with me. Ethan like always, will try to climb on me, pull my hair, slap my face and etc. I tried to put him back to sleep by nursing him cause I really doesn't want to get up as yet. After finishing with one breast, he apparently is still a little angry. As Mund was changing into his work clothes, Ethan climb on me to pull himself up to stand. He then complained to Mund, ' Mamamamama Nen Nen!' followed by a little wailing. I asked Mund did he feed him before, of which he says Ethan only managed to drink 2 ounces. We weren't really sure if Ethan knows what he's talking about. I asked Mund to put him in his crib to play while I continued sleeping. Not long after Mund had left, Ethan was on the verge of tears, then I tried nursing him with the other breast. He then went back to dreamland. Apparently he was still hungry and haven't get enough of nen nen (milk)! Hehe...

Standing Tall

2005-06-30T16:07:00.000-04:00

Yep, Ethan can stand by himself. And he's proud doing it that at times he's kinda a show off. I tried encouraging him by clapping my hands and throwing compliments at him whenever he does it. Most of the time, he just climb on me to make himself upright, and then he'll release one hand, balance, and then voila! No hands, and he just stand and flash the brightest smile ever, knowing he'd acheive something great. I've timed him, and the best time yet is 30 seconds so far. But maybe because he'd fell down a lot, these two days he's rather caution. He release both his hands, but try to grab me whenever he doesn't feel as confident.

And finally the long awaited teeth are spurting out. My landlady's son who is 3 weeks older than Ethan already had 6 of them. But I rather not have Ethan get his teeth so fast, cause now he tends to bite my nipples when he's done with nursing. Yelp!! And because his teeth are coming in, he kinda lose his appetite. He doesn't want to eat and milk is the only thing he wanted.

No one really believes that Ethan is really strong...but my arms are black and blue with tiny little dots. At first I thought it was his fingers that caused it because he kept pinching me when he wanted to stand up holding against me. But I found out recently it's his toes that bruised me. He did it while nursing. That's how strong a baby can be.

Cruising

2005-06-21T14:42:00.000-04:00

Ethan's now a pro in cruising. Cruising in baby term means that he's able to walk around holding onto things such as furniture. We don't dare to put him on the floor to cruise, so we just put him in the crib. And he will pull himself up holding on the bars, and then he'll walk around. He even got enough energy to stand up just propping himself against the wall. And yes, he could navigate a little bit, slowly and cautiously. I guess it's pretty quick as average babies do that in their 10th month.

Two days before, Mund's ex-colleague came to visit us. Mund had to go to work, so when I said 'us' that means Ethan and I. Both of them are moms. L's son is amost 2 years old and E's son was born 2 weeks later than Ethan. But sadly, they send their babies back to Malaysia so that they could continue working here. At first, I thought Ethan would have some playmates.

Anyway, they invited us to join them for an outing. First, we went to a restaurant in east side of Manhattan where E's hubby (D) work as a head chef for a sushi place. The restaurant is rather small, but chic. And ohh...the sushi was delightful. Even Mund's restaurant doesn't serve such fresh and delicious fish. This is the second time I've tried D's, and both time had been very enjoyable. Ethan sit at a high chair and enjoy his own finger foods while once in a while he would try to grab our food or drink. We were there for quite a while, so later on, he got tired of just sitting there. E offered to carry him and walk around outside. Later on even D carry him. I guess both of them miss their son a lot, although they tried denying it. They said almost everyday they could see their child on webcam. But of course, what's better than flesh and blood. Furthermore their baby is almost as big as Ethan. At first, when E and I was pregnant, her date due was suppose to be earlier than mine.

Then later on, we went to Lincoln Center. Some event was going on, as there were live latin music. Not only that, a lot of people were salsa-ing in the open. It's a very refreshing sight. This sort of things would never happen in Malaysia for sure. And this would be the things I will miss most about US when we go back for good.

Amazing Discoveries

2005-06-12T10:29:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to record a song to upload in kara-ok. One of my song of choice is a newly released by Joey Yung. One of the reason I like the song, is that the chorus is taken off 'Amazing Grace' with a few modifications. A lot of Christians may have been bored by listening to it, but it's one of the first few songs I know of that praises the Lord. Til this very day, I still very much enjoy the song. It never ceased to touch my heart whenever I listen to it. But, as I was saying, I was having a hard time recording my singing, cause Ethan kept shouting and crying in the background. After a few round, Mund seems to think that it's the song that bothered Ethan. We began to test it out. Everytime, without fail, when it reached the chorus part of the song, Ethan will start off with a sad face which later proceed to crying. He won't stop crying even if we hold or comfort him. Only when the song stop, the tears stop. Even when I sang a cappella, he could still recognize the song, and would cry. Many may think this might be a coincidence, but I believe it's truly the work of Holy Spirit.

As Mund have stated in the tagboard, yes, Ethan finally know how to roll over. From tummy to backside at first, and now he could roll over both ways. Not only that, he even started to crawl a little. He doesn't really have much control of his legs while crawling, almost focusing all his energy in his little arms. But he'll get better soon I know.

To those who have access to my multiply.com site, please go and have a look. I've uploaded some new photos there and I didn't send out invitations to your email to announce it. There will be approximately 70 new photos. As for those who wasn't invited, please let me know along with your email. I might just add you to my contacts.

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Since Andrew passed me the baton, I must do the honor to complete the following questions.

Total volume of music files on my computer:
1.23GB in My Music, and 10.1GB in an external hard disc. Of course Mund and I share them.

The last CD I bought:
Ein Deutsches Requeim by Johannes Brahms (It is a classical music sang in German of which I had participated when I was in Campbell University. It's kinda a big concert performance as Duke University, Elon University, Meredith College, NC State University, Peace College and Shaw University also took part. Recorded live on Feb 21, 2003. I know, it's been a really long time since I last bought a CD)

Songs playing right now:
None, except for Mund and Ethan's snoring.

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:

Songs by Mariah Carey
Songs by Celine Dion
Songs by Christina Aguilera (I absolutely love her vocals no matter how slutty she become)
Songs by Take That (Including Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams after they've gone solo)
Hip Hop or Pop songs I could dance to

Okay, I know I'm not suppose to put just the singer, but the song title. I really can't think specifically which I like best. One of the reason why is that I left all my music collection in Malaysia and I hardly listen to radio over here. I don't know what's the latest hit or what's topping the charts. And as I've mentioned before, after pregnancy, my voice was gone (but luckily recently it's coming back to me) thus I don't even listen to any, even if I'm using the computer. And I love music too much to put them into categories. The only way music brings me back memories is to listen to them all the time at one time, and then forget about it. Everytime the song play back, the memories of that timeline in my life will followed as well.

And I'm passing on the baton to:

Sue Anne
Bibiana
Mund (I really doubt he will update his blog because of this)
DKBU
Alicia

Short Stories

2005-06-08T09:14:00.000-04:00

- Currently dreading to blog, I'm not really sure what had happened to me, but seems like I'm having a 'book fever'. I bought myself some used books, and it seems that I was transported back to my high school time. I was crazy about fiction (mostly romance) that I couldn't stop reading until I've finished it up. It's normally around 1.5 - 2 inches thick, and will take at least 3-4 hours to finish a book. Yesterday, I was reading Jude Deveraux's Legend, and I couldn't take my mind off the book to go to sleep. Thus, I slept at 10am in the morning, sound rather extreme but I normally sleep around 5am. Hehe.

- While waiting for Mund to come back from work on his birthday, I was preparing food so I could cook later when he's hungry. Since I wasn't accompanying Ethan, he was fussing because he doesn't want to play by himself. I asked Mund's bro to look after him for me. After what seems like 10 mins, I heard a loud BANG followed by intense crying. I knew Ethan had fallen off the couch. I simply washed my hand under the tap and ran off as quickly as I could to hold him. By the time I reached the living room, Mund's bro tried to put Ethan back on the couch. His face was red, I guess with the pain and the crying. I tried to hush and calm him down, but he was immensely. He's not the cry baby type, and the other times when he fell, he seems to shush right after I hold him. But this time, he won't even take my breast when offered. After he'd cool down, I examined him and found a red bump on the left side of his forehead. All through the night, I tried massaging the bump, but he wouldn't let me. As I've said earlier, he wasn't the crying type, but whenever I touched his forehead, he'll almost start to cry again. I guess this time, it's really painful.

- My birthday present for Mund finally arrived, luckily it's just a day late (kinda like a belated gift) Since I didn't go out much, unless I'm with him, so I decided to get the gift online. So, what did I get for him?? Well, it's kinda his favorite thing I guess. Anything associated with Manchester United would be something he like, so I got him a jersey. Not only that, I also get Ethan the same jersey, so that they will have this matching father and son outfit. When I asked him to take a look, he was surprised. For the first time, I finally get to surprised him with a gift. I had failed at previous attempt, he somehow get to find out beforehand. And then, he started to bombard me with questions and comments. "How come it's black, and not red?" "I don't really like MU much this season, they aren't really that good" "How much you got it for?" "How come I have no idea you're getting me this?" etc etc... Yeah, I didn't know black is the 'away' jersey, but I'm bored with all his other red MU ones. And yeah, I had no idea how or what MU did this season, or the one before that, or years ago. But the look on his face, shocked but excited at the same time is sensational to me. Wish I could freeze it and put it into a frame. But the main thing, I think I got him a perfect present, at least for this birthday. Since it's so close to Father's Day, Ethan's jersey is considered the present. Hehe, can cheat a little. So hubby, Happy Father's Day!

- I found this new site from Nuchin (a pinyin lyric site for mandarin and cantonese songs) and they had launched a new karaoke site, where people can load up songs they've sung and recorded, and let other members judge and leave comments. It's rather fun but for the moment, there are only a few songs uploaded. Check it out if you have the time. Or maybe it's just me who have nothing better to do.

Will the real fat baby please stand up?

2005-06-01T01:58:00.000-04:00

It's been quite a while since I last blog. I'm getting lazier and lazier to blog, to tell the truth. I have full respect for people like Andrew who could go on and on, blogging at least twice a week for the past 2-3 years. And also, Happy Belated Birthday to Doreen, who celebrated it on 29th May. Also, my hubby's birthday is coming up, any wise idea what gift I should get for him?

Ok, let's go back to the real topic. Nowadays, Ethan try very hard to stand up. At one time, he was tugging on my t-shirt's sleeve, and he even let out some noise that sounded like grunting, and...voila, he's standing holding on to me. I find it amazing cause he's so strong, and according to the book, average babies are supposed to do that when they are 9 1/2 months old. And...also rather amusing, cause of the growling and grunting sounds he made.

Another time, I put Ethan to his crib, which can say is more like his play pen, cause he never sleeps there anymore. He had this So, while he was holding on to the steering, he tried pulling himself up, but instead, he ended up having his butt in the air.

Then he tried another alternative, he tried pulling on the bars of his crib. I wasn't completely attentive to what he was doing, but when I looked, there he was, standing so proudly holding onto the bars. He apparently was very happy about it, since he kept laughing when I play peekaboo to him while he was standing.

He hasn't started crawling, but I really fear the day when he really can crawl or walk by himself. I can imagine running all over the place, trying to catch him, or getting really angry and frustrated trying to keep him safe. Well, have to start fool-proof the whole house then. Please don't grow up so fast Ethan...mommy is having a hard time trying to keep up...

Poopy story II

2005-05-23T21:58:00.000-04:00

As most of you guys know, I never know how to cook until I'm married. So, I was never good at it, and it will take like centuries for me to serve a decent meal. After I had Ethan, I rarely get to it anymore, cause he demand most of my time. Until lately... since Edwin (Mund's younger brother) is home. I would ask him to take care of Ethan while I cook. But I have to be real fast, cause at one time, Ethan waited too long for me, so he ended up crying and nothing Edwin can do to calm him down.

Since yesterday was a Sunday, and a rainy day, we're stucked at home. I did bought some food which I can cook, and so I did while Mund look after Ethan. Obviously Mund wasn't really 'looking after' Ethan, as he was busy getting on the Internet. Ethan was chucked aside to entertain himself to his toys.

Lately Ethan developed a habit to shriek with no absolute reason. Probably it's because he's bored, or it might meant something else, I don't really know. Just that when I was cooking yesterday, Ethan kept screaming in high pitch, while Mund just ignored him. So I decide to put aside cooking to breastfeed Ethan. Normally after breastfeeding, Ethan will be a good boy again. So, I just grab him, and hold him and suddenly I felt I've touched something squishy and to my horror, it's Ethan's shit!! I just yelled for Mund's help. He couldn't help but burst out laughing. Ethan was wondering what all the commotion was about as he'd stopped nursing.

In the end, Mund cleaned up after Ethan while I cleaned up after myself. Yeah, I know that I'm a mom and I'm supposed to get use to baby's poop...but I'm not. FYI, I wasn't the one who first mastered changing diapers, it was Mund.

Poopy story

2005-05-19T22:33:00.000-04:00

Ever since Ethan has start sitting independantly by himself, everything seems good, except for one thing. And that has to do with the bottom department. Last time, normally he would be on his back when he did his business, and the feces will go all the way front to his penis. But nowaday, if he pass motion when he is sitting up, his shit somehow will go all the way up to his back. Which is very very messy.

Just like today, instead of the shit going sideway, it's almost like a line, 1.5 inch wide, but very very long. I wonder how is that possible. Since it's so dirty, I have to wash him up either by giving him a bath. Mund has a better alternative, just rinse with water under the sink, which works as well. And I dread having to wash his clothes by hand...talk about the stench, man. Overwhelming!

Other than that, Ethan still doesn't have a single tooth in sight. Our landlady's baby, who was born 3 weeks earlier than Ethan, had two of them showing proudly.

Birthmarks

2005-05-13T23:44:00.000-04:00

Last Tuesday, we brought Ethan to a specialist referred by his pediatrician. Ethan has a bunch of red spots on his right arm and it was 'hemangioma', a type of common birthmark that babies have. It's so common that 1 in 10 babies probably have one. It will grow for a while, and then disappear later in life. According to the doctor, it's probably when Ethan is 2 or 3 years old. But according to my *book, it'll only disappear when they are between ages 5 and 10.

This type of birthmark is non malignant, which means it is not cancerous. The position of the birthmark was good, since it's not on his face, or near his organs. But the size of the birthmark is rather big too, so they would need to monitor it. Ethan need to go back to the specialist in 6 weeks.

While we were at the clinic, so many people there were excited to see Ethan. Probably it's because rarely any asian babies are treated there. Firstly, Ethan had to visit the technician, a pleasant Hispanic lady who's in charge of taking his blood pressure, his weight and his temperature. She kept complimenting how cute he is. She's very friendly and keep saying that she'll help me take care of him if I ever needed a vacation. At the end of the session, we took her phone number (just in case I really need help).

Next we were ushered into another room, where we were asked a lot of questions by a student doctor I believe. Or a nurse...I don't really remember. While we were there, so many of them kept complimenting how big and strong he is for a 7-month-old. After she's done with us, she said she'd call for the doctor. And after what seems like forever (I even got time to breastfeed Ethan and pat him to sleep) the doctor appear. She kinda talked slowly and loudly, which gave
me the impression as if she's talking to an old lady. But I think it's because she thought that we don't speak English. She just left some comment and took pictures of Ethan's hand and was gone within 3 minutes.

I noticed the doctors here are like the superstar, they appear for a while and would be gone before you know it. Just like when I gave birth, and had to be induced. We had to wait for the doctor to arrive before the inducing begun. And after he gave order, we waited the whole night while I was contracting. He just check on me once in a while to see how much I was dilating, but a nurse was monitoring me the whole time. Even til the time it was for me to start pushing, the doc wasn't around. Until the baby's crown appeared, only then he start his job.

On the way back home, we rode on the subway, and we sat beside a Hispanic lady, and I think she used almost every synonym of beauty on Ethan. She was going like 'He's so gorgeous, he's so beautiful, he's so cute...etc'. Seems like a real good day for Ethan. Everyone just threw compliments at him.

*When I always refer to my book, it's "What to Expect the First Year" by Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi E. Murkoff, and Sandee E Hathaway.

Rocking Fella

2005-05-07T22:57:00.000-04:00

Nowadays Ethan can sit pretty well by himself without support. Not only he likes sitting, he loves rocking himself as though he's sitting on a rocking chair. Backward, forward, backward, and forward he goes. It's quite a funny sight, cause it's rather humorous to see a baby doing that. At times he will stretch both his hands far out on and he looks like a 't' sign and continues to rock. Can you imagine that?

These few days I tried teaching Ethan to grab small objects on his palm. The book says that he should be able to do that at this age. Instead of letting him try grabbing on raisin or pea (not available in our house), we let him try on m&m milk chocolate. One have to say that the size is almost the same right? Besides, it's so much more colorful.

The first day, instead of taking the m&m from my hand, he tried grabbing my hand closer and closer to his mouth. Of course, that will never work, as I'm stronger than he is. Not to say that he's not strong, cause when he pinches you, you'll go 'OUCH!'. Just ask Mund about how Ethan pinch him on his nipple. Ouch! (Mund surely will scold me for posting this)

Ok, back to m&m. Yesterday, he start to flap 'em around with his hands and before we know it. He took one in his hand, and then two at the same time, and then a whole bunch! Wow, talking about big progress. Of course we monitor him,so that he will not place those chocolates in his mouth. Mund was naughty, he tried luring Ethan with a red m&m, holding it close to Ethan's face. My baby is so clever, he start the rocking thing again. Rock, rock,rock, POP! Waaaaa! It's inside his mouth already!!! We panic, and after like 5 seconds only Mund started to dig inside his mouth. Luckily it flew out without Ethan choking. Phew! What a close call.

I wonder what goes inside Ethan's mind. It must have been like... Daddy gimme chocolate, hmm...yummy, ouch, Ouch, OUCH. Hey, chocolate's gone!!

Weekend Outing

2005-05-03T21:37:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday, we were supposed to go to Botanical Garden in Prospect Park. Mund heard that there are Sakura trees in that garden. Being Malaysians of course it's not available in Malaysia for viewing pleasure. To me, it's just a tree with pink flowers, but to Mund this is a chance of a lifetime. Right around that park, was a bunch of fast food - Wendy's, McDonald, Popeyes and so on.

When we were about to reach, Mund was happily singing Aaron Kwok's song, y'all know which song I meant, there's no need for explanation. He was real pumped up right until we reach the gate. Guess what? It's closed at 6pm and we reached there exactly 6.05pm. Since there's no means for us to stay, so we proceed to think where else we could go. The one thing that came up was Coney Island.

Coney Island is located at the very south of Brooklyn. Main attraction is the beach and also the classic amusement park. The park is one of the world's first amusement park (I read it on Daily News before) and it's a happy place, I'd say. While riding on the subway, Mund couldn't get Popeyes (http://www.popeyes.com) out of his mind. As most of you know, KFC sucks over here and the best alternative is Popeyes. When we arrived in Coney Island, he's ecstatic that there's a Popeyes around the corner. Since we weren't that hungry, we check out Coney Island for the first time. We went in the amusement park and Ethan is sooo happy to see the rides, the lights and the musics. He kept looking around everywhere, but of course he couldn't ride in any of it.

By the time we left, it was 9pm. Since Coney Island is the end of the line for subway, we have to wait til it's time for departure inside the train. There weren't anything much to do, so we took our digicam and start clicking. There are some interesting facial expression of Ethan captured. Wanna see the pictures? Well, that you'd have to ask Mund to publish it in Ethan's blog.

Crash Bam Boom

2005-04-27T21:48:00.000-04:00

Ethan no longer sleep on me or Mund. We start to train him to sleep by himself while patting him. He doesn't like it at all to change his normal routine. It's been 3 or 4 days already, but everytime we pat him to sleep, he would cry and cry and be so angry at us. He'll go to sleep when he's tired of crying and there's no more energy in him. Even when he couldn't keep crying, he would still mutter complains until he really doze off.

Yesterday, I left him sleeping in the room, while I go out to the living room and listen to some music. I check on him every now and then to see whether has he waken up. If he woke up and couldn't find me, he'll be very upset. Things were going ok, since he's deep in slumber, and as you all know, he will rotate if there's nobody beside him. The last time I checked on him, he was already sleeping on his tummy, horizontal against the bed. Thus, I continue hanging out at the living room. After a while, I heard a small cry, so I walked slowly back to the bedroom. Once I've reached the door, I heard a 'plop', followed by intense crying. He fell down from the bed!!! If only I could walk faster, maybe I could save him from the pain. I really don't know how he does that, but I've never saw him crawl before. I really have no idea how he can fall down. I quickly picked him up and within 7 seconds, he quiet down. It was actually quite fast, I expected him to cry a lot longer. Then I inspected his head, there are red marks on his forehead and on the side of the head, just above the ear. I swear to be more careful when he's sleeping.

Understand

2005-04-21T06:17:00.000-04:00

My dear little son Ethan knows what am I telling him. I scold him today because he doesn't want to sleep during midnight.

For few days, he was awake during midnight(12am - 4/6am). I want him to have a normal sleeping time. Perhaps, I have to work on the next day. Few days ago, I slept 2 hours only and gotto work for 12 hours long. Man, this is tiring. I think parents should control baby's sleeping time instead of baby controling parent's sleeping time.

When I scold him, at first he was like, pretends to be cute and he's trying to make me smile or pamper him instead of scolding him. I continuously grumble him and his face starts to change to :( , end up, he cries out loud. Mindy sayang him straight away to calm him down. That kind of reaction makes me know that he finally understand what am I trying to say to him. Weeeeeeee.... Good thing. He's growing up. Wink~ Wink~

Stroll in the Park

2005-04-19T07:39:00.000-04:00

Nothing much happen recently, so that's why I haven't been blogging as often. Weather is getting nicer, hence I took Ethan out for the walk in the park. It's really really near my house, maybe 2 minutes walk and I'll reach there. It's quite a nice park too...rather big as well, but of course nothing compared to Central Park. There are basketball court, volleyball court, childen's playground, and also swimming pool (although it's not open yet til summer arrives).

The first time I took Ethan out to the park, he was a lil scared. I carried him out from his Maclaren 'car' and let him look around. He saw people playing soccer rather far away, and he wanted to cry. But after looking for a while, he was better. Ethan is not scared of strangers ever since. Last Friday, we took him to Mund's restaurant cause I have this sushi craving. It's been more than a year since I had it. Mund's co-workers all takes turn to carry him. He was ok with it.

Vanity Fair

2005-04-09T20:24:00.000-04:00

Although Ethan is a boy boy, he seems be quite vain at times. I wonder if I have something to do with it. Well, he loves to see me dress up... from brushing my hair, to applying moisturizer and makeups. He would stare intently until I finished from the task.

Another suprising antics that Ethan does nowadays is to smile at the camera. Which is funny cause he used to freeze up whenever the camera approached him. If I had to tape a video of him having fun with Daddy, I would have to sneak up slowly without him noticing. Yesterday, he was making funny faces and I thought it'd be fun to record, so I whip out the cam and there he is, smiling so charmingly at it. I haven't even press the recording button!! I then keep it aside, he proceed to make funny faces. I tried to record again and he quickly put on his brightest smile ever. Sigh...probably it's because I always let him see the preview after recording. And maybe he notice that he looks better smiling. What a vain baby!

Queer Slumber

2005-04-05T01:30:00.000-04:00

Ethan prefers sleeping on his tummy as compared to sleeping on his back. He sleeps more soundly and not as prone to be startled by loud sound. When we are sandwiching him in between us, nothing much happens. But when he's sleeping alone, he tends to rotate when he sleeps. You might ask, how do one rotate while sleeping? Well, we put him to sleep, say facing north. By the time he woke up, he was already facing east.

This morning, after Mund left to work, I slept facing the wall while Ethan slept on the outer side of the bed. After a while, I was waken up to some sobbing and I found him with half of his face dangling on the side of the bed. He apparently, rotated for about 35 degree until there's no more space. Blurred as I was, I just pulled him back to sleep beside me. Again, after some time, I was awaken by his sobbing and that awkward face dangling position. It's just so funny!

Waaa Waaa~

2005-03-29T09:42:00.000-05:00

One of my stewardess (PS) friend flew by and I went to meet up with her, along with Mund and Ethan. We were meeting up with another high school friend (CY) as well who happens to work very near the hotel PS is staying in. We waited in TGI Friday for CY to have her lunch break. Ethan was still sleeping at that time. And when he woke up, PS demanded to hold him and I let her. At first it was ok, but when Ethan looked back at Mund and I, he was curious as to who was holding him. Then Ethan stared at both PS and CY, and slowly his mouth formed an 'n' shape and wailed. Then when Mund and I hold him, he's ok, but he still like to steal some glances at the girls. But when they stared back, he cried again. Yay! That means Ethan can recognize faces already.

Later on we went back to PS's hotel to chill out. Ethan was better there, at least no more crying even when 'jie jie' was holding him. PS got him a lot of freebies from Mr. SIA (Singapore Airline). Just to list a few; baby food, diapers,baby wipes, toys, etc. It's really really nice of her to even make time to sneak those out for Ethan. PS also got Ethan gifts from JY(my best friend) a.k.a Kai Mah.

Fun with the Walker

2005-03-24T09:10:00.000-05:00

When Ethan was 4 months old, Mund's aunt said that it's time to put him in the walker. I think that it's too early. So, I asked the doctor's opinion whether or not is it appropriate to do so. Doc said that it's not recommendable to even use a walker nowadays. I knew that, cause I've hit the books and it is written so too. Better alternatives would be a stationary walker, not those mobile types that are popular in Malaysia. But, Mund's friend already gave us a mobile one.

Yesterday, I asked Mund to get the walker out and give it a try. I could see that Ethan is very bored with daily activities. He no longer likes to sleep on his back in his crib and look at the musical toys, or sit at his rocker and be satisfied. So we put on his shoes (gift from Ms. Bibiana), put him in the walker, and toss in some toy there as well. He then proceed to play around with those toys although most of it end up on the floor. He'll only move when he's excited, normally happens when we talk to him, and he only knows how to go backwards. Even when all his toys are on the ground, he's contend just sitting there by himself. It's great, at least I don't have to carry him around all the time.

Privacy Please!

2005-03-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

Let's talk about my landlady. I would say she's quite a nice china woman, and the best of all my landlords actually. Although we do have some communication problems, (I don't speak Mandarin all that well, and her Fuchow accents doesn't help at all) all is rather good. At least she's not like others who seems to want money out of every single little thingy. She even gave birth to her third baby 3 weeks ahead from Ethan.

Well, I got a visit from her today. I heard a knock on the door, I assume it's Mund's brother and I yelled in Cantonese 'Ng fong bin!' But popped up my landlady. I was breastfeeding Ethan. She looked but she never asked if it's ok for her to stay in my room. She then proceed to talk about the sudden surge in the electric bill. It was $100 more than usual she said, but I never get to look at the bills. I mean it's still ok of her, she never demanded money from us, just want to remind us not to waste natural resource. Which is ok, cause our rent include utility bills. But breastfeeding is a private occasion where I bond with my child, and it's not ok for people to just barge in and treat like it's nothing personal. People can be so insensitive!!

Botak Head

2005-03-14T19:33:00.000-05:00

It's official. Ethan is now bald. We wanted to shave his head off ever since he turned 4 months old. But Mund was dragging the process cause he doesn't really want to cut Ethan's hair. Nevertheless, we heard that it's better for baby to be bald, so that next time when the hair grows back, it'll be a better layer. Furthermore we had to carry out the order given by my mom-in-law. She's the one who said that Ethan needs to be bald at 4 months old.

So, yesterday, we used like one and half hour just to try to cut Ethan's hair. We're not really doing a great job, but we doesn't want to waste any money taking him to the saloon. After all, my own mother cut my hair until I was 10. So, now Ethan is looking more ferocious, according to Mund. But I think he looks more manly, just like Vin Diesel.

Crazy

2005-03-09T19:43:00.000-05:00

I called my mom yesterday and somehow my mind brought me back to the day Mund's distant aunt's comment. This aunt came with Mund's mom a few months back and she's been staying with us ever since. She is an experienced nanny and you know what's her good advice for me? Well, she didn't really want to tell me directly, so she talked to Ethan who is in front of me. This is what she said: 'Ah Boy, it's time for you to have a little sister or a little brother. Why don't you ask your mom to get you one!' Hey, Ethan was only 4 months old at that time, and until this very day, he's still nursing. It's a known fact that a woman's body should rest and replenish all the lost nutrient after pregnancy for at least 2 years before getting pregnant again. It's not that it isn't possible to get pregnant now, but it's not good for the next baby. And Ethan won't be able to nurse, cause the pregnancy hormone would prevent lactation. So, who is she to have this sort of authority to judge or advice what we parents should do? My mom-in-law haven't even said a word, and she thinks she can meddle into our business. Young we are, but idiot we're not. We know very well how our financial can support our family. We're not a bunch of pigs, making piglets as often as possible. And so, when I told that to my mom, she was shocked. She's kinda scared that I'll take that so-called "advice" seriously. My mom said: ' Are you sure? Don't you think you should ask for doctor's advice first?'

Well, anyway, this aunt like to pokes her nose to everything, it's not that surprising that she make such comment. But still!! I think the main reason is that she want to be 'joh yuet poh' to me when I have next baby (probably thinking that my mom-in-law won't come again for my next confinement month) and probably can be nanny to both my babies. The ideal job she wanted from the very beginning, even before she came here, was to take care of Ethan while I work. Too bad it didn't work out for her. And too bad that we're going home soon, and not have any other babies for her to take care. For someone who's paying 2 payments of $150 for rent after staying for the 5th month, meddling is not the only reason I would really like for her to stay somewhere else. We have our own sorry ass to take care of.

The Breadwinner is....

2005-03-04T10:20:00.000-05:00

Mund's going back to work today. Well, at least he's trying. He's going for an interview in Staten Island. I've only been there once. It's hard to get there if you don't have a car, cause you'd have to take a ferry there. At least, I've been there. Out of the 5 boroughs of NYC, Bronx is the only place I've not set my foot in. Well, before we leave NY, I would like to take Ethan to the Bronx Zoo, at least next time I could say that I've been all over NYC before. Other places in Bronx? Nah...heard too much about blacks dominating there.

And so, now without Mund helping me, I'd go back to handling Ethan by myself. I know I can manage on my own, but I really like the days that all 3 of us together, just sitting at home doing nothing. I'll see how I cope later. Sigh...

Splash with Daddy

2005-02-27T18:53:00.000-05:00

I tore up pages from baby magazine and put it up on our wall, adding the already crowded collection. Ethan actually could recognize the new posters. And how can I tell? He stared at the new ones...then look at the old ones...and dismiss the old ones. Then he proceed to 'chat' with the new guys on the wall. He like this baby who's looking directly as compared to those who pose looking at other angles. I think it's a great thing...his brain is definately developing nicely.

Mund gave Ethan a bath yesterday. His very first time. I tried to get Mund to bath Ethan since he's 2 month old. But everytime, Mund just say he'll do it another time. Yesterday was a surprise...cause he actually offered to do it.

Super Baby

2005-02-24T22:32:00.000-05:00

Ethan is growing stronger and stronger every passing day. If you visited Ethan's blog, you would knew that he had started to sit by himself. It's not for long, maybe just for 30 seconds or 1 minute. But for average babies, they only sit unassisted when they reach 6 and half months. Ethan also start to learn to stand as well, but of course either leaning towards me or holding on to my hands. Normal babies are suppose to do that on their 8th month. My mom is worried that I'm rushing Ethan to do things, but I'm not. He's really a strong baby. The only thing that he's suppose to do, but doesn't, is roll over.

His tiny little hands are strong as well. Mund and I got pinched by him a few times, and both of us got 'injured'. Well, as I was holding him, he pinched on my neck, and it looks like a hickey (chinese called it 'kali kai'). He likes to pull my hair as well, and it's very painful, and he could pull out a few strands sometimes. Help!

Yum Yum

2005-02-20T02:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday while I was eating ice-cream, Ethan was staring at me intently. Since a few days ago I let him taste some cookies (just the chocolate part) I ate, so I just gave him some taste of it. Just like everytime we let him taste something new, he will make a face, so this time is not excluded as well. I let him taste by licking it off my finger. Hm....He liked it so much! He just suck vigorously...and when I proceed to eat the ice-cream myself, he shouted at me (which indicated that he want more). Wow!

So, today I thought that it'll be a better idea to just feed him baby food. Mund bought 3 different taste: carrot, banana and green beans. I chose to feed him carrot. And there goes the funny face he make. Mund even videotaped him. I'm not sure if he did ate or not, cause most of the food are just spitted out. Ethan was in a real mess by the time I'm done with him. Orangey stuffs just all over his bib, mouth, cheek and even his nose. Hehe... It gives me the idea I'm somehow torturing him instead. :P

Oh yeah, more new pictures are uploaded in Ethan's blog. Sigh, I think I should ask Mund to help me link up his site to mine for convenience.

Friendly Visit

2005-02-18T17:58:00.000-05:00

One of my best friend Reen, came to visit my family with her bf. Although it's a short trip, but it was really a wonderful time. Even Ethan had a great time with them, at least he didn't cry when spending time with them. Not only that, he even had a new toy from my friends. He's fascinated with the Sesame Street toy, as it has sound and lights. He touches a few times, and then voila! He was holding on the toy, not wanting to let it go. It's a rather heavy toy, and all of us are amazed by the strenght that his little arms have.

Another thing we'd discovered during this visit is that Ethan start to be quiet when there's strangers around. Whenever we're talking with our friends, Ethan will only make noise occasionally. He doesn't 'chat' like he normally does. And right after my friends left, he was sooo hyper, shouting and laughing with joy. This means that Ethan start to recognize faces! Yay! Good boy.

Happy CNY!!

2005-02-11T06:47:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the year again, when chinese Malaysians are at their joyous time. Family reunion dinner, mandarin oranges, visiting friends and families, kuih ka pet and not to leave out those red ang pows are just some of the essential elements to it. Too bad for those of us who's oversea, the festives moods are somehow diminished. But still, to all of you who frequent my blog, Gong Hei Fatt Choy, hoping this year is gonna be a healthy, prosperity, happy and full of blessings.

For the first time in life, I get to give out angpows instead of just receiving. Of course the first recipient is baby Ethan. He doesn't know what all those fuss is about, but he's definately happy to hold tight on his first angpow. We manage to take some pictures while that happened. I'll ask Mund to post more new pictures at Ethan's blog, and btw, there's new pics there. Go check it out! ethanlim.blogspot.com

Music

2005-02-07T00:29:00.000-05:00

It's really amazing what music can do to people. Well, here's the story. I was never much of a fan of anything that needs a headphone to function, eg. walkman, MP3 players, etc. So I was kinda surprised to hear that Apple's Ipod sold hundreds and thousands of copies in US alone that they had to delay international sales. Edmund had a friend who asked him to load up songs in the Ipod and he gave it a try and he throw compliments non stop at it. For me, I don't even give a damn.

As I was about to climb to bed yesterday, I saw Eric's (Mund's youngest bro) newly bought Ipod and I couldn't resist trying it, out of curiousity. You see, I was rather sleepy and the second I heard songs playing, I was wide awake! It is indeed Superb! Amazing! Indescribable! You have to try it to believe it. As y'all know, I was a clubbing chick and when hip hop songs was on, I can tell you it does feel like I'm just beside those blasting speakers in the club. Suddenly I felt like dancing, and I did!

And when I put on other melodious songs, another feeling crept up upon me. It brings me down memory lane, once when my hopes thriving on a musical career was still possible. Unlike the way I am now...

Another news, we brought Ethan out with us for a dinner with a bunch of our friends. Probably it's his slumber time, he was in a very bad mood. Didn't like people touching him, didn't like people looking at him. Hmm... it's really hard to predict how babies react.

Jealousnya...

2005-02-03T04:47:00.000-05:00

With Mund around all the time, Ethan doesn't really care about his Mommy, me, anymore. To him, I'm probably just food! He'll look for me whenever he's hungry, but playtime, is Daddy's time. He doesn't react much when I talk to him, doesn't even smile for me anymore. Just give me a pathetic acknowlegdement that I exist. But when Daddy looks at him, he could laugh, talk, play, and do whatever with him. But the strange thing is, Mund is the one who punish and discipline him yet Ethan still loves him more....

Ethan's Reaction

2005-01-29T22:32:00.000-05:00

One of Mund's aunt is a stay in nanny for a 2 month old baby, and 2 other children. She want to visit us but she can't leave the children at home, so she bring them along. At that time, Ethan was playing by himself on his crib. While we were chatting away in the living room, I heard Ethan crying a little, probably because he's bored cause nobody is around. So, I brought him out to the living room with us, since he like crowds so much.

Then I bring him to see the baby, I tell him that it's a 'didi'. The moment Ethan saw the baby, he dislike him immediately! He cried and threw a tantrum. He doesn't want to look at the baby and kept himself closer to me. Hahaha...I calmed Ethan down, I told him that 'Mommy loves you', and he was Ok for a while. Then he turned around and peeped at the baby, and again, he cried soooo loudly. I need to carry him away...

Could it be jealousy? Well, Ethan is only 3 and a half month old, how could he possibly have such emotions? But how else could we explain his strange behaviour?

Indeed a Blessing in Disguise

2005-01-27T01:39:00.000-05:00

For 3 days in a row I need to hide in thick blankets and heavy clothings as I was shivering uncontrollably. It'll occur whenever I start to feel tired with muscles aching. Then, it'll just hit me out of nowhere. It's a very weird kind of sickness. It'll only strike once a day. And how do I recover? I need to sleep it off. I would wake up sweaty and hot, which is actually a good feeling when a while ago I felt like I was in a freezer. Luckily Mund is with me all the time, else I don't know if Ethan can survive by himself.

2 of my high school friends came to visit me and my small lil family. One of them is a flight stewardess and the other one actually migrated here after finishing Form 2. It's a coincidence that 2 of them met up, and this is the 2nd meeting we have together. First time was when I was still pregnant. This time of course the center of attention would be Ethan.

Mund and I thought that Ethan would be a bit shy as we seldom have visitors. All of the sudden there's 3 leng luis (one of them is a friend of my stewardess friend) with us, we thought he would be uneasy. We did inform Ethan earlier that there would be visitors. So, how did he react? He was soooo excited!!! I asked him to call all the jie jie, and he did, at least in his own language. Well you know how the situation can be when there's 4 girls around and Mund as well, it's rather noisy. Ethan liked it so much, he joined in the conversation shouting and screaming trying to outdo all of us. But it just last for a while before he's crying, wanting to get his sleep. Mund and I was indeed surprised by his antics.

Poor Us

2005-01-23T11:27:00.000-05:00

Guess what?? Well, everyone is sick. It started with Mund and then it spread to his mom. But, she had gone back to Malaysia two days ago. And then Ethan is down with runny nose and cough and yesterday, I have flu also. I felt sooo cold, that I wore 2 pants, 2 clothes, socks, wrapped myself in 2 thick blanket and cranked the heat up. After popping some Tylenol and slept for like 2 hours, I was feeling better. At least I woke up feeling not as tensed. Luckily I asked Mund to take a day off at work to look after Ethan. I knew I couldn't manage without him. But the sad news is, that got Mund fired. Sigh... I hope that this is a blessing in disguise.

Ouch!

2005-01-09T18:25:00.000-05:00

My breast start to be very sore, so I had to put off nursing Ethan. I have to offer him the bottle instead. At first I start with baby formula and he dislike it so much, he cry and scream and reject it. Then I thought it's the formula that he dislike, so I tried to mixed up breast milk with the formula, but that didn't work either. So, the 3rd attempt, I gave him pure breast milk from the bottle, and surprise! He still hated it so much he throwed a big tantrum. Only then I discovered that it's not the content that matters, it's the bottle. After 6 hours of trying, I gave up and let Mund do the job. I went to take a shower and when I returned, Ta-daa! There Ethan is nicely sucking up milk that Mund offered him.

I guess it's the absence of my presence that let Ethan know that there's no other way he gonna get the breast from Daddy. So it's either to go on hungry, or to drink up from the bottle. Even now when he'd started to accept the bottle, it's still harder for me to feed him the bottle compared to Mund. Either that, or Mund is better at disciplining Ethan than me. Maybe Ethan can feel that I give in rather easily compared to Mund.

Up and Up He Goes...Grrr

2005-01-04T02:33:00.000-05:00

I let Ethan to be on his tummy everyday to get his daily workout. Nowadays he can lift his head up to 90 degree, but it takes a lot of his effort. Whenever he does that, he'll grunt and make a lot of noises, just like muscleman when they lift weight. It's really cute, cause as if he's really the muscleman!

He also start to have a lot of version of his cooing. I think he'd probably covered all the vowels, you know, those AEIOU thingy. And he normally coo when we talk to him, as if he's having a conversation with us. But don't talk bad about him, cause somehow, as if he understand, he'll put up a sad face or cry. I think probably he's catching the tune or feel of our conversation. But there's one time we were talking about something else, he thought that we were talking bad about him, and so he cried. Haha... and I need to calm him down saying that we weren't talking about him. Funny, ain't it?

Piak Piak!!

2004-12-24T07:11:00.000-05:00

Ethan is starting to recognize faces, erm, I think at least mine. A few days ago, when all 3 of us were asleep, Ethan got hungry and he hit me with his hands. And of course he's making noises as well, but not til the extend to say that he's really crying. But I really have to pee...so I left him with Mund. When I entered the room, Ethan was busy hitting Mund...but of course, like a real piggy, Mund doesn't even notice. Then when Ethan realize I was back, he looked at me sympathatically and howl... It's like he knew that he had to tell me that he's hungry. Well, this is not the only occasion that I got hit, it has repeated a few times already.

Oh yeah, Ethan start to respond when people talk and smile to him. He likes it a lot when we talk to him, and at times he'll respond by making sounds like 'hmm...' or 'ooh' and things like that. It's hard to describe what sound he actually makes, but there are a few varieties, not just the same old thing. And when he's in a good mood, he'll smile when you talk to him. One time, he was so happy when Mund was talking to him that he let out a chuckle while I was recording it on our camcorder. We were so surprised!

Megablast Poop

2004-12-15T18:19:00.000-05:00

Do you know that babies can shoot up their stool like they can with their urine? It goes as far as 15 inches away from the butt. It's not solid like adult's but liquidy as baby only drink milk. That's what Ethan did last night when Mund was changing his diapers. Apparently Ethan not only like to pee when we are changing him, he loves to shit as well. Last night is not the first incident. Probably it's because when we take off his diapers, he feel very free and 'breathable'.

And do you know that he can stock up a lot in his rectum that when he do his business he filled 2 diapers up fully? Unlike when he was still a newborn, he does his business after every meal, but nowadays he store it up and do it once a day. So after all the farting and smell, urgh!, I decided to change him, and guess what? The diaper was so full that it leaked onto my t-shirt as well. Gross huh? But after an hour he farted and do his business again and this time it was Mund's turn to change him and that was when he shoot his stool...hehehe...

Baby Talk

2004-12-09T16:03:00.000-05:00

Well, Ethan start to do things to his vocal cords other than just crying. I think that's what people refers to as 'cooing', or by chinese saying, the ang-gu-gu thingy. He likes to make it right after he sneeze...he'll go 'Ahh-choo....Ewww.' Probably it's because he copy the way I always say 'Bless you' right after he sneeze. But other than that, he'll also coo every now and then...normally when he's happy.

Not only that....he also knows how to complain. He learn this before cooing. Like when he's hungry and I don't feed him right away...he'll make some noise which sounds like grumbling. Or when I complain about him, he'll keep on grumble and grumble...and will not stop until I do. If my lecture him louder, he'll just grumble just as loud. Sigh...I think when he's older, he won't be those who'll just listen to what I say, he'll just talk back at me.

Oh yeah, he knows how to make fake crying sound. He just open his mouth and fake it. You can tell cause his eyes are still wide open...looking at you sympathetically...but if he don't get his way, only then he'll really really cry...with a lot of tears. And he doesn't like people laughing at him when he cries...cause that normally will triggers wailing above his tongue. But if you copy his crying like what Mund like to do...he'll stone for a while, probably wondering why Daddy is crying...

Ethan = Koala Bear?

2004-12-04T13:01:00.000-05:00

The other day when my mom-in-law check on us, Ethan is sleeping on my body. She say that pose is just like a squirrel clinging onto a tree. Ethan the squirrel and me the tree. I'd say he's more like a koala bear, cause koala tends to sleep most of the time, waking up to feed themselves...which is exactly what Ethan is doing nowadays.

He's getting more and more clingy to me and Mund. He want to sleep on our body and there's no other way to convince him to sleep by himself. Of course we do try to put him on the mattress once he's in deep sleep...but our efforts are just in vain. He'll wake up in matter of minutes, and he'll cry his heart out, wanting us to carry him again. As if he has sensors that tell him where he's sleeping at. At times, he fake his sleep too! Can you imagine that? He's less than 2 months old, and he already know how to do that. At times he'll open his eye to a narrow slit, just enough to peek to the outside world. At times he'll open one eye and close the other. And when situation is not to his liking, he'll wail again... So for the meantime, I'll just have to eat, sleep, urinate, and bath only during certain times. Whenever Mund's back from work, only then, I get to breathe a little... Babies are just Mommy Manipulator!

Ethan is Acting Up

2004-11-26T16:39:00.000-05:00

With so many people to carry him, Ethan is now developing a habit of crying whenever he awakes. Normally he does so only when he is hungry, but nowadays, he want to lull, pat and sleep over my shoulder. He only sleeps well when he sleeps with us, when he sleep alone, he tend to wake up every now and then. And then he starts to wail again...sigh!

I'm trying to correct his habit, trying to put him back to his own crib, but couldn't manage to do so when I'm sleepy myself. I would just do anything to get him to sleep, which bring us back to the same problem all over again. A lot of advices were given, and most of them tell me to 'just let him cry'. But the problem is, if I do that, a lot of people (his grandma, grand aunt and the whole nine yards) will come into my room, and snatch him from my arms, and start to develop theories as to why he cries. Then stories about how he have gas in his tummy, or he's that he's scared and they'll provide all remedies and traditional medicine for him(esp his grand aunt cause she have experience being a nanny). I really hate it when they just stuff things in his mouth. I only believe in modern medicine and doctors. But what can I do? Modern and traditional ways of bringing up a child totally clash. The elders think they are doing the right thing because it's like that during their era. But science has already evolved and improved and they are not updated. Sigh...

Getting Started

2004-11-23T05:01:00.000-05:00

Ethan is already a little over a month old. But I'm yet to accept the fact that I'm already a Mommy. How great is that title for someone who's just turn 22 this year? Well, I still believe that I'm too young to get married, too young to have a child, too young to even survive in this world. For heaven's sake, I've still not over my partying days. I missed my clubbings and night outings so much...

So, is giving up all those youth worth just for someone to call you Mommy? Well, Ethan has yet learn to talk, but yes it's is worth every seconds. I knew just when he is calling out for me, it's like a secret howling that only I can identify. So the purpose of this blog is to write down the experience of motherhood, and just to get it all down to words.