Teaching Ethan Swimming

We just bought a book on how to teach babies to swim. It was a toss up between Water Babies and this book which we ended up getting, buying from local online bookseller Zakoola.com for the first time! It hasn't arrived yet though... so Ethan has been dunked yet either!

Making Adjustments

On any trip when you travel with a group, adjustments must be made... and certainly on a mission trip! One of Ethan's adjustments was bathing in the sink! On this trip we stayed in a cheap hotel so things were relatively easy for us.

Though things were quite cramped in the sink, Ethan enjoyed playing with the water coming out of the faucet and looking at his handsome self. You can see though that his cuteness was slightly marred by what we think were insect bites he got a few days before we left Singapore.

His skin condition got worse during the time we were away due to his sensitive cheeks. As a result, he was more bothered and cried more during the flight back. But now we're back home with our full array of creams and medicines and things are okay. Over all, our brave little trooper experienced many new things and enjoyed the new sights and sounds. He less enjoyed the change in schedule though, especially his sleep times. We're keeping in mind for the next time we take a trip with him...

First Flight on an Airplane

Just before 9pm on Wed 28 Mar, we boarded the airplane for Ethan's very first flight! Here we are standing at the door waiting to walk out on the tarmac and up the stairs into our Tiger Airway's plane. For those who don't know, it's a budget airline carrier so there are no sky-bridges and no bassinets for babies.


Ethan was an EXTREMELY good baby on the flight! He sat with Mummy the whole time, except when she had to make bathroom trips then Daddy held him. He hardly cried at all during the flight. We tried to make him suckle during take-off and landing so he would swallow and equalize the air pressure. There was toddler in the row in front of us who wailed quite loudly, and we think that upset him a bit but generally he was a very good baby!

Family Mission Trip

This evening we are flying to Thailand on our first mission trip as a family. Ethan is the youngest tripper of our large team,, turning 6 months old during our time there. We will be back just after Sunday night (so no blogging until next week).

Do pray that Ethan will take to flying and travelling well! We hope he'll behave too, so Mummy can fully participate in things and Daddy can minister and do his work well.

Spotty

Poor Ethan got a bunch of spots appearing on his face over the weekend. It was there during his child dedication on Sunday but flared up more after that. We think they are insect bites. Thankfully they don't seem to bother him at all.

Child Dedication

Yesterday, we had a Child Dedication ceremony at our church service. Ethan was one of many babies/children to be dedicated that day. Both sets of grandparents plus Goo Ma (Auntie Mei) came to witness the event!


Pastor Kenny prayed for Ethan and for us. May you grow up to love God and fulfil the purpose for which He created you my son! Perhaps Ethan will be a pastor like his daddy, but he can find his own path and be anything he wants... perhaps the doctor that Daddy didn't end up becoming, or the war journalist that Mummy considered being! If he becomes a medical missionary ministering in the middle-east he can combine all three!! (I can hear grandparents gasping right now...)

New Haircut

Tomorrow is a big day! Ethan's having his "Child Dedication" at church and both sets of grandparents are coming! We gave him an "army style" haircut so he will look neat and smart for the occasion. He does look smarter, and Mummy thinks his new haircut emphasizes his eyes but Daddy thinks he also looks fatter in it. Hmmm... post a comment and tell us what you think!

Sitting Up

Ethan is rapidly picking up new physical skills! He literally grows stronger and more confident each day in sitting up, holding himself up on his stomach, and pushing himself along the bed (not exactly crawling yet, but the first stage). Here he is sitting up. After a few rounds of his he'll get tired and let us know that he's had enough exercise!

Sippy Cup on My Own

After lunch, Ethan continued sipping on water. He didn't like water when he was younger, but we kept trying to give it to him once in a while. Finally, when he started cereal he would take to water which is a great thing! We got the Avent sippy cup add-on, complete with cute little handles. It has a soft rubber sipping spout which is great for Ethan to bite on so he likes this one more than his other sippy cups. He's grabbing at the spoon and bottle more often now, wanting to feed himself!

Making Friends at Ikea

On Thursday we went to the new Ikea in Tampines! It's huge and the restaurant and play area for kids is really nice. Our primary reason for going was to buy the Ikea ANTILOP High Chair. After looking at various models, we decided to go for the one which many people (including personal reviews on the Internet) say is cheap and good. Ethan tried it out at the restaurant and he quickly made a new friend! A toddler came over and they had a short discussion on the pros and cons of this particular model.



At home, Ethan seems to like it. We put a cushion on the back (didn't buy Ikea's inflatable one for $9) and find that it's very good.

Hanging Out At Church

As you can see, we've been having fun with our new mini video camera and it's working really well. We love how it's small so we have it with us very often, and get quick video clips. I've also switched over to using Picasa2 for our photo and video management software. This allows blogging from within the software (not that well implemented) and video upload to Google Video (this works great). So our little videos are as easy to manage and blog as photos!



Ethan was just hanging out in the church office last Sunday after services and meet-ups with people were over!

Sleepy and Tired

Today is Wednesday, Renata's kendo night, so I stayed at home with Li'l Bubs at night after coming back from the Love East Timor DA meeting. I was tired since I'm slightly sick, and Ethan's been a bit cranky. He kept wanting attention, until even being with me didn't seem to satisfy him. So I put him down and left him alone to cry a bit to see if he would fall asleep. It had been only 2 hours since his dinner so he shouldn't be hungry...

20 min later and bubs is still crying, so I warmed a bit of milk in the bottle. He gobbled it down, finished it, and wanted some more because it was only about 40ml. Poor fella was hungry! "Sorry Ethan, I'll get you some water." So I put him down and off I went, but when I came back 1 min later the little guy was fast asleep! Looks like just a bit of milk did the trick!

Here he is in the dark. Sleepy and tired, but a bit of milk popped him off to baby-dreamland...

Toes Discovery

Ethan has just discovered more things to suck on! Attached to his feet are 10 funny finger-like things that fit perfectly into his mouth! He seems to enjoy this new taste sensation and was last seen popping his toes into his mouth in his bath.

Eat This Book

Eugene Peterson has published a new book and it looks like Ethan is interpreting it quite literally...

A Fun Day Off

Yesterday was our day off, so we went out and about trying to run errands and have some fun as a family. A big objective of the day was to look for a high-chair for Ethan. There is of course the ubiquitous Ikea ANTILOP High Chair for the bargain basement price of $33 ("cheap and good" say many parents), but we wanted to see what others there were.

Here is the Graco Contempo Highchair on sale at Robinsons. We were surprised that Ethan is already quite stable in it and seemed to find it comfy. I didn't know high chairs were so expensive. This one was $168 on sale!



Ethan napped in his comfy stroller quite a bit then woke up when we stopped for tea at a local coffee shop. It's a bit noisy but you can hear him laughin as he play the "Choo Choo" game with him. It's hard to describe... Daddy just made it up one day and Ethan loves it...

Teething

Ethan seems to have started teething. He's been drooley and constantly wanting to bite on whatever he can get his hands on. Unfortunately we forgot where we stashed his teething rings until just 2 weeks ago, so Ethan's had to improvise in the meantime. So far he has tasted tissues, books, toys, fingers, blankets, spoons, pillows and his ABC flashcards!

Tummy Rub

Last week we got a new MP4 video camera - a Sanyo Xacti C40 that saves MPEG-4 video onto an SD card. It's a tiny thing that we can use anywhere to get more precious videos of our little one while he's still small. It's much better quality than the video from our digital camera (used in previous blog posts) at 640x480 at 30fps. Though the quality is just slightly less than DVD, it's quick and easy to use and much cheaper than a full size DVD quality camcorder.

Here is Ethan getting a tummy rub to calm his angsty mood. This was taken when he was still pink from his mild allergic reaction to cereal with formula milk. His first taste of non-breastmilk wasn't so good!

Home Internet Down

Our internet access at home has been very unreliable in the past week. Grrr... Singnet hasn't responded well either. Some sites can be accessed but slow. Many other sites cannot be accessed at all. It's very strange, and we can't log in to Blogger to update our blog.

A Bit Sick

Ethan was a bit sick recently. It could have been the ham that we ate the previous night that also gave Mummy a tummy-ache, or it could be a mild allergic reaction to the new cereal we tried to give him. The previous cereal was "rice only" so we added breast milk, but this new cereal was "rice and milk" - the milk being from skimmed cow's milk. It looks like his body didn't like this cos he went slightly pink and was in a not-so-good mood.

Prisoner!

This morning I came into Ethan's room and found him like this! He had pushed himself all the way to the corner of his cot and was peering out of the bars...

It was actually quite late in the morning (around 8.45am) and Ethan had been up for quite a while. He seems to wake up anywhere from around 6.30am to 8.00am but will usually amuse himself for some time before he gets hungry enough to start fussing so that we can hear him. This morning, he wasn't fussing - just playing - and slurped down his 160ml breakfast very quickly.

His rash has been the best it's ever been for the last few days but still not 100% disappeared. I've started wrapping him up in his light cotton blanket so he can't swipe at the creams I've been putting on his face. Kind of like a temporary straitjacket so he can't hurt himself!

Ethan's Prayers

I sat down this morning to do a very quick video blog, but then I picked a song and memories and thankfulness kept flowing for an hour. So here's Ethan's Prayer of thanks and simple hopes for the future. It's our best video of Ethan yet!



Hint: You can always click on "Google Video" button for larger video window

Daddy's Love Makes Me Happy

Daddy's love makes me so happy I just can't stop smiling and laughing. Mummy took this video of me having great fun with Daddy.



I was so happy that that night I actually chortled myself to sleep!

Drinking From a Cup

Today Ethan walloped a huge amount of 2.5 tablespoons of rice cereal with milk. This is quite a lot considering this is only his fifth day trying solid food. He seems to love it, and at this rate will work his way up to a full meal (3-4 tablespoons) by the end of the week. At that time, we'll start giving him a second meal with cereal. Currently it is lunch, so next it will be dinner which should send him off to dreamland quite effectively.

Because he's eating solids and not just milk, Ethan gets thirstier so he's taking water now. We decided to give that to him from a sippy cup and he's taking to it quite well. We're quite proud of him that he's eating well and drinking water happily!

On the negative side of things, solid food (no longer breast milk only) means poos are smellier, and the nappy changes sure are manifesting this new reality.

Head and Neck Exercises

We give Ethan a bit more tummy time now. This is when we roll him over on this tummy and for a short while he can pull himself up to this position. The world looks quite different and interesting from this vantage point!

However, Ethan can't hold this position for too long so... whump... his head drops back down onto the bed! Don't worry, he wasn't hurt at all. He picks himself up with a curious look a few seconds later!

Daddy Rocket

Ethan's got a new toy -- it's a Daddy Rocket! It can give him a bird's eye view of things around house -- just twiddle Daddy's thumbs in the desired direction and off we go!

Old Friends, New Friends

This Chinese New Year we visited Wilson & Shih-Huei and their newborn baby, Ezra. Wilson & Shih-Huei are friends from our days in Trinity Theological College who knew us before we got married. Ethan seemed delighted to meet his new friend because when Daddy lifted him near the cot to see Ezra, he started laughing so heartily that we had to carry him out of the room so that he wouldn't wake Ezra up!

Bath Time is Funny!

Chuckles... for the last few days, Ethan has been especially tickled about something after his bath time. He will chortle away after he's taken out of the water and wrapped in a snug towel!

Ethan Laughing

His cute little laugh is very infectious! Turn up the volume as this was taken from our mobile phone so is quite soft...

Eating With a Spoon!

Today is a historic day. Ethan ate his first semi solids! We prepared some rice-cereal mixed with Mummy's milk. Here it is looking errr... not so yummy from my perspective.

Some people have asked us whether we need to try solids so soon. Ethan is now 1 week shy of 5 months old. Baby manuals say around 4-6 months, depending on the individual baby. Ethan's been happpy with his milk and hasn't been waking up due to hunger or requesting more frequent feeds, but we did notice that the last couple of days he's been biting more (and harder) and has been "smacking his lips". We've also been giving him a spoon to play with on occasion so that he grows accustomed to this new toy.

Armed with a bib and the semi-solid cereal we began just before lunch time! Puzzled expressions soon gave way to swallowing attempts with cereal dribbling down his chin. Then he began to fuss, which was hard to figure out whether it was due to not liking it, that he wasn't able to swallow, or that the spoonfuls weren't coming fast enough. After a few more minutes, Ethan began getting the hang of it as we gingerly fed him a bit more. More fuss cos he was hungry and he couldn't eat it fast enough, so Renata nursed him a while, then we fed him some more cereal. This second round was a winner! He lapped it up and really liked the new taste. For a first-try, Ethan's performance was quite stellar. We were prepared for most of the food to end up on the floor, but we think he actually swallowed more than half of the cereal (1 tbl spoon with 50ml milk).

Here he is after the feed. He looked very contented and pleased and was still continuing to bite and chew, so we gave him another spoon to nibble on!

The best thing about it was how satisfied he looked after this new meal. He went into a drowsy state, staring at his mobile - a look that we last saw when he was much younger and very full on milk. He's now sleeping... well... like a baby!

Chinese New Year Visits

This is Ethan's first Chinese New Year! We did a fair amount of visiting and spent lots of time with family over the holidays which was nice. Ethan had a couple of red shirts and this bright orange tie-dye one that makes him look very grown-up!

At U. Kenneth and A. Bee's he behaved himself very well and allowed his Uncle & Auntie to hold him for a while so we could grab this great picture. It's the first time they have seen Ethan since the moon yuet. He was small then but is not quite big for his age, weighing in at just over 7kg now. In the picture above, the toy "tape worm" next to Ethan is a measuring worm 60cm long, so you can see that he is quite "long" now!

Worm 2 - The Sequel

Here we are back at the ENT clinic where Ethan first came during the worm in ear incident. We are back because 2 days ago we noticed some spots of blood on Ethan's left ear--the same ear where they found the worm. With the memories of that incident fresh in our minds we were naturally concerned but as it was Chinese New Year we decided to use the antibiotics from the last visit until we were able to see our ENT doc today. Fortunately, there was no infection or damage to his ear, and turned out to be a case of long and adventurous fingernails! Phew! Click on "Ear Troubles" to see the collection of posts about his last ear saga.

Sydney Aquarium

We're back from our Sydney trip - our first overseas holiday as a family with Ethan! (not counting the short Thailand mission trip we took him on last year). On one of the days we went to Darling Harbour and visited the Sydney Aquarium. We remembered how much Ethan enjoyed Sentosa's Underwater World so we took him to see this place.

At one spot, a seal decided to come up the ramp and pose with Ethan!

The surrounding area is quite lovely. It was a sunny yet not-too-hot day and we enjoyed the bay views. Ethan and Daddy often wore their matching hats with printed nams "Ethan" and "Ivan" given to us by church friends Norman & Janet. It was perfect for Ethan as it shielded his eyes from the harsh Aussie sun.

After a tiring day walking around we settled into the Lindt Cafe for refreshment and Ethan's lunch by the bay.

This Little Pig Went To The Market

Ethan went to the wet Market for the very first time a few weeks ago when we had A Mary, U Abu & the family over for a poolside bbq. He helped mummy & daddy pick the freshest prawns and was fascinated by the swift work of the butcher on the kampong chicken!

Bath Moods with Shorter Hair

As Ethan gets older, his mood at bath time is changing. He's always enjoyed baths, but now he's more active and kicks around often splashing me a lot during the bath. Now he's also strong enough for me to sit him up which makes scrubbing his back a lot easier. And the great thing is that after bath and while he's being changed, he cries less. He loves being wrapped in his towel after his hot onsen!


He's thinking how nice it would be one day to go to a real onsen in Japan. Maybe one of those outdoor ones with the steam rising above the snow!

Have you noticed that Ethan's hair looks neater now? That's because he had his first haircut last week. We couldn't take pictures as it took both Mummy and Daddy to pull it off. Mummy sat him on the bathroom counter-top with his feet in the sink while Daddy trimmed his sides and top. Even more handsome than usual!

My First Holiday

It seems like every day is a holiday for our little baby. It's all play in the land of mummy's milk of jack-in-the-box bunny. Still, Ethan had his first official holiday using his passport for the first time when we went up to KL for a 3 generation holiday. Here's our first dinner all together. If you zoom in on the larger photo you can see Ethan sleepily peering at the camera with one eye!

It was a special trip not only because it was Ethan's first overseas trip but the first time U. Adrian and A. Ruth got to see their first and favourite nephew (Ruth is Renata's sister - they live in Sydney). We told Ethan to behave well and endear himself to his uncle and auntie so that he would spur them on "toward love and good works" (Heb 10:24 heavily out of context). We don't know if it worked or not, but the 3 of them sure got along well!

Of course we all had a great time together, catching up and eating together. Ivan squeezed in a meeting with ministry people in KL, and we also met Martin for 2 good dinners. No photos of all that, just this lovely breakfast in the morning.

Overall, Ethan was a good traveller and though we had to plan our schedule around his feeds and needs, he brought everyone much joy with his smiles and laughter. We're trying to decide where to go for the next family holiday that's baby-friendly!

Just Like Dad

We're back online after a very nasty power supply burnt two of our hard drives. We lost some data but the MOST IMPORTANT things - Ethan's photos - had recently been backed up! Phew! Thank you God...

The other day we went to church and Ethan dressed just like Dad. Actually to be accurate, Ivan dressed Ethan then decided to dress himself like Mr Cuteness. Here they are looking like Father and Son! Ethan even made an appearance giving announcements at WEFC, illustrating how we all need to become more like our Heavenly Father.

Ethan's Good Natured Self

Since my last post about being home alone with Ethan he has been SUCH a good boy. He's been so good that I often cuddle him and tell him so. We think he's developing godly character! Right now, he's sitting on my lap while I type this blog entry. He's had his morning bottle feed, and like the last few days (almost a week) he's been taking the bottle without any fuss. He'll coo when he's content, laugh a lot when we sing to him, and cry when he's upset or at night when he's trying to sleep. As a whole this last week he hasn't cried for an extended period. We're wondering if Jesus was like this when he was a baby! (no crying he makes...)

Ethan's also been bottle-feeding from our grandparents succesfully, which helps Renata's transition back to work. All of this is much credit not only to His Cuteness' good nature but also Renata's patience and persistence!

We're a bit short on photos recently cos they're all in Renata's PC which has gone on the blink a few days ago. Our home PC's are 5-6 years old now so Ivan needs to shop for a new mainboard/CPU and do some surgery. In fact, the picture above was taken during our first family holiday up to KL recently, but we can't blog it yet cos all the pictures are stuck in Renata's PC.

Home Alone

Today Daddy is home alone with Ethan for the afternoon! Even though I bathe him and feed him and play with him, it's quite scary to be home alone without Mummy cos she can always take him and calm him down if I can't. It's only the second or third time that we're home alone without Renata being around... hope it goes okay!

Ethan the Nephew

Uncle Roy and Auntie Ruth came for lunch with us. Ethan enjoyed hanging out and napped as well. Ruth is going back to Sydney soon but will bring back nice memories of time with Ethan!

Self Comfort

Ethan is realising that mummy can't be with him 100% of the time as she also needs to do things around the house, go to work and have some time to rest too! So he is learning how to administer Self Comfort by sucking his thumb and stroking his own head. Its his first step towards independence in this big and sometimes confusing world that he is learning to make sense of and we are proud of his little achievement. Happy sucking, son!

Super Eye Lashes

Ethan's growing quite a set of eyes - nice double eyelids and long eyelashes! I waited till his afternoon nap to capture this pic of His Cuteness.

End of 24.7

Ivan's finished the 24.7 Prayer Week at his church. This morning we went to visit The People's Bible Church (TPBC) who are continuing the unceasing prayer in Singapore for 365 days! After the service, Ivan dropped off Renata and Ethan at home before going back to WEFC. But first we stopped at Adam Road Hawker Centre.

Ethan's been really good recently - except for not wanting to take the bottle. He was very happy taking it from birth but recently has become a bit fussy, wanting Mummy at feed times. The funny schedule last week with Ivan going in and out during 24.7 Prayer probably confused the poor baby too! But he must get used to the bottle again as Renata is back to part-time work so Ethan must be able to drink happily at the grandparent's homes!

He's a real charmer, but look out when he's on a crying spree! Gosh...

Daddy's Home

Ethan's been missing his Daddy since he left for the Urbana Conference and is glad he is home! The boys have been enjoying warm baths and afternoon naps on the comfy sofa. Mummy is glad too. It was a little tough being home alone and having to transition to starting work again but thank God for our supportive parents who have made it a lot easier!

Pepper Lunch

We're having nice family time at Pepper Lunch today. Ivan's been busy at church with 24.7 Prayer this week so we have had less time together. He left at 5.30am but came back bathe Ethan before going for our family lunch. Renata is getting back into part-time work routine and also into her pre-pregnancy pants!

Happy New Year

Ethan looks very happy at home even though Daddy is on the other side of the world! Ivan has just finished Urbana06 and is preparing to fly home soon. He will arrive just after midnight on 3 Jan, so Ethan will be taking a late night drive to the airport to see his Daddy. Ivan had a great time teaching, ministering, and receiving at Urbana, but is missing home with Renata and Ethan. See you soon my son!