Standing Tall

Ethan has started to stand and now at 11 months can hold onto things and stand for about a minute or so! He always looks very pleased with himself when he learns new things. You can't really see the pleased look cos of his pacifier, so I took it out and did this short video. It had to be stopped short cos he was reaching for the fan and actually grabbed it!

Vivo City with Friends

Our old friends, Terence and Vivian were back visiting Singapore after getting married and living, working, and setting up family in Hong Kong. It's been ages since we met up. We got married around the same time, and had boys around the same time too! Nathaniel is 6 months old now... 5 months younger than Ethan.

Though both boys weren't at their cutest they did enjoy their day out in Vivo City and loved staring at the balloons we got for them. We lounged around in a coffee joint afterwards. Do you think the babies look alike? Cos people say Terence and Ivan look alike... someone even congratulated Terence thinking he was Ivan at our wedding 3 years ago.

Ethan loved lounging with his Dad after lunch. He thinks Dad looks very cool with sunglasses, but actually it's eye protection for 2 weeks after LASIK so that Ethan doesn't accidentally reach up and maul Daddy's eyes.

Trying Not to Sleep

Ethan tries so hard to stay awake during the day even when he is very tired. The result is that he sometimes falls asleep sitting up in his cot then he slumps over and continues dozing! Here is one such funny picture... amazing he can still sleep in this strange pose.

The Reading Room

Ethan had a bit of nappy rash today so he let him crawl around a bit without his nappies to get a good airing. But then we noticed he was leaking! Accck.... so he scooped him up and used the opportunity to put him on his potty trainer. Technically, he's too young for potty training now as bowel control only sets in much later, but he looked so comfortable sitting on his potty that we gave him a book to read! Look at him happily enjoying himself!

Daddy's Funny Goggles

We have both been talking about getting LASIK done for some time and we took the plunge. Well, I took it first. Here I am immediately after the surgery on Thursday afternoon. My eyes were nearly shut cos they were a bit puffy and hard to keep open. The eye shield is to stop me from rubbing my eyes during my sleep in the first 24 hours as that's the most crucial time for healing. I also have to use some eye protection when playing with Ethan in the first 7 days of healing so I don't accidentally get whacked.

I slept a lot that first day with most of the discomfort (mild-moderate stinging pain) coming 5 hours after the operation when the numbing eye drops wore off. So I took some panadol and was okay again. The next day I woke up and discomfort was gone and I was seeing clearly. The check-up went well and I am now seeing nearly 6/6 which is very good recovery after 1 day. Vision will fluctuate in the first 7 days but I am seeing very well now and am very satisfied! Must be gentle with the eyes and diligent with my eye drops especially in this first week as the eye heals.

Dr Julian Theng who set up the Eagle Eye Centre at Mt Alvernia did a great job and is very reassuring, which helps you keep calm. Plus his staff are all excellent and the $1 cappucino is quite good considering it comes from a machine! He spot on cleared my 550+ myopia and 350+ astigmatism though I have thin corneas. So I highly recommend him and his centre. Thanks to Judy and Yogi who recommended him to us! I also bought his small book called "A Long Sighted Look at Presbyopia" and now understand what presbyopia is and what we can expect as we go past 40 and may need reading glasses. I always thought that was long-sightedness setting in but it's not! If you were misinformed like me it's a good read as many opticians will not know the various types of treatments available so it's good to educate oneself.

I'm looking forward to be able to play rough and boisterous games with Ethan now without having to take off my glasses and look for a safe place to put them all the time. And now when he rides on my shoulders I can properly see where I am walking! Renata says she has now married the man in her wedding album. Ha ha... if you don't know what she means, click on the wedding album link on the right!

Sea Urchin Lessons

We bought this cheap toy a long time ago and Ethan loves it. When you shake it it lights up and flashes and multiple colours and it's made of this rubbery material that is reaaaally stretchy. It looks like a hot pink sea-urchin with a smiley face with a long dangly stretchy string. Ethan loves playing with it!

Friendly sea urchin only costs $1 so it's definitely made in China and perhaps has some unsafe substances in it with all the news reports going on nowadays. But gosh, it's near impossible to avoid all made-in-China items isn't it? Thus, we pray that there is no such thing as pink-dyed lead rubbery-stretchies... especially since Ethan loves "twanging" it with his two front teeth.

Daddy tries to make appropriate twanging sounds of varying pitch and volume depending on how hard Ethan pulls on it with his hands and how far he pulls it back with his teeth. This is elementary guitar theory going on here... together with some amplitude, frequency, and tension lessons. Dunno if Ethan is picking up anything from it yet.

Charming Pair

We didn't have that many pictures of Renata and Ethan before because he was often breastfeeding so I (Ivan) can't post pictures of that! But now I get more presentable pics of my lovely wife and cute son! Ethan is fully on the bottle, and the milk bar is closing down, getting ready to re-open only for "next shift". Dunno when that will happen...only God knows! Ethan sure doesn't know what's coming when he's no longer the centre-of-the-universe.

We're especially enjoying the last couple of weeks with him. He's weaned, sleeping better, in a good mood, and we think he lost a bit of fat so he's looking that much more handsome! Don't tell him, but he was actually quite fat about a month ago. We didn't post any of the double-chin and puffy cheek pictures, and certainly not the tired-looking ones of all of us when he refused naps and woke up at night for a while...

Reaching Out

Ethan's arms seem to be getting longer as he reaches out to explore even more of the world around him -- and we have had to put our baby lotions, tissues and baby powder further and further from the edge of the bed! He's been getting extra reach now that he can pull himself up to a kneeling position and is now able to turn on his Mozart mobile high up on his bed for some naptime entertainment.

This morning we left the tissues a little too close to the edge and I walked in after putting him down for his nap to find him sitting and smiling in the middle of a nest of shredded tissues....

Paragon Day Trip

After an early morning feed immediately followed by an early morning nap, we all roused ourselves to go down to Paragon for a half-day outing. We wanted to show Ethan the kiddy playground there. He loses out to the other kids of course, cos he's still too small. Though he had fun on the rubbery floor he still likes his seat on Daddy's shoulders the best!

Lunch was at the Soup Spoon downstairs. Ethan gobbled up his pumpkin and rice porridge (from Mum's Kitchen) even before Daddy sat down with his soup! A passer-by helped us take this nice photo.

A bit of baby-biscuit shopping, and 15 min later we were in the car heading home and Ethan was out like a light. He's still snoozing now after his grand day out.

Fun with Books

Ethan got his first introduction to books early on at around his 2nd month, but apart from biting on them (see "Eat This Book" posted on 17 Mar) he didn't quite take to them and his short attention span soon moved on to other toys. So we are really pleased that of late he has shown much more interest and real engagement with the books we read with him! He not only enjoys looking at the pictures but also loves turning the pages too!

Bus Ride

Ethan had his first SBS Bus Ride last Thursday (his actual first bus ride was at Sentosa a month ago). It was Daddy's day off but Mummy had to work so off she went in the morning while the guys spent time together. After behaving well and a lovely nap, the boys decided to surprise Mummy so instead of waiting for her to come pick us up we took the bus to Mummy's office!

It's nice and easy cos the 66 goes straight from our home to BRMC. Both boys got rather hot waiting for the bus though, and Dad had to figure out how to hold baby, carry stroller and baby bag, and tap EZ Link cards while getting on and off. Phew! It was fun and Ethan loved all the new sights and sounds. He almost liked it as much as Mummy did when we surprised her!

blurred photo taken with one hand on moving bus while steadying wriggly baby

Sleep Routines

It's been a joy watching Ethan growing and learning how to do new things every other week. However with his greater awareness of the world around and a growing ability to control it, he has also acquired the ability to keep himself awake through sheer willpower (and the insatiable desire to play play play!) Being awake is just so much more fun than sleeping, and here he is 45 minutes after being put down for his nap and looking as bright as a lark!

So far nap times have required a of patience and there are times when we fall asleep before he does! Still, we are persevering in trying to get Ethan into a morning and afternoon nap routine, as it is likely to get harder the older and more active he gets.

We are still trying to figure out how best to work the routine, but here are a few things we learnt that Ethan likes at bed/nap times :

• a bottle of warm milk seems to calm him while helping him feel full and comfortable
• his nappy blanket which he likes for us to 'tuck, tuck, tuck' him into
• a calming song (sometimes he sings along!)
• his pacifier (although we try to use it as a last resort)
• a quiet and boring environment (so there is less incentive to stay awake)

Do share any sleep tips that have worked for you -- we would love to hear your suggestions!

He's just fallen asleep behind me about 1 hour after I first put him down -- Peace on Earth at last!!

Strangers Keep Touching Me!

It's universally known that babies bring people's guards down and everyone will warm to a cute and smiling baby. Yet, it's funny how in western countries people will coo at the baby and talk to you while in Singapore people will talk to the baby and completely ignore the parents. In fact it's common that strangers will look at Ethan, talk to him, and even touch him without even a single look at us! We have gone from surprised to amused at this phenomenon...

It is especially funny at restaurants when the people repeatedly walk by and furtively brush their hands against his legs. Or they look at him for a long time and just before leaving they very quickly walk up and stretch out their hand to tickle his tummy. It all happens too fast for mum and dad to do anything but laugh and ponder this Singaporean phenomenon! Ethan thinks it's all normal...he doesn't know that strangers find him irresistable!

Swimming is Fun

It's been a few weeks since we've been swimming so last Sunday off we went to the pool. Ethan's taking to the water well, becoming a little more confident each time. On this occasion he splashed and kicked lots more as he's now much stronger. He got water all over his face doing this but didn't mind too much. I don't think he's ready to put his head under water any time soon though...

He seemed to like being in Daddy's arms more than being in his boat however. He kept trying to peer out and even climb out to get back into that lovely looking water! Very brave, but defintely not ready yet.

Of course, Ethan always loves being on Daddy's shoulders where he gets a fistful of hair as well as a whole new perspective on the world. We do this a lot when going out now cos Ethan can sit up better, but Daddy still needs to hold onto his shoulder or his torso for safety.

Mmmmmilk!

Just over 3 months ago we figured that Ethan was allergic to milk -- after a reaction when we tried giving him formula. Interestingly his persistent rash also disappeared when Mummy stopped taking milk and dairy products as it seemed to be coming through the breastmilk too! Our doctor advised that we continue avoiding dairy products for 3 months to give Ethan's body a chance to develop further before trying again. Good advice...although that meant that Ethan had to have a Hypoallergenic formula (which tastes much less appealing than regular formula!) and that Mummy had to forego all manner of chocolates, ice-cream, a multitude of desserts as well as her favourite fix of teh-tarik!!

So it was good news all round when we returned to formula this week and Ethan was fine! Teh-tarik never tasted so good!

If you look very carefully, you will be able to see Ethan's first little teeth erupting in this picture.