his chair

We finally got Ethan's high chair from Toys 'r' Us in preparation for his solids very soon! It was one of the few last items in the to-get list for Ethan because I didn't want to accept the fact that he will soon be taking solids. However, hubby thinks otherwise. He can't for Ethan to join us at the dinner table. Actually, he can't wait for Ethan to join him camping, fishing, shooting hoops and sharing his passion in daddy's line up of Jordans.

Therefore, daddy went all over town to look for a good looking high chair and guess what daddy found? A yellow chair!

Anyways, when hubby showed me the yellow Graco chair that was on the shelves, we immediately feel in love with it. It has a detachable table for the little boy, which was perfect for heavy duty cleaning.

All we need now is a set of baby's feeding set and we're ready to go. Not quite actually, he has just turned 5 months old.

Anyways, we are sticking to the conventional introduction of solids at 6 months old.

1 more month to go...

Ethan in his yellow chair

eat and be merry

29 November 2008

We had a little get together for Christmas when I was 37 weeks pregnant, that was November 29 (3 days before Ethan decided to pop). With much anticipation of Ethan’s arrival, I thought I should spend some time with our close friends before the “confinement” began.

For the first time, we had a proper pot luck Christmas dinner. For years, our get together session had always been theme-less pot lucks.


Hubby prepared his famous rosemary roasted chicken, complemented by herbed roasted mix vegetables. Well, needless to say that he was very proud of his roasting skills when he presented us his golden brown roasted potatoes. I must admit, that pot of thing he did, was respectable!

Leonard and wifey Carnee showed up with huge honey baked chicken and a huge bowl of mashed potatoes.


Because Jaclyn was 2 months pregnant, Kenneth didn’t allow her to step into the kitchen. This time, we had the privilege (finally) to have him stir up his super expensive ovens and produced a palate of handsome grilled lamb cutlets. On top of that, this man is the only person on earth I know who makes superb “siu yuk”aka roasted pork.

Gabriel and Lauren swore that they took part in LEARNING Gabriel’s mum’s homemade slow stewed pork (which was really, Tai Thong standards!) The pot of meat melted in out mouths. Gee, the thought of it sends water in my mouth.

KC, Yueh Li and Ethan Zac showed up with a huge platter of bangers: Italian sausages, mixed herb, Chorizo, smoked chicken, chipolatas and you name it. To top that, they actually baked it! Hooh, superb.

Sharon finally rang the bell with 3 tubs of Baskins Robbins which were whipped off the minute we took it out from the freezer. Needless to say, our beauty queen was late (again) but at least she showed up!

Mum and I partnered up to bake little Christmas cupcakes. Being 37 weeks, I was breathless most of the time, I only could bake the cupcakes and didn't manage to ice the cupcakes. Mum therefore helped with decorating the little delights.

Yvonne was busy transporting plates of bruschetta from the toaster out to the dining table. We had the classic herbed tomato and brown button mushrooms bruschetta served as the appetiser.

Braving the complicated step into baking a baked cheese cake, my sister Angeline made dessert a highlight of our evening. Ended the evening with heart warming carols and later did our little round of gift exchanges. It was indeed an evening dedicated to friends and thanking the Lord for the season of love and joy.

Needless to say, the boys had a swell of a time.

Blessed Christmas everyone!

ethan

When we found out that I was pregnant with a little boy, many asked if we had given him a name yet. We would smile and said yes! However, we did not want to disclose his name until he came out!

Well, same time when I was pregnant, one of Adrian's cousin, KC was also expecting a little bundle of joy. But, both KC and Yueh Li decided not to find out the gender of the baby and preferred it to be a surprise instead. We received a text message one morning thanking us for the toy we bought their little boy and that, baby “Ethan” will definitely love playing with them. And guess what, little baby being Ethan, will make him Ethan Chong… as well!

We prayed about little boy's name and somehow, both hubby and I have were very attached to the name as we have been calling him by his name since we knew he was a boy, that was probably when he was approximately in his week 25. Therefore, we decided that we'll stick to his name, Ethan, Ethan Chong Xiang Wei.

By the way, his name Ethan is of Hebrew origin and his name means "firmness, strong, long-lived". Biblically, Ethan was a man of Israel noted for his wisdom. One reason why we chose the name Ethan was partly due to its meaning. Our only prayer for him is to be strong, despite having to face with tremendous challenges, pressures and temptations the world might endow on him.

While we're on the subject, we are proud God parents to Ethan Chong Ching Her. He is 4 months older than our little boy and that makes him the big bro! However, we will not be calling him biggie Ethan or Ethan senior or what not. KC and Yueh Li has decided that he will have a confirmation name, Zachary. Therefore, he is Ethan Zachary Chong Ching Her, in short, Ethan Zac!

That's Yueh Li and Ethan Zac

his little thumb

It's past midnight and we have put Ethan to sleep an hour ago after his last feed. I was washing up and heard faint sucking noises from Ethan's cot. He is sucking his thumb! I'm so proud of him because he is obviously not asleep and he knows it's bedtime. Better still, he is not making any fuss but to suckle his little thumb to sleep!
Sweet dreams lil' E!

it's a boy!

We ordered a 2kg chocolate butter cake for Ethan's full moon for my collies over at work. The cake looked lovely and it came in a shape of a milk bottle. I tried the cakes from Just Heavenly a couple of occasions and I totally feel in love with their cakes.

Ethan's full moon cake for workmates over at MB Malaysia

For the those who swears that eating chocolate actually releases endorphines, please try the Death by Chocolate. It's one of the best chocolate cakes I've ever tasted. Pair it with a scope of vanilla ice cream and you'll hit the 10/10 button! It's glorious!

I really liked the choc and cheese. I've tasted many variances of choc and cheese and this is one which I think has the best combination of classic cheese and chocolate cheese in a cake. It's not as sweet as I thought it looked and and boy, this is one time which I would choose cake over calories! Total surrender, oh, sigh...

Check out Just Heavenly.

Gute Nacth

Today Ethan finally went to sleep by himself in his cot! He has been rooming in with us for the past 4 1/2 months, in our bed, between the two of us.
Therefore, for 4 1/2 months, I fell asleep not having to have hubby wrap his arms around me to sleep.
For once, I can quietly snug into bed with hubby.
Sweet Dreams, Gute Nacth!

little chinese delights

We went out for a dim sum outing at Chynna, KL Hilton. This restaurant serves Cantonese-Shanghainese fusions. That was made known when a funny looking spout (a very long spout, mind you) from a teapot handled by a waiter was tilting towards our Chinese porcelain cups. And that’s how Shanghainese teas are served!

Malaysia being a Muslim country, it’s normally pork-free in Chinese restaurants in the major hotel chains. I must say that the dim-sum served was good, well, really good for a pork-free menu.

The details on the palates were impressive (sorry didn’t manage to capture some of these creative gastronomic presentations because we were so hungry. Now that we have to sort Ethan out before leaving the house, its takes us about a good 1 hour from the time when we adults get ready. He needs to be fed, cleaned if he poos, we need to pack his bag making sure his stuffs are brought along, stroller and finally strapped down to his car seat) but they also actually taste good!

Ethan was really amused with the open dim sum kitchen and bar. Who could miss the huge red lanterns draping down from the ceiling, making the restaurant look as if it’s like a mini lantern parade. Well, by the way, if you don’t know, this little boy of ours is full of curiosity, inquisitiveness, and is nicked names Mr. Nosy!

For durian lovers, this restaurant is the only restaurant in town that offers piping hot durian- custard mini buns. They were splendid!

To end, the all time favourite chilled mango pudding with ice cream.

Well, its not just the mini buns which were good, the restaurant serves other seafood dim sums which introduces perfect combinations of various tastes. Bravos to chef for putting smiles and blissfulness in his dining hall. No wonder he was awarded the “CHEF CONGENIALITY AWARD” for the Malaysia International Gourmet Festival 2008!

Mummy and Ethan after a scrumptious lunch

writing again...

Before Ethan came into our lives, I was busy looking for one of those “my baby journal” books to pen Ethan’s developments as a reassurance for that I am actually growing with him, despite being a working mommy, which I did.

Some of the contents in the book: my first day at home, my first Christmas, when I first slept in my room, my first smile and the list of my firsts…

As I look back at these writings, it has taken on new meaning as I have gone through the stages of motherhood within these 4 months. When I feel like I have been too busy at work or too unaware of Ethan’s small changes I pull out this journal and read just one or two of the tiny details of my life with him. Immediately the richness of my motherhood experience unfolds for me and buoys me up.

However, I realized that they were more things which happened and I would like to remember. Ie: sleeping patterns, children’s parties Ive attended, shopping sessions with grandma, outings, other curiosities that took place.

And hence, I'm writing again.

And I hope that this will eventually be a trail to follow, to try to figure out how Ethan is unique in his own ways; his maladies, his fear, and his accomplishments in the years to come.

These intricate details hopefully would be able to take me back to my motherhood experience, where it all began, the struggles, pleasures and contentment. And hopefully over the years, they bring me the peace of mind that while leading a working-mommy life; busy, hectic, full life was full of motherhood's great rewards and pleasures.