12.48am

I need help.

We recently went to Hong Kong and left Ethan’s best friend there. His best friend, 'the monkey' was given to him by uncle Zuhun when I went over to Sydney last year. However, what makes this little primate special is that it’s a custom-made soft toy promoting the Orang Utans for the Sabah Tourism.

This monkey has some calming effect on Ethan especially during bedtime. He has to hug it to sleep every single night and the fact that we brought it over to Hong Kong was to make sure he had this comfort item with him. How idiotic of me not to check his cot before I send the luggage down for check out.

Now it’s pass bed time for Ethan and he is screaming on top of his lungs, probably looking for monkey. My only hope now is that uncle Zuhun has extras to spare…

Ethan turns 1

Ethan’s First Birthday

Date : 28 November 2009
Venue : The Paddington House of Pancakes

This is a delayed entry as my little one turned 1 December last year. It was all smiles and laughters at the little party held in The Paddington House of Pancakes, The Curve. We prepared him months (well, maybe 1 month) in advance singing him the traditional birthday song and putting on the “Mickey Party” hat. And yes, you have guessed it right, he loves Mickey. His first Mickey was given to him by his Uncle Chee Wah and Aunt Elaine from Singapore. I have to acknowledge that this whole Mickey thing is not just a marketing gimmick or what not, the character is actually something children just love. I remember my first Mickey, and I bet you had yours.

So, the party started with throngs of assorted tiny pancake canapés lining beautifully on the plates waiting to be served. The guests were of course excited and some ambitious to fill their plates to the brim. I was chuckling quietly seeing them getting so excited over these little delights. The atmosphere was merry and cheerful with Mr. Clown sculpting balloons to young children and those claimed young - "at heart".

I would have loved to bake Ethan's first birthday myself, except I couldn't stand the mental pressures of "what-if-the-cake... ". Therefore, after a long domestic discussion, we got this beautifully decorated 2 tier Elmo Birthday Cake. Contradictorily, we wanted Mickey birthday cake instead, but was told that the cake designer makes Elmo better than Mickey. And so, this was how we ended up with the 2 tier Elmo cake. Surprisingly, we ended up liking the Elmo cake. In fact, everyone did!

It was a blast for the little man as he saw many familiar faces. I am humbled and blessed to have almost all of our family members, relatives and close friends attend our little one’s first birthday. Of course he had people who couldn’t make it but have sent greetings, cards, presents and prayers.

When I look back at Ethan’s first birthday, what struck me really, was the one year of journeying with him in our lives. He has taught me to laugh at little things, smile at small accomplishments, and understand the fact that teaching takes immense patience while learning takes time. He has also taught me patience, perseverance, determination, unconditional love and most of all, to accept and love imperfections as it is. I love him to bits and I thank God for this little miracle.

Goodnight

goodnight...



moon...

Goodnight moon.

We stayed with Ethan's Tata and Neh-Neh till he was one because it was too taxing for Ethan and us to do the whole traveling every morning to grannies place and to be picked up in the evening. Therefore, we chose to stay during the weekdays and come home in weekends. At one point, the little boy was getting confused, didn’t know where he actually belonged. We didn’t have any choice since hubs and I both had to work, we had to settle for what’s best for all of us.

At about 5 months when he was trying to recognize faces and places, we were traveling to and fro (grannies and home) quite a bit. And the poor boy was at our mercy, he had to come with us, wherever we went.

However, one thing he found comforting was this magical book, “Good Night Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown. I remember one night when he was acting up quite a bit, we read him this book. It calmed the weeping eyed almost immediately. And in one of those pages, it reads:

Good Night Kitten

Good Night Mitten

To my surprise, I heard this cutest chuckle when I ended the 2 lines with “Good Night Ethan”... That was magic!

And henceforth, we will get the sweetest smile from him when we do the:

Good Night Kitten

Good Night Mitten

Good Night Ethan!

We bought this book even before he was born and it’s been his best friend even till now. He somehow finds comfort from these reassuring words in the book and he has never once said no to his cow jumping over the moon.

p/s: I had to read him this book, cover to cover for almost 11 times at 3 in the morning that night. I swore, I will never forget...

Good night moon!

Travelling Across South China Sea

It was a short and meaningful trip back home for me as this is the first time Ethan came with us, back to where I came from, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Also, this happened to be his first time in an aircraft.
We went back for a good friend’s wedding, also an opportunity to meet up with the other side of his family.

Overwhelmed.

He made us real proud parents when he didn’t fuss nor whined during both the trip, going there and coming back. Instead, he was getting all so excited, prancing on my lap as we were sharing the seat. And we it was time for the flight to take off, my little prince tugged himself nicely in my arms, nibbling his little thumb and snoozing off quietly into his little dreamland. Believe it or not, I had equipped myself with children’s atarax “just in case”. I was really pleased when I found out that I need not any of them!

And that's good news for me. More trips back home. YEAY!

dum dee dee dum

I sometimes really wonder what's running through his mind.
I really wonder...

Ethan,

Feb 19, 2010