Ethan's Piggie Bank

We received a huge parcel one day from Ben and May, all the way from Gold Coast via Sarawak. Ben called earlier to alert us to expect a parcel. Knowing Ben, he is so not a parcel guy. Therefore I concluded that it was the works of his ever brilliant wife, May. They got hitched not too long ago in the Gold Coast. I attended it and oh my, it was beautiful. Never attended a wedding where I could possibly tear every 5 minutes. Will write about it another time.

Anyway, Ben and May had told us that the parcel would be for Ethan and therefore when we got it, we told Ethan that it was for him and he could open it up.

He was so excited and slammed both his little hands on the box, trying to show us that he knew it was for him. Then he carefully pulled the strings off from the box (mind you, he did it as if he knew how to untie a dead knot!). Of course it didn’t work. We had to help him.

Ethan loves to open presents. We found that out when we gave him a wrapped parcel and he showed great interest in trying to rip the wrappers off. Also, he will give us this look this look, hinting to us that he needs help. Well, yes. He is growing fast. Sigh!

Ethan meticulously trying to untie the string. Well, we applauded him for his effort. And nope, he didn't manage to untie anything.

We helped him open his present and he was estatic to see such a cute looking piggie.

And obviously. He loves it.

And yes, we shall be teaching him the values of saving up his coins... just like the good old days.

Ethan and his sun salutation

Ethan is at this stage where he loves to walk and jump. At 7 months, he wasn’t really crawling yet (or rather didn’t show signs that he will be crawling anytime soon). Therefore, we speaking to his pediatrician, she highlighted that babies these have the passing the crawling stage and they just get up and walk!

My eyebrows raised, my mouth opened. Then I asked politely, “Why is that so?” She smiled and replied, “Evolutionary!”

However, at 8 months plus, Ethan has just surprised us one day by getting down on all fours and started crawling. Though he didn’t crawl like how the babies in most advertisements did, we knew he was discovering his little hands and foot and showing us that he finally is able move about on his own. We are so proud of him.

This young man will always put a smile on our faces. When he wants to crawl and move about, he will just lift up the hands and stretched his legs (imagine doing your sun salutation, and yes, he does it well!)

Ethan doing his sun salutation.

I did post an entry that Ethan loves music. A couple of weeks ago when his yi-yi played Taylor Swift over her computer, Ethan started to shake his head and tap his foot – to the beat when he stood up with our support. And after a while, he started jumping – to the beat. Frankly, that didn’t last very long. A good 20 minutes?!?! He was tired and we were all exhausted!

Any yes, naturally, he is able to get up on his own, having to grab hold of a larger object for him to obtain balance. And the amazing thing is, every time when he stands up, he will turn his little head and look out to see if we saw what he did!

That’s my little champion!

His first outstation trip

My sister, Yvonne recently got herself baptized in a catholic church, the St. Francis Xavier Church. Prior to her baptism, she had to attend a pre-baptismal retreat in Melaka, a 3 days 2 nights stay in retreat.

Naturally, by being her sponsor, I was looking forward to going to the retreat with her. The night before the retreat, I was trying to get Ethan to sleep in our bedroom. He didn’t want me to put him to bed and was struggling for almost a good one hour. And finally, mommy instinct told me that I had to call my maid up to the room to put him to bed. Sure enough, when the maid turned up and took him in her arms, he quieted down.

I was perturbed.

I couldn’t really fall asleep that night thinking if I’d to leave Ethan at home the whole day with the maid, he’s so not going to want me anymore.

Biting my lips hard, I told hubby that we will have to cart Ethan to Melaka and the maid was not going to sleep with my little boy. My other sister, Angeline was compassionate enough to understand what I was going through. So, she braved her horrible cough and cold in an hour car journey enroute to Melaka.

It was good seeing my son after one night of not seeing him. This was one time which I thought that motherhood thing has actually seeped into me. Nice!

Since it was a pretty last minute decision, we decided to book a room in the Majestic Hotel, Melaka, though the YTL Platinum Plus. (I must say that this club this the only one community which takes special care of it’s member. To top that, I have gotten invitations to watch a couple Malaysian musicals/stage plays but never could make it.)

Hubby was really excited about the whole idea of getting away, near or far. As for him, the induced thought of the Melaka Chicken Rice Balls drove his will for the one hour drive. However, I had to sneak out of the retreat sessions to check if things were fine with Ethan. I felt really bad about it, but lil sister was really cool about it, assuring me that she understands and told me to make sure the little boy was alright.

It was a great weekend for the family. Not to mention that it’s even better with Ethan behaving himself and enjoying himself in the hotel.

Check out the Majestic Hotel room and you will know why. By the way, that night when we all slept in the hotel, my little champion fell asleep in my arms. I was so overjoyed.

That's Ethan's yiyi preparing for his bath in an open concept bathroom in the hotel room!

This hotel used to be a mansion, dating back to the 1920s. The YTL decided to erect a new building in next to this mansion with it’s facade remains at the heart of the hotel mirroring the original architecture.

I remember reading an article on how the restoration team had to work on the hotel’s renovation by ensuring that the original porcelain flooring remains untouched. I seriously wonder how can that happen.

I must say that the hotel’s design integrates the old with new making it an experience. Lay man term, it feels like staying in a 6 star modern kampong.

Hubby swore that he is definately going back again. My verdict? A MUST! Frankly, the YTL Hotel Properties have never failed us. They might not be the biggest and most grandeured facade hotel, but I just love their so very intimate and unpretentious service, and their very personalised touch. If you are looking for a quiet hideaway with easy access to local food, this is the place to be!

ethan loves the guitar

Ethan absolutely loves music and he is really fascinated with daddy's guitar. When Ethan kicks a fuss, daddy will try to distract him by either strumming a lullaby or just plucking tunes. Lil E will sit down and watch daddy attentively, as if he was in a concert.

When lil E gets excited, he will move closer to daddy and try to pluck or strum the guitar strings. (Yes, he is getting pretty restless)

Speaking about that, grandpa came home with a flyer for Kindermusik one day. And we thought for a while, Ethan doesn't need to attend Kindermusik, really. He will attend music lessons with daddy! That will save us some money considering infants can only probably do listening and clapping at this stage. We will enrol him eventually; when his motor skills are more developed and he has better control of his hands coordination.

he doesn't like avocados

We've tried it many times.

He loves carrots.

He doesn't like avocado and carrots.

He loves pumpkins.

He doesn't like avocado and pumpkins.

He loves spinach.

He doesn't like avocado and spinach.

He loves bok choys.

He doesn't like avocado and bok choys.

Any suggestion on how he'd like avocados?