With the birth of baby Hannah, I am moving this blog to a brand new site: Little Miracles.  It will contain all the previous posts and of course, upcoming ones in the near future too.

Please update and redirect your feeds appropriately.

Monday March 2 2009 was a historical day for Ethan because it was then that he was elevated to Big Brother status.

Mommy gave birth to baby Hannah at 2:17p.m. and at the same time, presented Ethan with an added responsibility.

I had to stay in the hospital for that night, and Pete had to single-handedly care for Ethan.  It also marked the first time ever that I had ever been away from Ethan at all.  My fears were unfounded, of course, because when I called home that night, Ethan sounded very cheerful.  Pete assured me that everything would be well taken care of, and it certainly was!

Ethan only came to visit me and his sister the following evening, right before Hannah and I were discharged.  I was very happy to see Ethan and likewise, I think he was happy too!

I had brought along a photo of him to place by my bedside, just to let him know that I was thinking of him.  And of course, he noticed it and grinned happily when he saw it.

I am very glad to be home now, and I hope Ethan is as excited to be a big brother as I am about embarking on a new chapter in our lives.

Yesterday, I had my (now) weekly prenatal checkup with the OB/GYN.  I am 38 weeks along now.

Coincidentally, Ethan’s daycare provider had an appointment in the morning, so Ethan had to tag along with us to the medical center for the checkup too.  It was the first time we brought him along, not because we didn’t want to before, but because it would be a daunting task keeping his curious little hands away from all the equipment in the examination room.

Anyway, while in the waiting area, Ethan was very much his active little self, even offering his *services* to put away all the magazines that people had left strewn on the chairs.  Of course, it goes without saying that his curiosity got the better of him and he began asking what this was and what that was.  He even rehearsed saying, “Hi doctor!”

Then when my name was called, he looked on in amazement as the nurse took my weight.  And in the examination room, he insisted on sitting on the chair by himself, and pointed at the pictures on the wall, asking what they all were.

But when my doctor came in, Ethan became very quiet all of a sudden, and it was only a few minutes later that he mustered up the courage to say hi to the good doctor.  For the first time too, Ethan heard his sibling’s strong heartbeat when the doctor did his routine checkup.  I was also due for a cervix exam, and while Pete *entertained* Ethan, the doc informed me that although the cervix was softening, it was still closed.

The checkup was all done in a jiffy, and Ethan said “Buh-bye!” to the doctor as we left.

He’s gonna be an awesome big brother, don’t you think?

…and he does it HIS way…
… asking for his toothbrush and toothpaste
… complete with gargle and spit action using his own cup

… and yes, *sometimes* (actually more often than not nowadays) he would insist that Daddy and Mommy brush our teeth too, after he has completed his task!

How can we turn down a “Mommy, brush teeth!” or “Daddy, brush teeth!” request that comes with a gentle shove towards the bathroom?

Ethan is a big boy now…

Scrap Credits
Freebie Janvier   - Partie 5 kit from Scrapmalin
Chipboard & Glitter alphas from Creative Confusion Designs
Priceless price tag from Digital Fingers by Louise Williams
Label Alphabet & Words from Scrap-Pit

Just look at what Ethan has been up to recently…

He would ask us to stuff his toy football or basketball under his shirt, and he would proclaim “Tummy!”

And then he would prance around the house, and more often than not, his *tummy* would then fall out! LOL

Oooh yes. Another phase we are going through right now.

Ethan has moved on from asking “Apa tu?” to asking “What’s that?” almost everywhere he goes.

So our conversations will go a little something like this:

Ethan: Mommy, Mommy…what’s that? (pointing at item)
Mommy: That’s a computer mouse.
Ethan: What’s that? (pointing at the screen)
Mommy: That’s a volcano, darling.
Ethan: VOLCANO… what’s that?
Mommy: That’s the color purple.

Or sometimes when we are in the parking garage:

Ethan: What’s that? (pointing at one of the vehicles)
Daddy: That’s a truck.
Ethan: What’s that?
Daddy: That’s an SUV.
Ethan: SUV.  What’s that?
Daddy: That’s a car.
Ethan: A Car!  What’s that?
Daddy: That’s our car!
Ethan: *hop-hop-hops towards our car*

It ain’t always easy though.  Sometimes he asks some trying questions too:

Ethan: Mommy, what’s that? (pointing to somewhere on the couch)
Mommy: That’s the middle of the couch, darling.

or…

Ethan: (pointing to a decorative item on the wall of the restaurant we were dining in) What’s that Mommy?
Mommy: That’s called a buluh sumpitan in Malay.
Daddy: Blowpipe laaa!!!

(ooops)

***

On a separate note, Ethan likes to practise the many words he learns every day.  Pete related this incident to me one evening when he was fetching Ethan back in the car:

Ethan: Sunny?  Sunny outside?
Daddy: No Ethan, it’s dark outside now.
Ethan: Sunny?  Glasses…. sunnyglasses?
Daddy: You wanna wear your sunglasses.  No Ethan, it’s not sunny, you don’t need your sunglasses now.
Ethan: (pauses) Moon???  Moonglasses?

He is truly the JOY of our lives :) 

Ethan, as usual, fell asleep almost immediately while we were driving on the freeway, and only awoke when we arrived at Monterey Bay.  The place was jampacked, and it took us quite some time before we found a parking spot by the side of the road.

Ethan, in his just-woken-up state, of course wanted to be carried, and refused to walk on his own.

Monterey Bay is a very picturesque place, and the streets were filled with shops bearing familiar names like Ghirardelli, Thomas Kinkade and Nestle Tollhouse, among others.  There were also little stalls serving clam chowder samples in small cups to passers-by. Of course we couldn’t resist trying them!

The view by the sea was simply breathtaking!  Ethan was also fascinated by the telescope but it was way too heavy for him to handle anyway!

We didn’t go into the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but we did walk along the exterior part of it.  It had wooden benches on wooden platforms overlooking the sea.  Our boy had the time of his life, making rhythmic sounds on the wooden platforms with his tapping feet and oohing and aaahing at the waves below.

We could tell that Ethan was intrigued by the beach and the waves and the seagulls, and it wasn’t long before he pointed and said, “I wanna go down there!”

Believe it or not, it was Ethan’s first time ever at the beach, looking at the waves coming into shore.  Look at him displaying his excitement!  He laughed out loud every time the waves came in and didn’t seem at all afraid!

(Note to self:  need to take Ethan to the beach when we get back to Penang!)

While we were walking back to our car, we passed by the Ghirardelli chocolate shop, and I noticed every one was eating a piece of chocolate as they walked out of the store.  Curious, we walked in, and the sales person was indeed handing out samples!  We each got a piece of milk chocolate with peanut butter filling chocolate square - Ethan got a piece too!  

Ethan was never much of a sweet tooth, and I thought Ethan would take one bite and pass the rest of the chocolate to me, but I was dead wrong

He bit off piece by piece till he was all done!  Psst….that’s the first time he has had peanut butter… (peanuts are still off limits!)

It was definitely an enjoyable time for all of us, for Valentine’s is all about spending it with the people you love…

Credits
Elegant word art (every time you smile) from Bethany
Mag-papier5 from Freebie Janvier  - Partie 5 kit from Scrapmalin

I received an early Valentine from a special guy today…and it’s not Pete!

Well, to be fair, the Valentine was *for* Pete too! LOL

Today, when I picked Ethan up from daycare, he was very excited about the “heart” he had made, and wanted to hold on to it all the way to the car.  It was the first time he presented us with a Valentine card and he was really happy when I told him how beautiful it was!

Most importantly, it was a Valentine that was given from the heart…

Most of the time, we’ll tell him we’ll let him play on the computer AFTER he has had his dinner, or AFTER he has taken his shower.  Seems to work some of the time.

Previously when we allowed him to play, he would need our assistance to click on the mouse, but he has since mastered how to do that all by himself.  We normally allow him to surf the Playhouse Disney on Disney Online site, because most of the characters he loves are there.

Check out how he performs the left-click on the mouse in the snippet below.  In this video I took, he is doing some digital coloring on the My Friends Tigger & Pooh section of the site.  See how Ethan drags the numbered honey pots to the corresponding number on the picture and clicks the mouse to fill the picture with color.  And look at how jubilant he is when he finished the activity!

Last night, he asked for the computer again.  I told him he would get just 30 minutes before it was time for his bed. 

And he said, “Okay Mom!”

I extended the 30 minutes to 45 minutes because he was so well-behaved, and when it was time to shut down the PC, I told him that was all for the night, and he obediently helped me shut down.  He got his bedtime books ready (one for Ethan, one for Mommy and one for Daddy), scooted into the room, and before long he was in dreamland.

That’s my boy!

Scrap Credits
Sweet Shoppe Cookie Decorating Template from Sweet Shoppe Designs
Courage Kit  from Summertime Designs
Freebie Janvier  - Partie 4 kit from Scrapmalin
Cartoonish Alphas from Faith True
Scribble Alpha from Amy Sumrall

Ethan is constantly amazing us with his neverending ability to pick up new words.  And even more so, his smattering of Hokkien, which he speaks with an accent, …. well, sorta. LOL!

Most of the time, we speak to him in English, but we used to throw in a few Hokkien terms before, and while he did not repeat after us then, he says them now, much to our amusement.

One of his most-used Hokkien terms is, undoubtedly, “kakai”.  Sometimes he would wake up in the mornings, sit up in bed and go, “I want to go kakai”…except it’s funnier if you hear him say it.

And oh, of course he’ll ask to go potty when he is ready, but he will also say “I wanna pangsai” or just “pangsai”, while he is sitting on the throne.

He also recently picked up the term “geelee!” when I started tickling him one day, and he also loves to use the word “BULAT!” Well, okay, not exactly a Hokkien term, but I used to cup his face in my hands, rub our noses together and say, “Who’s Mr Bulat?” and he would giggle.  Now, *he* will be the one cupping my face and going, “Bulat!”  Oh, you’d be surprised at how precise his pronunciation of “BULAT” is!

…and it is just so ENDEARING when he does that!