Two Months Length & Weight

I am continuing my records here in my blog:

Ethan, at two months and 3 days old weighs 4.435Kg and is 54.4 cm long!

Vaccination (6 in 1) & a Blood Test (OUCH)

29 December 2009 (Tuesday)

Today was THE DAY. We had to bring Ethan to the paeditrician for his cocktail jab for vaccination. E'thing was well in the morning. We bathed him and dressed him and after a banana chocochip muffin each, Alan and I raced down to Gleneagles for our 11am appointment.

We asked Dr Lim Miin Kang about Ethan's prolonged jaundice. Since Ethan's first week of existence, we had noticed his skin turning yellow. We had brought him to see Dr Lim TWICE with regard to that but Dr Lim always insisted (after barely glancing at our boy) that all was well and we were making a mountain outta a molehill.

After our full moon celebration for Ethan though, during which 9/10 guests commented he was jaundiced, we approached the doc again and wanted something to be done.

So Dr Lim drew some blood for a blood test. Ethan was a brave little boy and merely cried a little but when I saw the neddle inserted into his little hand, the dam broke and my tears flowed freely. I was ill-prepared for THAT kinda pain! After that trauma, he still had to have his vaccination and also injested some medication to prevent Rotarvirus.

We left the clinic and proceeded to my gynae's for my checkup. After the scan and a cervical smear we left and returned to Dr Lim's clinic to wait for the blood test results. All was well and Ethan's Bilirubin levels were within normal range and thankfully there was no cause for concern. Perhaps what i've been eating could be the cause of my yellowing son??

A quick lunch followed at Olio Dome cafe at the hospital. We were too tired to hit Pavilion (our initial plan) to shop and polished off our Fish & Chips, Chicken Foccacia and Strawberry milkshake before returning home to collaspe onto the bed.

Ethan had developed a slight fever by nightfall and we tended to him by sponging his body and feeding him medication. Our poor boy has alot of phelgm as well, stuck in his throat and with the help of the nasal spray, most of it was eradicated through his bile. :~(

Daddy & I at the Clinic Doing the Burpies!

X'mas and Boxing Day 2009

25 December 2009 (Friday)

It was a long and eventful X'mas weekend this year. We hosted Alan's good friends, KeeKiat and Julia and their three children Myron (7), Raeann (4) and Kaitlyn (7months). Their maid I-Is came along as well.

Their stay commenced when they arrived on X'mas evening after a long drive here. We took them to Robson's for a welcome dinner and ordered to feed an army (as usual). We had 2 sweet & sour crabs, 2 salted egg crabs, lala, vege, toufu, deer meat and a huge succulent fish. After the satisfying dinner (which I had to eat with one hand whilst I nursed Ethan), we all made our way back home to rest and relax the remaining of the X'mas evening away and open presents. (Ethan didn't seem to like his Bedtime Bear X'mas pressie from Daddy)

26 December 2009 (Saturday)

After a breakfast of home-made chocochip muffins, we all proceeded to Sunway Pyramid for a day of shopping. All the shops were still not open when we arrived at 930am and so we headed to the nearest Starbucks to sit and enjoy a cuppa. I had this bottle of juice (morning glory= kiwi + dragonfruit) that tasted like puke.

The shopping commenced and lasted for hours till we were all tired out. Lunch was at our favourite Vietnamese restaurant again. By the time we crawled back into the car at almost 3pm, my back and calves were hurting big time. Ethan had slept mostly through this expedition, thank God!

After resting for a couple of hours, we ventured out for dinner. Shabu Shabu here we come! We did not make reservations and had to sit at two separate tables. Myron sat with us and we were amazed and impressed by how much he can eat. hahaha.

27 December 2009 (Sunday)

We got to sleep in today and leave for MidValley a little later. We had brunch at the Taiwanese restaurant in The Gardens. Again, shopping followed. And coffee at CoffeeBean. I bought some fruits at the nearby fruit shop and then we returned home.

When our friends left for Malacca, ALan and I (and Ethan) collasped onto our bed and ZZZZzzzzzzzzZzzzz. What a tiring weekend!

Ethan's Full Moon Celebrations

18th Decemeber 2009 (Friday)

We woke up early and gave our little one a bath (yes, we had lugged the bath tub back to Singapore) and then left for ICA to pick up Ethan's passport. Alan and I were suitably inpressed with the efficiency of the personnel and within no time, we collected our son's spanking new red passport. :) YaY.

After that, all of us (including Rose Por Por) headed to Marina Square for breakfast. NOthing else was open except Yan Kun and so we settled our meal there. I had a set breakfast of kaya toast and tea (and donated my half-boiled eggs to Alan). YuMz. After that leisure meal, we strolled towards the kiddie's section where I picked up 4 nursing tops and 1 pair of 3/4 pants and a set of mittens and booties for Ethan again.

By then, Jean had joined us, and after my nursing session in the squeezy and stinky nursing room, we all went for a 1-for-1 lunch at Durty Nelly's. The food was good and the citibank discount was fantastic and after that we paid a deposit for Ethan's full moon celebration luncheon which was to be held the day after.

After that, we headed for my father-in-law's place where we presented Ah Ma with her great-grandson and then left for Amara Hotel where we would be spending three nights.

After checking in and relaxing for a bit, everyone joined us for dinner at the Japanese restaurant nearby and we all enjoyed a fun time laughing and savouring the yummy meal.

19th December 2009 (Saturday)

Today was an exciting day as little Ethan was to hold his first full moon celebration at Durty Nelly's Irish Pub, Marina Square. We got there admist the rain at noon and then the frenzied entertaining of guests began.

Everyone showered our little one with gifts and clamoured to carry him and he put on his best behaviour to please the crowd. hahaa What a relief. I was going to ask the waitress to turn up the volume of the music in the pub if Ethan made a din. Ethan was passed from one excited and passionate aunty to the next and showered with kisses from Aunty Alexis who claimed she had just been to a dentist and therefore she was deemed 'clean' enough to kiss him. One wonders if the dentist scaled her lips instead of her teeth? hahaha

It was 4pm when e'thing was over and we all left with loads of presents and leftovers. Thankfully we had my 3 fairy children to help us cart e'thing to our car!

In the evening, my inlaws joined us and we polished most of the leftovers off for our dinner, too tired to leave the hotel.

20th December 2009 (Sunday)

Again, we had to wake up early and get our baby ready for yet another celebration. Today's luncheon was held jointly as a full moon celebration for Ethan's new born cousin, Tyler too!
We arrived at Fernwood Condo at around 1145pm and I went up to Yvonne's place to feed Ethan first.

We all went down to the function room at around 1230pm to welcome the guests who had started to trickle in. Soon, the small function room was bustling with life and activity. We collected yet another round of angpaos/ gifts and tried to savour the good food catered specially by Rose Por Por.

At 3+pm, the party ended and we left exhausted and returned to Amara Hotel for a short rest. Our next stop was Vivo City where the whole family gathered again for dinner. Prior to dinner, we brought TK to Toys 'R Us to pick a barbie doll for her X'mas present and then had a delicious but horrifyingly expensive dinner at Tung Lok restaurant. Then, it was back to Amara to crash.

21st Decemeber 2009 (Monday)

Deciding last minute to return to Singapore one day later, we spent the whole of today in ORchard road after we checked out from Amara Hotel. First, we headed to Tang's but the children's section was so puny that I ended up just buying wet wipes and cotton wool. Ethan started getting fidgety and so we returned to the car and I fed him.

Dad came down and we all headed to Centrepoint (as Paragon's CP was full) and I met Yvonne was tea there at Starbucks. Over iced tea, we exchanged details on how our lives had altered significantly with our sons in the picture and time flew by.

It was 415pm when Alan called me and I quicked scampered down to meet them (my mum included). We headed to M1 to pick up a new phone for my mother and was stuck there for HOURS. Alan and Dad headed over to Singtel at Taka to choose a new hp too and they were served at a MUCH faster rate. :P

DInner was a delicious Teochew cuisine at Teochew City restaurant at Centrepoint and we all decided that this would be a great place to hold our yearly CNY reunion dinner. ;)

Jean's here to stay

15th December 2009 Tuesday

Jean came over to stay for a bit and we (Alan, Ethan and I) went to fetch her in the pouring rain. There was a massive traffic jam to Jln Ampang, Corus Hotel, where the Aeroline coach stopped and by the time we got there, Jean had just disembarked too.

Dinner was at Robson and cost a hefty RM250 (that's how much we spend, as a family for a whole week of groceries and fresh food!!). We had pork ribs, a soon hock, vegetables and thick thick fish maw soup.

16th December 2009 Wednesday

We decided to send JayCo earlier to the boarding hostel and so we took them this evening. After depositing them at Dogroomz, Alan and I brought Jean for dinner. Sad to say, our favourite steamboat porridge place (Eastern Delights) had closed down so we ventured on to greener pastures.

The ShabuShabu place was a buffet joint so we gave that a pass and ended up at another steamboat restaurant (I can't rem the name but it has something to do with 100). We could each choose our soup base individually. I had the milky fishhead soup and so did Jean and Alan chose golden porridge. We ordered a set and added some items. The drinks were also to die for. :)

17th December 2009 Thursday

We headed home to Singapore and commenced our journey at 5pm sharp. After going through the Malaysian customs with ease, we had to bring Ethan outta the car at the Singapore checkpoint and present some documents. You see, our son was born in Malaysia and has a Malaysian BC. But we applied for his Singapore citizenship and passport (the latter could only be collected in Singapore on the 18/12).

Finally, we got through the customs, after presenting little Ethan and all his documents (e.g. Document of Identity etc) and then we zoomed back to Siglap and unloaded all the stuff whilst Jean picked up take-aways of bowls of delicious beef noodles soup for our late dinner at 930pm.

SALON and Shopping

12 December 2009 Saturday

We quickly had our brunch at Canton-I and then proceeded to Bill's at La Mode to trim our hair. The hair wash and massage was great and Bill was his usual professional self.

Then, we walked around Mid Valley and found out that Pumpkin Patch was on sale (again). We picked out shirt after shirt for our little one and also a pair of pants. The more we bought, the more we saved! :D

For a quick tea, we had some tea and also some tasteless blueberry and cheese roti boys. :P NOT NICE! Then, I popped into Guardian Pharmacy to buy some hair dye.

Guilt wreck our souls then and we hurriedly left for home and back to our little one. ;)

Japanese Dinner

To quell the cravings, Alan took me to eat a Japanese dinner. We went to our favourite hangout at Taman Desa and ordered and ordered and ordered.

I had an unagi set (cos I had heard that unagi increases the supply of breast milk :P) and Alan had a plate of sashimi. We shared seafood soup in a claypot and also unagi sushi and soy peas. We washed everything down with a vanilla and red bean milkshake. YUMZ And after dinner, we visited Alan's Best Friend's Shop! :)

SMILE and the WORLD smiles with YOU

ohhhhhhhh this is so exciting. We JUST discovered last night (or shld I say early this morning) that Ethan can S-M-I-L-E in response to what we do already. ahahaha For the past 5+, 6 weeks of his life, his so-called 'smiles' were merely muscular twitches. But in the wee hours of this morning, when Alan blew hot air onto his belly, he gave Alan a BIG BRIGHT GRIN. hahaha. And now, he bestows upon us sweet smiles when he is happy with the things we do - e.g. sing / talk to him etc. hahaha. SO so cute lah.

Please Vote:

Topic of the Day: Should We Shave Ethan's Head?

Please enter your votes via the 'comments' button. "YES" - I think he looks damn weird with his long but sparse locks. "NO" - That's an inhumane thing to do. How would YOU like if someone shaved you bald??!

Vote NOW and stand a chance to win one out of twenty soiled (Winnie the PooPoo) diapers! Thank you for your kind participation. Stay Tuned for the results....

Sleepless in KL

OMG. Yet another sleepless night (or should I say wee hours of the morning). Yesterday, I did everything 'right'. I put Ethan to bed for a long nap from around 5 to 630pm. That's his usual routine. And then he fell asleep in front of the tv again in the evening. En carried him up to me at around 1130pm and I was hopeful because that timing followed his 'usual routine'.

After feeding, Ethan promptly fell asleep for all of one minute or so and then started wailing again. This behaviour (feed - fall asleep for v short while - wail-feed- fall asleep for v short while ...) lasted from 1130pm till 330am. OMFG.

Don't Jinx It!

Yesterday , whilst on the phone with my MIL, I replied her question that Ethan is "very guai, I can't complain" when she asked me how he was behaving. And true enough, that very night itself, everything went haywire.

Actually, it all started in the day time - the little rascal didn't get a good nap like he normally does. So he fell fast asleep at 8pm whilst I watched Kungfu Panda and Shrek the Third on HBO in peace. and then didn't wake up at his usual 1130pm time slot. After waiting and waiting, I decided to carry him upstairs at around 1215am.

He had a quick feed then and then went back to sleep. BUT, at 3+am, Ethan woke up. and was STARVING. He fed and fed and fed and wouldn't stop, even after vomitting milk a couple of times. Kept crying for MORE MORE , MUMMY MORE! Hence, I got a sprained neck (from climbing in and outta bed) and a sleepless night. It was only around 6+am did he decide that enough was enough and fall back into a deep sleep. OMG.

Both of us woke up at around 10+am and I just lay spreadeagle in bed without the energy to pull myself up. Until En knocked to say she was going to the market. Definitely NOT before helping me bathe Ethan!!

It's just one of those days...

Another weekend which feels like a weekday. Alan's back in Singapore for work and a wedding dinner and Ethan and I are coping well w/o him around. The Burping Duties are taken over by the Mother who sometimes just cannot, no matter what, instigate a burp. haha.

He's finally asleep now. Fell asleep in the baby sling around me. This lil' fella enjoys that alot and I have no regrets buying that bright orange sling for The Baby Loft. Paid almost RM100 for it though. :P

I'm going to take a nap now.

The Price of Vanity

Nothing much to update. Alan left for Singapore at 2pm yesterday afternoon. So it's Ethan, the maid and me for the next few days till he returns on Monday! At least there will not be a squeeze in bed for the next few nights. (I am looking on the brighter side of things nowadays.)

Time really flies now that Ethan is here. Just when I think I can get a breather, he will cry again and demand to be fed/ changed/ showered kisses. But he is a cutie and I am happy to have him around. I love to hug him to sleep, whilst he is nursing and then watch him fall asleep on my chest. This feeling is irreplaceable. Considering that I never wanted children, I think I have come a long way :P

Today was my third urut session and it was a more humane more (as I had fervently requested for). I was all bruised and battered from my second (just yesterday) and here the burly woman was again, tormenting me outta my skin. OMG.

My urut lady has a weird problem with time though. She was supposed to turn up at 11am yesterday but at 1145am she had not come. So I called her and she said that her daughter was having tuition and could she please come at 1230pm instead? HMMmmm.. She never bothered to call me to rearrange the timing. :P

And then today, she was supposed to come at 1130am but 'ding dong' my doorbell rang at 11am. omg. Maybe she can't tell the time very well? no leh.. she leaves on the dot, after our 75minute session. hmmmmmmmmm

Urut- OUCH!

wooooo.. I just finished my first urut session and boy was it painful. Interestingly, I thought that the stomach area would be the most painful to urut but in actual fact, the thighs and arms area hurt the most.

I will be having a session (75mins) daily (excluding this coming Sunday) for a total of 10 sessions. The husband will be forking out RM800 (that's around sgd$36/ session) in total and I will be given an ikat cloth. This cloth acts like a girdle and binds the bountiful belly. I am supposed to wear it for at least 8hours / day. The privileges of Motherhood! :P

Failed Urut & Sphagetti Marinara

Today, the Urut lady, who was supposed to come at 11am for my first session, decided that she was too lazy and therefore smsed me 45mins before the session to tell me she was not coming. *sigh* :P

Anyway, I sneaked out together with Alan to Bangsar for lunch. I wanted Japanese but after climbing up to the second floor of BSV, we realised that Sakae Sushi had closed (DAMN). We walked here and there and finally settled for D'lish.

I wanted Salmon Teriyaki but in the end, had what Alan ordered (Sphagetti Marinara) because of time constraints. By the time we got home, Ethan had woken up and gone back to sleep (w/o drinking any of the expressed milk in the fridge).

Here are some more pictures of Ethan, taken today - to satisfy the excited grandparents. :)

Our little Prince, Ethan - After one month

Today, after a long long time, En and I were left at home alone with Baby Ethan. Alan went back (relunctantly) to work in the morning and the responsibility of taking care of the little one, fell heavily upon both our shoulders. So far so good though, thankfully.

The normal routine (if there is one) is to bathe him after he wakes up. During the first month of his existence, bath time was roughly around 9am and the Confinement Lady would take that shift, after she baked him in the sun for a short while. I would then quickly wash up and prepare the udders in anticipation of another feed after he got cleaned and sweet-smelling.

After the CL left, and for the past one week, Alan and I bathed him diligently. And today, En and I did a good job. :) Ethan's bath time is getting later and later though. ahhaha TOday it was at 10am. But then again, we don't have a plane to catch!

After the bath and dress up session, Ethan will have his feed again (or if he is drowsy, we will skip that till later) and then be put to bed- alone this time. I am afraid he has become very dependent on me. He's always sleeping on our bed (thank god it's king sized!) and in between Alan and I. (There's truly a third party in my marriage!) Ethan loves to have a warm hand placed on his chest for a sense of security whilst he sleeps. And most of the time, he falls asleep just like that (hence the creation of the aching-hand-syndrom) whilst facing me. :) It's a great feeling to drift off to slumberland whilst looking at your little one. Reminds me of the song in Ammagedon, "I could stay awake, just to watch you sleeping.." Just scrap the 'stay awake' part, cos I can hardly keep my eyes open.

At 5+, 6pm, it's time again, after countless of feeding sessions, to have a wipe-down before "bedtime". This little prince is a night owl though and most of the time, his 'bedtime' is after midnight. :P To keep my sanity, I try to have a short nap or two throughout the day.

Both Papa and Mama have distinguished a couple of his cries as well. His "I-want-milk-NOW" cry goes like this: "O LEHHHHHHH O LEHHHHHH" hahahah. It's quite comical, really. And his "I-have-poo-poo-in-my-pants" cry is an urgent cry of distress coupled with arms and legs thrashing in mid air. The face he makes whilst he burps is a classic though, and my favourite. hahaha. If he's really sleepy, he will attempt to look up at his burper (the person burping him) and little fine lines will appear on his forehead. He will (try) to hold his head up as well. And of course, he will turn tomato red. hahaha. CUTE! The little Darling's Poo poo is a fish curry (yes the type you dip your crispy prata into) colour and it is excerted in loud and forceful spurts. hahahha. The deaf also will be able to hear him go after a big meal. He has a tendency to pee after his bath as well and the degree of projectile will surely impress. So far, he has treated a couple of people to "tea" already.

Ethan's favourite sleeping place in the house is in our hall. I think he much prefers the ceiling fan to the airconditioning. Also, he absolutely adores his rocker chair (courtesy of Grandpa and Grandma) from Fisherprice and he snoozes in the chair a couple of times a day. Jay Jay and Coco however, make it difficult for Ethan to get a good nap. They are very concerned about him and come up close to check on him every now and then. They also sleep by his side in a bid to protect him. But, they do bark loudly at strangers outside the house and this startles Ethan (arms flung out -> eyes open -> loud wails) and therefore does not make this sleeping arrangement very conducive. :P

He has begun, a week or two ago, to make weird animal noises as well. ahahha. Very hard to describe but super entertaining. This occurs during burping sessions or certain pockets of time when he is alone in his cot and entertaining himself.

Baby Ethan's "smiles' are still muscular twitches (the baby book says that only after 6 weeks old will a newborn's smile light up his eyes) but there was once, last week, when he was lying on my lap when Ethan gave me a BIG BRIGHT GRIN (that reached his eyes) suddenly. I was mesmerized and went 'ooooohhhh" and ' ahhhhh' and then, seconds later, I found out the reason for the glee - he had peed on my pants!!! ahhahaha. The cheeky monkey!! Luckily he's too cute for me to exact revenge on!

Alright, before I go on and on gushing about my son, I better pen off now and take a quick power nap. ;)

hahaha This is how little Ethan looks when he is being burped by Daddy. :)

One Month Weight & Length

Oppps. I forgot to update something really important: That the stuff that mothers and fathers judge their success of parenthood on for their newborns...

Ethan was born on 26th October 2009 and weighed 2.49kg and had a length of 44.5cm then.

A week later, when we brought him to the doctor, his weight had plummetted 300g to 2.2kg and he was 45.5cm long.

Yesterday, at the doctor's, we weighed him with bated breath and he had put on almost a cool 1kg in 3 weeks to reach 3.245kg and his length is 48.7cm! *clap clap* I am glad he is getting somewhere with my breast milk :P

Jaundice & Ginseng Chicken

Baby Ethan is getting more and more yellow by the day. His worried parents will therefore bring him to see his paedetrician later today. Since the doctor is so busy, and we are walk-in patients, we were given the 5-530pm slot to go to Gleneagles to see Dr Lim MK.

Ethan has not been sleeping well for the past two days. Since the CL left on Wednesday, he has ceased to take afternoon naps. Thankfully today, this phenomenon has ceased and he is now in his rocker chair snoozing. *phew*

The days and nights do not have any perforation any longer. They all merge into one long feeding session. hahaha. One wonders how much longer it will take for me to morph into Panda Woman!! 930pm - Home again We have returned around an hour ago from the hospital. We waited from 515pm till around 645pm to see the doctor for about 5mins. He confidently / arrogantly / borchuply told us that there's nothing wrong with Ethan after "examining" him for a few seconds.

Ethan sleeping soundly in the doc's clinic

Anyway, it's good that there's nothing wrong with Ethan. We paid RM60 to hear the doctor say that. Well, since we were out and had to eat anyway, Alan brought me to our favourite Korean restaurant in Ampang. We last visited there on our 6month wedding anniversary - so you can imagine how long ago that was! Both of us had Korean Ginseng Chicken (with glutinous rice inside) and I had a carrot juice and ALan had a citrus tea. Yumz. Our little one was an ANGEL and slept throughout the dinner. He enjoys the rides in the car seat as well, we think. It's so cushy and comfortable! He slept all the way till we got home and continued sleeping somemore until we woke him up for his feed. ;)