Two Four O

that's how much ethan just finished drinking before his mid-morning nap today! it's a new record! normally he takes only 180ml (usually leaving behind 20ml) but today he had 4 x 60ml bottles. i didnt intentionally split them up actually, but cos i tot he wasnt very hungry so made only enough to try to get him to sleep. so after the 1st bottle, still not sleeping. 2nd bottle, STILL not sleeping. 3rd bottle, STILL NOT SLEEPING! finally, after that magical 4th bottle, he dozed off happily (really stuffed too, i should add :P)

oh by the way, in case i havent updated you guys, we've switched him to Nestle NAN Gold formula now (thank gdness he still likes it!) cos we found that the Bellamy's Organic formula doesnt contain DHA! i guess the organic folks dont believe in adding additional brain boosters into their foods huh. well, given the IQ level of both his parents, we felt ethan SERIOUSLY needed that extra boost ;) so i think now the hunt for the perfect milk formula has finally come to an end :)

see my 2 front teeth?

somehow we managed to get a shot of ethan showing his 2 lower front teeth! not fully out yet, but if u look close enough, i'm sure you can make them out ;)

cold nites

we were heading out to a friend's place for dinner last nite and we had to put ethan in this suit cos the nites are getting really cold now! he didnt seem to mind cos he sat there happily in his warm fleece tracksuit. i guess the boy finally knows what it feels like to be cold! haha :D

dressed to the nines

we haven't been going out that much these few weeks (even if we do it's only to the nearby shops to run some errands or to buy groceries), so ethan hasnt really got a chance to get out either (yeah we're bad parents!). but yesterday we decided to go to this really huge shopping centre that was more than a 30min drive away (yes, this is an official outing!) so we took the chance to dress him up in all those nice clothes that we bought but never got a chance to use :P

handsome little boy, aint he?

ps: he just finished his bath so that explains why his hair is so nicely slicked back ;)

wont nap!!

it's SO difficult to try and get ethan to nap during the day (yeah - as if trying to get him to sleep thro the nite is a breeze hah :P). he'll sleep for only 1/2 an hr n then he'll be up and ready to go again!! this is definitely way too little sleep for an 8 mth old baby isnt it? with only 2 half hr naps the whole day (that totals only an hr!), how on earth can he grow strong and healthy? i'm wondering if i shd bring him to see a PD or specialist on his sleeping patterns :(

strange thing is, he still seems to have loads of energy - screaming and squirming during his every waking moment... and his appetite's still good so i'm thankful for that!

the only problem is his sleeping patterns... help me!

Not quite what it looks like...

this is what we are feeding ethan in the hope he'll produce something that looks like it too. thank goodness he's not fussy when it comes to food presentation cos he still gobbles it all up.

PS: in case some of you still can't figure out what it is, it's pureed PRUNES...

all by myself

ethan can now sit steadily on his own when we leave him on the sofa. the only problem is that the hyperactive boy wont sit for more than 2 minutes before rolling onto his tummy n threatening to tumble off the sofa! so we still cant leave him on his own :P

cant wait for our playpen to arrive (our shipment is still stuck at the customs checkpoint!!!)

Cheeky face...

ethan: "see how cute i look? betcha can't bear to spank me even when i'm making a mess of my food... kekeke"

mommy: "i wouldn't count on it!!!"

My Coco

i really miss my 'baby' back home... Coco, that is. i just hope she's doing fine at my mom's house and pray that i can bring her over here to be with us soon.

Coco, you be a good girl ok?!

Milk Connoisseur

remember i mentioned ethan was on heinz nurture gold? well, he wasnt finishing his milk for the longest time and i just thought it was cos he's 1 of those kids who hate milk now that they've had a taste of solids. guess i was wrong!

cos once we switched over to bellamy's organic formula, he finished every bottle and even asks for more sometimes! so it was the TASTE of the milk...

this boy's got an expensive taste. heinz costs us only $12 per tin, while this bellamy's is $23!! we're still trying to find out if we can get it any cheaper elsewhere (we've been getting it fr the supermarkets here so far cos the pharmacists don't seem to stock this brand).

it really IS expensive bringing up a kid :P

saving private ethan

Today's Headline News:

Feeling secure and well- protected by his impene- trable fortress of huggies diapers (not to mention his pumpkin patch combat helmet), private ethan radios in his exact location so that his mommy can pick him up for a nappy change.

ps: coles was having this huge offer on huggies diapers so we stocked up! buying patterns never change, u see ;)

hands free

for us, that is!

finally, at 8 mths old, ethan is able to hold his own bottle! well its actually not really his fault cos we didnt really put it on our agenda to train him to do so earlier. it just dawned on me a couple of days back like "why on earth are we still holding the bottle for this boy who can grab everything else off the table n pull my hair with such might?!"

so after only 2 days of 'training', ethan's got the idea that he's gotta hold his own bottle now if he wants any milk - he's a fast learner ;)

leapin' lizards!

this is ethan's current mode of 'transport' cos he still cant crawl properly. but it gets him to where he needs to be ;)

reminds me of a caterpillar actually hee hee

basket...

yes, that's wat ethan's in - and honestly, exactly wat i feel like blurting out too! cos after spending hundreds of dollars on fancy toys, we find that we could've just got these cheap laundry baskets and ethan would've been perfectly happy in them! aaargh!!

why oh why do we even bother buying mind-stimulating, award-winning toys for him :P

you're 8 mths old!

darling ethan
today you are exactly 8 mths old. how time flies! it felt like just yesterday that i saw you for the very first time face to face, n now 8 mths have passed by already.

you have certainly developed a very strong character (i still cant believe how loudly you can scream and whine!) and will. you simply will not do anything that you do not like to! when u r hungry n we arent fast enough in preparing your food, you'll scream at the top of your voice. when you've had enuf, you'll purse your lips so tightly together and whine so loudly if we even try to force another morsel into your mouth. when u do not want to sleep, you will scream n cry till we pick you up again to play. when u r sleepy and we do not let u go to sleep, you also scream and kick up a big fuss!

bottomline is ... you always win!

i think it's time we instilled some discipline in you...

ps: notice his new haircut? ;)

bumbo revisited

since we got to melbourne, ethan hasnt been sitting in his bumbo. today we decided to try letting him sit in it again (simply cos he was proving too tough too carry - keeps squirming around). surprisingly he sat in it rather happily!

ps: he finally did his 'business' today amidst much screaming n crying. think we need more paw paw, bananas and prunes!

paw paw

ethan has been constitpated the last few days so we had no choice but to find some natural remedies for him. u know how much the bloody papaya (or paw paw as they call it here) costs?!? for just a miserable 1.2kg paw paw, we paid AUD9! tell me that's not ridiculous! but what choice do we have? so only ethan gets to eat it cos its a luxury for the rest of us!!

same goes for bananas. its $3.99 for a kg! :P

i sure hope the boy sorts out his own digestive system soon....

He's got a temper!

see? this is what we have to deal with everyday. is it normal for an 8-mth old baby to have a temper like this?!?

Mr Cool

cool dude, aint he? but he hates wearing these beanies cos he keeps pulling them off :P too bad for him tho cos i'll just have to do it more often and get him used to wearing them cos the weather's just gonna get colder n colder! its about 18degrees here in the day now, in case you're wondering :)

MY Beanie

"see this fits me better than my dad's! altho i think my mommy's photography skill leaves a lot to be desired. hmpf!"

tasty!

today was the 1st day that ethan spent exclusively with his grandparents (cos both mommy n daddy had to go to the city to run errands). i was glad to find his grandparents still sane and in 1 piece when we came home :) apart fr the usual whining and difficulty in falling asleep, the boy was his usual cute self :D

got my own 'car'

when in melbourne, all kids gotta be strapped into their own car seat. so here's ethan's brand new kick-ass one! luckily he hasnt squirmed too much in it so far (touch wood!) and has promptly fallen asleep in it every time we're on the road :)

high up

my boy can't crawl yet, but at least he can sit comfortably in his high chair! feeding him these days is quite fun :) he's a greedy little boy n cant wait for his food to be prepped, sometimes whining when i take too long to get it done ;)

its a messy affair tho - but i guess that's just part n parcel of introducing solids. n he hasnt even started to self-feed yet! :P

can't get enough of my jumperoo!

me in my (dad's) beanie

my room

this is where ethan sleeps now... or at least we hope he will!

cos he's been waking up every nite since we got here and i'll hv to carry him to our room where he'd then doze off happily on our bed :P

are the cot and decor not gd enough for him?!? :(

JUMP for my love

we cdnt resist gettting the fisherprice jumperoo for ethan cos he just seems to wanna bounce on our laps whenever we carry him. so when we saw this nifty contraption, we knew we had to get it!

here we are...

we are BACK in action!!!

in case u thought it was mommy being lazy and sneaking off do do her own shopping n sightseeing instead of blogging, pls... hear me out!

it took a freaking 2 wks just to get our internet connected!! i seriously need to get used to the speed at which things are done around here huh. anyway let me just quickly summarise what's been happening the last 2 wks so we can move on...

19 Apr 2007
arrived in melbourne airport at 4.45am (that'll be 2.45am in SIN time) and cleared customs only at 6.30am (cos we brought lots of foodstuff n had to declare everything :P). ethan was quite the angel during the flight. slept during take off, woke up mid flight, played a little, whined some, fell asleep again, and then woke up for the touch down :D

since 19 apr till today
actually wat we did for the rest of the last 2 wks is quite a blur. lots of zipping around doing monotonous stuff (getting my driver's licence converted, buying winter gear, stocking up on groceries, etc...). all i can say tho is that ethan LOVES the cool weather here and squeals in delight each time we bring him out into the open (when he's indoors he still perspires so that doesnt exactly thrill him - dont ask me how he can still perspire in autumn. n mind u - he was in a singlet!).

you'd think by now ethan would be crawling all around our new (rented) house right? wroooong.... he's still at his "leaping frog" stage and only sways back and forth on his hands and knees without actually getting anywhere. i mean, he can turn 360degrees - no prob with that! and he sure can move backwards too. its just that he cant move FORWARD. i hope the little guy crawls proper soon.

and his pearlie whites? BARELY visible. i think i see some white on his lower gums tho but its still inconclusive ;) btw, i can safely say my breastfeeding days are gonna be over real soon cos the little bugger's starting to bite me! *ouch*

since i hvnt been working, his daily menu has become more exciting too :) he's been having delicious, healthy homemade food, including beef, chicken, onion, brown rice, cauliflower, broccoli, avocado, banana, apples, pears, rock melons, cant remember wat else... i'd love to start him on some fish, unfortunately getting fresh fish here can be quite challenging! we'll be heading down to another mkt tmr n i hope we'll get hv better luck there at getting some threadfin or cod fish.

and he's STILL not sleeping thro the nite. i've decided to start the 'water treatment'* since last nite so hopefully, i'll be able to sleep thro the nite without trudging back n forth from our room to his! yes, in case i hvnt updated u, ethan now has his own room (cos the room here is just too small to squeeze his cot in with our bed). we got him a real fancy looking cot too. i just wish he'd sleep in it more often! :P

there's such a lot more development in this little boy that i think i'll just hv to 'report' them in a separate post! last piece of news for this post:

he started on formula milk when we got here and its HEINZ NURTURE GOLD (stage 2). dun think that's available in spore tho (the selection here is quite different and much much smaller)

till the next post...

* 'water treatment' - feeding him water instead of latching him on when he wakes up at godforsaken hours