Pull-ups!

Whoa, my legs are useful for something.

Look what I found Ethan doing last week! One minute he was in the middle of his play area and the next thing I knew he was already standing up against the couch! He first started pulling himself upright from a tummy position (baby is all arm muscle) but soon found it was much easier to sit first and then pull himself up. I finally was able to captured it on film (if you are wondering, the cushions on the couch were removed and placed around the play area to help keep crawling babies safe inside - although now he is able to crawl over two stacked up pillows so there goes that idea. Mommy is getting quite the work-out these days):

Hi Mommy!

Ohhh...tissues!

Gotcha!

Oh me? Don't mind me...I won't do anything with the tissue box.
Definitely won't be eating it for sure.

Oops. Couldn't resist a taste.

For the record...

I would just like to state that our little bubba (as the expats here like to call babies) is a BOY. Ever since I moved to HK, everyone I have met asks me if E is a girl. It's not even phrased as the innocent 'Oh, is that a boy or girl?' but as the more certain question 'Oh, is that a girl?' and more often as the statement 'Oh, you have a girl. Right?'. This is often followed by a comment of his cuteness. And while Ethan, I'm sure, loves the compliments (he really does love strangers. He always smiles at everyone he meets), I will not be appeased by the flattery. J/k, I know that this is a harmless question and I can totally understand that the gender of a baby is very hard to ascertain. But seriously? Everyone that we have met. Someone even told me after I responded in the negative that E looks sweet just like a girl (things could have been lost in translation as this exchange was conducted all in Chinese).

Half of it is my fault because I do tend to bring Ethan out in his pajamas lounge-y clothes and these aren't really gender specific clothes. Let's face it, E has a very busy schedule. He wakes up at an ungodly hour and then proceeds to have 4 meals (but really it's like 6 separate feedings a day because he has his milk and solids separately), takes 2-3 naps, has playtime (okay so his whole day is basically one big playtime), story time and goes on at least two outings a day (mostly to the playground, grocery store, out for walk in the gardens, or if we are feeling brave, a field trip to the city beyond our apartment complex). And while I do take him out of his sleep sack and pop on a pair of loose fitting pants there really isn't enough time to be changing him in and out of his pj's between his naps and I feel bad if he slept in his cute outfits because I think the pants are restricting and uncomfortable. I mean, I would never want to take a nap while wearing jeans either. Then again I go out all the time in my pajamas lounge-y clothes too, so I guess I just don't care too much about clothes. But still he could be out wearing all blue rugged guy clothing and I will still get asked this question.

So just to clear the air - my little baby boy is just that. A sweet happy spirited boy.

My Gentleman

I love babies' feet. I think they are the cutest things, especially Ethan's little tootsies (I'm biased of course). Whenever I touch his little toes, he will curl them in as if he wants to grab my finger. I think Ethan likes to play with his feet too since recently he has turned into quite the gentleman and is always crossing and recrossing his ankles no matter what position he is in:

Whether doing tummy time


playing in the bath

drinking his bottle


or just lounging around


E likes to keep his legs crossed

Happy Easter

It's Easter! I don't know who was more excited - Bob because it is officially the end of Lent and he can finally have diet coke, Ethan because he could partake in the Easter festivities, or me because I finally get to see Ethan with bunny ears. The Easter celebration here at Parkview was geared more towards older kids - they had some toss games, egg bingo, face painting and egg decorating. No egg hunt though! Bummer. There was a good turnout and we watched the older kids play the games and also took Ethan for a stroll along the garden podium.

Below are some pics of my sweet little bunny (Disclaimer: please forgive the ghetto bunny ears. I couldn't find bunny ears anywhere - what I would do to get a Target around here! Since we are still living out of the 3 suitcases we brought to HK, I had to fashion the ears out of scraps of paper, poultry shears and heavy packing tape. It was like being the MacGyver of crafts. But baby had to have some ears!).

P is for Paddleboating

Today we took Ethan to the Tai Tam Reservoir and went paddleboating! Fun fun! The reservoir is just down the road from Parkview and we pass by it every time we come home, so I was super excited when I found out that you could rent paddle boats there and go for a spin around the lake. It was really peaceful to just float along the water (most likely because Bob did all the paddling - thanks babes!).




It was especially fun because we got to see tons of turtles (both big ones and tiny baby ones) floating in the water and sunning themselves on the rocks. You are also allowed to feed the fish here and so we brought some bread at the dock - it was amazing to see all the fish swarming around your boat hoping to eat some of the bread. Ethan liked seeing all the aquatic life, although he seemed more interested in trying to eat the bread himself.

Since Tai Tam Park is also walking distance from Parkview, we frequently take Ethan out for a stroll there. It's nice because the pathways are flat (well, ok, it is a steep hill, but at least no stairs!) and paved and therefore one of the few places we found where we can use our stroller. Below is a picture at a picnic spot within the park.

8 Months Old!

Alas, I have no duck picture this month. We still don't have most of our stuff so Ethan's picture with his duck will have to come a bit belatedly.

Army Crawling

Ethan is *this close* to crawling. He will get up on all fours and rock back and forth for long periods of time. And he is really good at army crawling now. I turn my back for one second and he is across the room. His top three objects that he always tries to get:

1. Our laptop or laptop cables: Ethan is absolutely not allowed to play with the cables because he likes to bite them and his little teeth are sharp! But I do let him play with the laptop. I think he has ripped out half the keyboard by now - the letters pop back on so no biggie. He once also did something to activate explorer and 100 windows popped up before I could stop it. But he loves the laptop so much I still let him play with it. Hopefully once our stuff comes, he can get his own keyboard to bang on.
2. Our hotel (okay we are staying at a serviced apartment, but it's basically like a large hotel room. We even have a daily maid that washes the dishes for us. Nice!) slippers: Major yuck! I never want to see him chewing on these, but it's like baby crack. If he sees the slippers he is out on a mission to get at them. So now I try hiding the slippers away, but Mommy likes them! The kitchen and bathroom is cold hard marble and I hate walking on it barefoot. But I will do what I have to do because it's just gross if he eats slippers.
   
3. The dangling strips from his booster seat: Since the booster seat is attached to a chair he army crawls his way under the chair to swat at the ties. Unfortunately, he bangs his head against the chair legs while doing so. The first time I found out I was in the kitchen making him some lunch. I kept hearing a banging sound and when investigating I found him lunging after the straps. He lunged with a different arm each time and therefore would whack one side of his head and then the other on the chair legs. Poor baby. I don't think it hurt him (or else he would have stopped. Hopefully.) but I felt soooo bad for him. Now the dining room table is barricaded and off-limits.

I guess it's time to childproof. Only since we are in a hotel (serviced apartment), it's kinda hard to do so. I've set up a large play area covered with blankets that takes up our entire living room and placed large fluffy pillows all around it. He can't get over the pillows (yet) but if there is a small space between the pillows he will push and plow through it. The call of the laptop is too much for him.





Mr. Sipster

We introduced the sippy to Ethan at 7 months. It was the 'My First Sipster' by Playtex and I got it because of the awesome reviews. The first time Ethan tried it he took one sip (we used water as a test liquid in case it got messy), made a serious yuck face and then pushed the cup away from him. I think the water scared him and he refused to touch the cup again, which is a first because usually he wants to grab and eat any object around him. I tried two weeks later since I thought he would forget about the cup and its connotations but he wouldn't go near the cup. Again I waited another two weeks but no dice. Yesterday Bob brought back a new sippy from Singapore. It is the 'No-Spill Gripper Cup' by Nuby and has a soft silicone spout instead of the hard spout like the Playtex cup. I learned my lesson from the fist cup and used formula the first time I gave it to him. Ethan loves it! He drank 4 oz the first time we used it, and then today drank the whole bottle (8 oz) from it. I think he likes it because he can drink much faster from it than the bottle. Our little boy sure loves to eat! We do have to tip the cup for him halfway through though because he can't lift the cup too high. Hopefully he will continue to like the sippy.

Puffy Heart for Puffs

We started puffs to let Ethan practice his pincher grip a few weeks ago. We have the Gerber puffs and then a much smaller rice puff (organic!) made by Nature's Choice that we imported from the states. It was really fun to watch him as he learned to pick up the puffs. He first tried to rake the puff into his hand and then try to suck the puff through his closed fist. When he couldn't get at it, he would then use his other hand (so as to not lose the precious puff trapped in his hand) to grab another puff and do the same thing. By then he realized he could not eat the puff this way and then would open one hand slowly and try the shake it from his hand but it would be stuck. I would intervene at this point and the whole process started again. But after a few tries he now can pick up the Gerber puff between his thumb and pointer pretty easily. Just this week he became really good at picking up the the smaller puffs (they are like fat rice grains). I used to have to hold it upright for him since they were so small and then he could then grab it from my fingers, but now he is okay at eating them himself.

Watching him eat is really fun (or else motherhood has really dulled me down). Once he ate a puff and then it popped out of his mouth and got stuck on his chin. He frantically searched his hands and table tray for the missing puff but it was stuck to him the whole time. LOL.

Separation Anxiety

This week Ethan started getting separation anxiety and it was a pretty serious case. I think it was caused by all the changes in home environment (we have moved twice in the last month) and then the changes within the family (last Sunday my mom and brother left and then the next day Bob went to Singapore for business). So it was just me. I think he thought I was going to disappear too. It was pretty bad for awhile, he wouldn't sleep well again. And if I went to his room to pat and rock him for a bit when he cried at night, he would start crying extra hard when I left. During the day if I had to go fetch something he would start crying - even if the item was in the same room. All I had to do was get up from the floor from where we were playing and he would be upset. So I resorted to carrying him around with me for a few days. That was rough! But now I think he is much better. He will whimper for a bit if I get up to leave now, but then will go back to playing. And he is back to sleeping well at night. Hopefully he will be out of this phase soon!


A Few Of My Favorite Things
Favorite Food: Hmm...tough call. He goes pretty bonkers for anything mixed with banana, but he eats everything with gusto, even the gross meat dinners. I have been making all his food so far up until this week when I introduced meat. It was pretty daunting to me to make homemade meat puree so I started with Earth's Best meat dinners. Everything homemade tastes much better for sure, but the jarred dinners are just not good at all even though he seems to like them. So I guess this weekend I'll be making some chicken and beef meals for him to try.
Favorite Book: Sparkle board books and books by Leslie Patricelli (of which he likes Yummy Yucky the best. Figures since it is all about food). I also think he really enjoys story time now. Before he would just like to grab the book and gnaw on it, but it seems he really likes to look at the page and listen to the story now.
Favorite Toy: The maracas and banjo on the Leapfrog Learn and Groove Activity Table. Also he loves the springy bird on his booster seat tray.
Favorite Non-Toy: The laptop, and water bottles filled with food colored water, or filled with objects that rattle. Oh and glasses. He loves to grab the glasses off someone.
Favorite Way To Make Him Laugh: Kissing his neck! He totally cracks up when you kiss under his chin. He will lean his head back so that you can kiss him, then laugh and turn his head the other way so you can kiss the other side. So cute!
New sounds: Ba Ba, Ya, Da Da, Da Di and Ummmm (when eating solids). He said Ma once or twice but I'm not getting my hopes up just yet. He did say Da at 5 months and it wasn't until now that he started babbling it constantly, so I think I have a few months to go before I get to hear Ma Ma and then quite a while probably before he actually says it in reference to me. I can't wait!

A Boy And His Bathtub

Now that Ethan is a big boy he gets the big boy bathtub. It's cute, it's yellow, it's cushy and it can quack! E loves the tub and playing in it even more (thanks Cindy for the flashy bath toys!). Who can resist a baby splashing in the tub?

Ethan always has one foot in the air when he is lying on his back. Sometimes two, but then one has to be higher than the other. He is a funny boy.

Note: this post was like a month in the making. I had to find some time to edit the video to ensure that my amateur film making career stayed strictly PG-13. I'm sure Ethan will thank me for this later when he is older.

And more pictures of Ethan playing in the tub. It was the only 'toy' we left out for him to play with (since it is deflatable and we could pack it in our luggage) after we packed all our belongings for the move to HK.

The Sweetest Thing

Ethan gives kisses now! Before I used to ask for a kiss and he would ignore me. I would then try to wrangle one from him by pressing my cheek against him and then he would proceed to suck on my cheek. Now I just ask him if 'Mommy can have a kiss kiss' and he will lean over and plant one on me! Of course his version of a kiss is still just sucking on my cheek (or he actually licks me I'm not sure which) but I'll take it. I never thought I would say this, but getting slobbered on by an 8 month old is the highlight of my day. I love him to bits.