What Ethan learns from Mommy and Me Class

Ethan loves music very much, ever since he was little. He dances when he hears music. And he says "nyanyi" when he wants to hear some music.

After attending mommy and me class for 1 month (no absence yet), Ethan was able to do the following:

1. Jump (lifting his both legs at the same time). He enjoys jumping so much now. He can even jump 1 step down.

2. Ethan can recognize the songs that he's been learning in his class, such as: row row your boat, itsy bitsy spider, our regular absent song & the Freeze.

Row-Row your boat.
When he hears this song, he sits down and grabs our hands, and start rowing back and forth. He loves the fast speed.

Itsy Bitsy Spider
He puts his tiny fingers together. That's all he does now.

Mommy and Me absent song.
It goes like this: Ethan's here today...Ethan's here today. Let's clap our hands and sing...Ethan's here today. While the teacher sings that song, Ethan needs to stand in front of the class and jumps until the song's over. This is how he learned how to jump. Ethan does not only jump when his name was called, but also when the teacher calls up his friends. He just gets so excited when he hears this song.

The Freeze
Ethan learned this song from our church nursery. He can stop when he hears the word "freeze" and move when the song is back on. He even gets ready to stop before he hears the word "freeze". That's how familiar he is with this song.

New vocab at 17 months old

Ethan has been talking a lot. He just repeats what we say in his version of language, baby talk. One vocabulary that he learned is "mana" (indonesian language). He learned that word from playing Ci Luk Ba (pee-ka-boo) with mommy. Here it goes:

Mommy: ethan...mommy mana? then mommy runs and hides
Ethan...mana?....mana???
Mommy: mommy mana?
Ethan: mana??? mana???

And now, when we ask him to look for his toys or papi/nai-nai/mommy, he goes: mana? mana?

1, 2, 3...say cheeseee....!

Lately, it's been a challenge trying to take photos or videos of Ethan. He wants to hold the camera everytime he sees it. Look at him...he can even pose taking a picture with our Cannon. Not only that, he also broke it. Mommy and Papi had to buy a new one.

ethan ringan tangan sekali

Prayer list

Prior to Ethan's 1st trip to Indonesia, please pray for the following:

1. Ethan's health (before flying to Indonesia, while in Indonesia and going back to Los Angeles)
2. Ethan's adjustment to: time difference, jetlag, humid wheather, food, drink, new people, new environment, new diaper, new cow milk, new baby wipes, new daily activities, no car seat in the car, new toys, new house, new bed, new bathtub and new of everything else.
3. Ethan's potty training learning process in Indonesia (Pho-pho will help mommy to teach me to potty on my own).
4. Kung-Kung's health, since he'll pick us up and only staying in LA for 5 days, then flying back to Indonesia. Not to mention dealing with colder wheater, time difference and jetlag while in LA. Back in Indonesia, busy with business and Takiu's wedding preparations.
5. Pho-Pho's health since she'll be coming back to LA with us and she's very afraid of cold wheater.
6. Papi being separated for Mommy and his plans to concentrate on his business while we're away.
7. Nai-Nai's free time: nai-nai will have about 3 weeks off time where she doesn't have to worry about Ethan until she flies to Texas. May she'll be able use her free time to relax and take a rest, perhaps doing a bit of her hobby.
8. Takiu's wedding day: may everything goes smoothly on the big day & may God bless his marriage and new family.
9. Mommy: may God gives her good health and strength to take care of me in Indonesia. Mommy is very concerned of the long flight. Please pray that she won't get any terrible air sick and may she be able to take some rest too in the plane. Please also pray for the imigration, especially entering into Indonesia.
10. Lastly, may God uses mommy and me to bring blessings for our families in Indonesia.

Thank you.

Halloween at Mommy & Me Class

Last night, we had Halloween party at Mommy & Me class. Some of my friends and their parents wore customes. Mommy and I dressed normally. We had potluck and ate our dinner for the 1st hour of the class. We had sandwiches, Kentucky Fried Chicken, juice drinks, cookies and sweet treats. We also celebrated koko Jonathan's 2nd year birthday. We sang happy birthday, cut the cake and took pictures. After that, the fun began...and here's what I experienced on my 1st halloween party:

I was late coming to the class last night and when i got there, i saw something different. There's this girl wearing all black, from her hat, dress and shoes. I got scared and was holding onto mommy. This girl was dressed up as a witch. Not until I saw her playing with the other kids that I realize that she's one of my friends at my class. Then, i started to play with her and chased her around the class.

Then, it's time to play our regular song, which is "The Freeze". I love this song so much since Mommy plays this song often at home. I know that I have to Stop when i hear the word "Freeze" and dance when the song is back on. Anyway...as we were playing this song last night, I got so excited...but something happened. I saw this lady with a BIG bat. So big that it got me scared. I held onto Mommy. This lady was dressed up as Wilma (from the Flinstones Movie) holding her BIG bat. Oh gee...! That BIG bat sure did scare Ethan. We continued dancing with Ethan held up in my arms.

Ethan experienced his 1st halloween party last night and seeing how he reacted, we learn that Ethan starts to understand more of the things around him which make him able to differentiate the things that he's familiar and not familiar with (like these halloween customes & its accessories). He responds well to the things that he's familiar with. On the other hand, he will pause & stand back if he sees something or someone that's out of the ordinary.

17 months old

Weight: 27.14 lbs
Height: 32.5 inches
New vocabulary: babi, mandi & nyanyi (bahasa indo): i, er (bahasa chinese)
Ethan's learning to say Elmo, bobo, cau-an, wan-an.

My Appetite

This morning, Papi called mommy on the way to work.
Papi: "ethan tadi pagi di gendong koq tambah berat yah? "
Mommy: "iya...belakangan ini makannya pinter. abis melulu. and last night, sebelon bobo dia minum 400 cc. terus tengah malem minta susu and dikasih air putih, engga mempan, dikasih 100cc, ngerengek minta lagi, terus dikasih another 100cc baru tidur."

Lately, ethan mamam 1 cup beras all by himself everyday. sedangkan di rumah, mami and nai2 mamam 1 cup bagi ber-2 and bisa mamam sampe besok-nya.

Ethan is not a picky eater. He eats all kind of food. He likes veggie, fruits, bread, tofu, mushrooms, noodles. He likes Cherios & Gold Fish snack. And of course, He likes kerupuk & ice cream, which we give to him occasionally. We do not give Ethan sweet like cookies & juice to stay away from tooth decay at early age. Ethan also likes cold drink (air es). He loves ice cubes.

On the other hand, Ethan does not like Yogurt and fruits that are sour tasty (like orange).

Thank you Ethan for being a good eater. You make mommy's life so much easier.

Preparations for my 1st trip to Indonesia

Hi everybody. In about 35 days from today i'll be flying to Indonesia. This will be my 1st international flight ever. We are going to Indonesia to attend Takiu's wedding on Dec 6, 2008. This will also be my 1st encounter to see my families and extended families in Indonesia. I will stay in Jakarta for 30 days.

Lots of things to prepare before we go and Mommy and Papi are on top of it.
I will have my check up on Oct 24 with Dr. Spencer prior to my trip. Mommy and Papi already consulted with Dr. Willy in terms of medical preparations. He gave us a list of medicines to buy for our travel. Flights have been booked and seats have been reserved. Mommy and Papi are going to see Om Alex who will make me a tuxedo for Takiu's wedding. Mommy needs to find a dress shoes for me. Oh yes...these little errands here and there will make the following weeks busy for all of us.

Mommy is excited to bring me home to Indonesia but on the other hand, sad to leave Papi in LA. This will be her 1st time apart from Papi. She's also concerned about how i'll do on the plane, my adjustment with the time difference, jetlag, wheather, drink, food and her list of worries go on and on. I guess that's what parents do; worry about their kid. 1 thing that Mommy needs to learn is to have FAITH in Him and that He always takes care of us. Just like what He did with our flight reservation, from waiting list to Confirmation on a high season flight schedule. Mommy was struggling to get seats for Kung-Kung and Pho-Pho so that we can travel together. But He answered our prayers and provides everything in time.

All we need to do now is enjoy the holiday and may our trip brings blessing to our families in Indonesia.

My 1st Mommy & Me Class

I went to my Mommy & Me class for the 1st time on 10/20/08. I had lots of fun. Mommy has been searching for this Mommy & Me class for quite some time. You see, this is the only Mommy & Me class that offers class in the evening. The others are in the morning or afternoon which we can't go to since mommy is working during the day. Thank you to ii annie and evelyn for the information. From now on, i'll be attending my Mommy & Me class every monday from 6-8PM. It sure is worth it, $30 for the whole semester. What a good deal!

The 1st hour of class started with Pumpkin finger painting. I can't sit still since i'm the youngest in that class. All i wanted to do was playing with the toys in the class room and running around. Then it was time for play dough. Again, I can't sit still. I was messing with the dough utensils, disturbing my classmates. I guess, sitting still is not in the vocabulary of a 17 months old toddler. I prefer to run around and play with airplanes. Then it's drawing time. Same thing happened, couldn't seem to force myself to sit. Then, Mommy found me a game that i like, Pee-Ka-Boo. There was this fabric made house with 2 doors and a hole at the top. I played Pee-Ka-Boo with mommy and my new friend (Koko Jonathan). Koko Jonathan is 7 months older than me. He'll be 2 years old in 2 weeks. We ran around the classroom and chased one another.

The next 1 hour was acitivities with the teacher. We made a circle and sat on the floor. We sang, read stories, and danced. Indeed, it was a 2 hours full of fun! At the end of the class, I was feeling tired and hungry. We went home and I ate my dinner (1 full bowl of fish porridge) in 30 minutes. 20 minutes later, i drank 225cc of milk and fell to sleep.

Next week is halloween week ! I'll be back with my stories of my 1st Halloween experience. Stay tune.

Carlsbad, 2008

Thank you to Om Buddy Jusuf for taking such a nice picture of me and mommy.

Week of October 13, 2008

Oct 12: I said "Nai-nai" for the 1st time (it's more like Nai-na). i'm still learning...Nai2 was verryyyy happppyyyyy when she heard me say Nai-na. Good job, Ethan.

I can also say "Pho-pho" and "Duck" this week. When I read a book and see doggie and duck, i can point at them and say: "doggie"..."duck"....

I'm looking forward to my next vocabulary.

Mommy gave me a new book this week. It's about emergency cars: police car, police bike, ambulance, fire truck. Instantly I pointed to the police bike and say "Bike". Now, when i see a bike on the road, i say "Bike".

Mommy also explored me to my new DVD: Franklin and Friends. Now I have 2 DVDs. 1 is Winnie the Pooh (my parents let me watch this in the car when i feel bored). This new DVD called Franklin & Friends is a good DVD about Franklin (a turtle) with his friends (snail, bear, beaver, koala, and owl) and their experience at school with their substitute teacher. Mommy and Papi teach me to sit down nicely when I watch TV. I can sit still for 5-8 minutes now. Good job, Ethan. Mommy and papi explain the things that's going on in the movie too.

Funny moment of this week is Mommy and I recorded our answering machine at home. Yeah...that's right..mommy and me!...I said bye at the end. (Mommy: what amazed me is that Ethan knows that his voice got recorded in the answering machine. He asks me to play the recording over and over again. And each time he hears his voice, he laughs!). How cute is that? We laugh to see his reaction. Ethan is sure is a very entertaining little kid. He brings joy to people surround him.

Trip to Mammoth Lake

I went on a weekend gateway to Mammoth Lake on 08/22/08 - 08/24/08. The trip began by picking up mommy at work around noon time. Then we ate lunch first at Yoshinoya Restaurant in San Gabriel. After that, we took off. On the way, Mommy entertained me with toys, DVD movies, snacks and tried to get me fall asleep. But i couldn't. I was getting bored and uncomfortable. Then we made our 1st stop. It turned out that I wet my pants, that's why I was so uncomfortable and would like to get out of my car seat. We visited the local supermarket and i practically ran around the supermarket, getting so excited to be able to walk again. Then, we continued our journey...i was feeling tired already but couldn't fall asleep either. Mommy started to get frustated and I pooped. We stopped again and this time, I resisted to get back on the car seat. Finally, with Papi's help, mommy was able to sit down. Finally I was able to sleep and so was Mommy. We were just 2 hours away from our destination. We arrived around 7:30PM. The cabin that we're staying at was very nice. It was very well equipped indeed. No need to bring cookware, plastic trash bags, plastic eating utensils, soap for washing dishes and even spices for cooking. Amazing... The next day, we went on Gondola ride. Mommy got scared riding this (she didn't realize it was going to be so high and so shaking). I got scared too and was holding onto Mommy. It sure was a long ride to the top of the mountain, it was 11,000 feet above ground. When we arrived at the top, the view was magnificant. We took some pictures.

Papi got sick as well. We couldn't wait to go back. The ride back was not that bad and I feel asleep. From there, we went hiking. We were planning to hike by the lake shown at the photo.
However, just as we began hiking, we heard people screaming "BEAR...THERE'S A BEAR"...and there they were, we saw a big mommy bear with her baby bear, catching fish by the lake. We decided to go back and not continue hiking since the bear was still there, by the lake. We ended up walking to see the twin river (it was beautiful), here's a photo to share:

Just nearby, there's a small lake where the kids were able to play and get wet. After that we drove back to the cabin and had dinner. We had shabu-shabu. I fell asleep very early that evening and was waking up constantly in the middle of the night asking for milk, i guess since i slept so early in the evening and missed dinner, i got hungry thru the night. We went home the next day. On the way home, we did a little bit of hiking by the lake. I enjoyed riding on his hiking backpack with Papi. Overall, our weekend gateway was very nice. We sure did enjoy the beautiful creations that God made.

Child Benediction (03/23/08)

Child Benediction on Easter Sunday Morning Service at GII Azusa (Indonesian Evangelical Church)

My 1st few words (as of 10/10/08)

1st word: Mama
2nd word: Papa
3rd word: Mommy
4th word: Papi
5th word: Daddy
6th word: Wow
7th word: Ball
8th word: Amin
9th word: Hi
10th word: Bye
11th word: Doggie

Right now (at 16.5 months), i'm learning to say: Nai-nai, birdie, pho-pho, etc...

Or Do i look MORE like my papi?

You tell me....

Do I look like mommy?

As I grow older, many people say that i look like mommy....what do you think?

Me and my cousin

My cousin spent summer time with me, his name is Jonathan. He came from Austin, Texas. We had so much fun together. Playing, fighting, laughing, crying and having the same clothes everytime we went to the church. Many people thought we're brothers. Jonathan is almost 2 1/2 months younger than me. We sure did make Nai-Nai tired and happy at the same time during this year summer time.

Me at 13 months old

Celebrate Mommy's Birthday

Mommy's birthday was on 05/14/2008. She turned 29 this year, 1 more year before hitting the 30. Happy birthday, mommy.

My FIRST Birthday Celebration

I celebrated my 1st birthday on May 24, 2008 at my house. My parents invited our families and church friends for a lunch. We had chinese food. The theme for the decoration was Winnie The Pooh (mommy's favorite disney character). Mommy also bought me a Winnie the Pooh birthday cake (chocolate cake with mango fillings, it was nyummy!). Mommy even bought a Winnie the Pooh shirt for me to wear for my birthday party. I also had pinata Winne the Pooh that's filled with lots of candies. My friends (koko2 and cici2) loved the pinata. Even koko Timothy insists to have a pinata on his next birthday in December. Thank you for coming to my 1st birthday party. I really enjoyed it (mommy said: ethan behaved well and had lots of fun, as usual walking here and there, greeting everybody). Thank you also for the presents, i had lots of them! Tne next day, we celebrated my birthday at the Church Nursery. We cut cakes, sang happy birthday and prayed.

My 1st airplane trip

2 weeks before my 1st birthday, we went to Logan, Utah. I was already walking. Having so much fun at the LAX airport, walking here and there and got myself so tired that I slept thru the flight on the way to Salt Lake City. We stayed there for 4 days, visited Ipho and Ikung (Nai2's side of family). I saw snow and experienced hail rain for the 1st time (i don't think i understand both of them yet). I also visited a zoo for the 1st time. We had a wonderful time there. On the way back to LA, again I slept thru the flight, draining my energy at Salt Lake City airport from walking (see video). We hope to come back again in the future.

My Spiderman Crawling

More like spiderman? hehehe....This is Ethan's spiderman walking style, said Papi.

My 1st attempt to climb (04/26/08)

My 1st Train ride

Location: Victoria Garden

Date: 04/26/08

It was a hot day. 1st time going to Victoria Garden. It was an outdoor mall near Ontario. I played water with Papi...got all wet...changed clothes and went on my 1st train ride. Indeed, it was a bumpy ride.

My 1st few steps (04/22/08)

I started walking when i was 11 months old. Very nice job, Ethan.

Move around by moving my butt

The video was captured on April 01, 2008
Before i was able to crawl, i moved around by moving my butt....just like mommy when she was a baby....

Celebrating Papi's 28th birthday

April 1, 2008
Photos taken from different hours on that day (morning, afternoon and evening), that's why you see me in different clothes.

I love to read books (03/27/08) - 10 months old

i like to flip the pages of my books

My funny expressions

Strolling down the backyard during summer time was fun.