Ah one more..

Right so i was just doing some catching up on a friend's blog about her two boys and she mentioned Cheezies which reminded me of how Ethan has lately been eating similar snacks. Corn puffs with carrot powder or cheese and onion and he was doing great, eating away, until he discovered that he has enough power in his fist to squash them into dust, open his hands and start flicking puff dust everywhere. Since this discovery, he will eat a few and squash a few- very messy. He has also tried this with all his dinner foods and then smears the remains all over the table- grrrr.... Okay, i'm off to bed.. its about midnight here- Ethan and I both slept alot- from 9pm to 10am this morning (tuesday) and then from 2pm to 5pm- hahha... it was nice to finally catch up on sleep. Bless him! All is well in our little world.

Ethan's newest developments

Okay, as this is Ethan's site, here are his new developments. My goodness, there are so many I'm not sure where to begin. While we were in Manchester, he learned - the answer to "What does a snake say?" Ethan's super quick response "SSSSSSS" (This is with or without showing a picture of a snake) Big thanks to Auntie Anna and Uncle Rob who helped baby sit him and teach him the above while the family was in hospital. - He can also say -bra as in .. we say "Z" and he says "Bra". Uncle Dan has been trying "Big" in the hopes Ethan will say bra but no luck so far--- - When you say Uncle Josh, Uncle Dan or Uncle Rob, Ethan will use his hands to tap his chest. Now that we are back home, - He can eat two whole bananas during the day, yogurt , a zillion cherrios, cookies, lunch, dinner and juice and still want a couple of bottles of milk. Yup, he is getting chubbier arms, hands, thighs, legs and feet but his face seems to be the only thing not so chubby. - He insists on feeding himself usually with his fingers but he has his own fork, knife and spoon. Even though the food is on it, he will pick it off with his fingers to eat it. He loves baked beans, anything with potato, chicken, fish fingers, rice porridge, cream corn and egg soup with rice and pretty much will eat anything we are having at the table. - Since coming home, he has been climbing up the staircase by himself and usually when we are not around which is quite scary as it is quite steep. - He can go down the two bathroom steps by himself by stepping down. - He has learned to get on his Lion and sort of get off by himself by lifting his leg over the seat but he sits on it backwards. - When he wants to show off he will go through his entire vocabulary ("Ma ma, Ba ba, da da, Bao bao, sheh sheh, go go, dog guh, pfffft , ah! Eh? )and then tilt his head to the side and smile at you as if to say "Aren't I cute?" - Lately , if his blankie is on the floor, he will lay flat on the floor with his head on his blankie as if taking a little rest. - He has taken to wanting his blankie while in his high chair at the table which can be a bit messy- good thing we have two identical blankies... - He saw some boys at playgroup drinking from cups and now wants to drink from cups only... - In his sleep, the last couple of nights, he will say "Da da" or "Ba Ba?" - very sweet. - He has just learnt how to back away from things and people. - Mama Zee got him a car that is a shape sorter and plays musical tunes and he likes pushing the shapes through into the car and bobs his head to the music when sitting down. - When he is really happy, he starts drooling and throws his arms out to the sides like a cheerleader going "Hurrah" while walking forward, but he has no pom poms. - He can squat down on his legs and get back up again. - He can help put away toys- selectively... - He will give you things (usually) when you ask him to. - He will nod his head to say thank you after you've given him snacks or food. - He likes mirrors and he is fascinated with the bath tub plug. Today he managed to turn the cold water faucet on in the bath tub. - He is also fascinated about the toilet. The toilet cover- lifting it up and letting it slam down, he loves the inside of the toilet bowl and tries to play with the water in it. Speaking of the toilet, he tried very hard to flush the toilet as well. This is probably because we are always telling him NOT to do all of this so he wants to do it even more. - He has pulled the toilet paper down so it pools in a big pile on the floor. Maybe we should use the Taiwanese way and buy packages of tissue instead of rolls of toilet paper - We have tried coloring but usually this end with him eating the crayons or biting the tip off of them and spitting it out. (Yes, i'm thankful he spits it out..) - He still is very talented in using the remote control for the TV- using the volume button and channel changing button with expertise. - He will carry a book over to you to read, start turning the pages and as soon as you start to read he will go somewhere else and start doing something else. I'm sure there is a ton more and i'll add them when I think of them. Also, you might wonder why there aren't any videos or picture- I think I may have left the camera in Manchester somewhere. Most likely while I was packing, Ethan grabbed it and threw it in the garbage bin so it's probably at a garbage dump in Manchestersomewhere - well... i'll keep praying it comes back to us somehow. Keep your fingers crossed. I'll try to use my phone more to capture the little angel/terror..hahaha. More later...

Daddy's kidney transplant

We have returned from a week in Manchester (we returned last Thursday) and both Papa Zee and daddy are doing well. The transplant took place on theThurs. 7th of Aug. with Papa Zee going in early in the morning and then Adam going in shortly after noon time. They both were out of the recovery ward by the evening and back in the renal ward very sleepy from the anesthetic. Adam's new kidney started working at once as his urine output was enormous. - A really good sign. Papa Zee was walking around the next day and soon had to go back and rest. They stayed in hospital until Papa Zee was let out on the wednesday and Adam was let out on the Thursday. Now that they are both at home, both are anxious to do more but need to take it easy as the surgery wounds will take months to heal. For daddy, this means lots of rest, no lifting of anything at all, and remembering to take medication on time as he can not forget or it means rejection of his new kidney from Papa Zee. The wound is still pretty tender so walking is slow but everyday gets better. Papa Zee is proud to show off his belly to most of the family and lifts up his shirt often to show us his wounds and the healing process of them. Mama Zee tells him every now and then that he doesn't need to lift his shirt "that" high- and it gives us all the giggles. When we got home, and I unloaded everything and everyone, our welcome home gift was the flooded kitchen thanks to a loosening of the hoses of the dishwasher- groan.... Grannie and Gramps came over for a look and helped out a bit by taking daddy and Ethan to their place so I could mop up the flood, unpack and organize stuff. That night we all had a bit of fun relaxing and watching Ethan. Ethan has been great through all of this but was very happy to be home in Low Bentham as he was screaming out loud "Ahhhhhhh!!!" repeatedly and smiling away as he rediscovered all the rooms he knows in the house. It was nice to be back home. Daddy has to go to Manchester every second day to get his blood tested to make sure the kidney is still happy and so far so good. Mama zee has been an enormous help with helping us do a load of shopping and looking after Ethan to give me a rest and so mommy and daddy can spend some one on one time together. August 5 was our 2 yr England wedding anniversary and we have yet to celebrate so hopefully when daddy is feeling much better we can do something special.