Bible Verse of the Day

April 2009

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Saturday at Gilroy Gardens

April 29, 2009 in Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting, Vacation | 5 comments

 

Daddy and Mommy took Hannah and me to Gilroy Gardens last Saturday.  I asked Mommy to dress me up in my pair of cool blue jeans and happily got into the car.  Hannah took a nap in the car on the way there, and usually I would too, but I was too excited to sleep as I was looking forward to riding on the “mare-go-wown” (merry-go-round).  I had been to Gilroy Gardens a few months ago, but didn’t dare go on the rides myself, but I am a big boy now and I was all ready to have FUN!  There were also many more pretty flowers now since it is springtime.

Daddy and Mommy got us the Lotsa Card season tickets, which means we would be able to go to Gilroy Gardens an unlimited number of times this year!  Yippeee!

 

I spotted the mare-go-wown as soon as we walked into the entrance, and pulled Mommy towards it.  There was nobody in queue and I was the first one on the little merry-go-round, so I got to choose the horse I wanted to ride on! 🙂

 

Further down the road, we saw an even bigger merry-go-round, and I just HAD to get on that too!  Even Mommy got to sit on one of the horses!

Next up, it was rides galore!  I think Mommy enjoyed herself too because she could not ride on most of the rides last time as she was pregnant with Hannah.  This time, Mommy got to enjoy some of them with me!  I only wished Hannah was old enough to join me…

 

When we were riding in these gigantic strawberries, I saw a really exciting ride in the shape of a giant banana that was rocking up and down!  I asked Mommy and Daddy if I could ride on it, but they said I wasn’t tall enough yet.  I must start doing some stretching exercises! 

I did get to ride on little golden fishies (can you spot me?), on a fire engine and in a racing car!

 

 

…and then Daddy went on a balloon ride with me too!!  Too bad only my hoodie can be seen…see?

 

Mommy couldn’t ride in the balloons because she was carrying little Hannah who had fallen asleep in the sling. 

Must have been quite comfortable for Hannah, cuz she slept for a long time in there…not that I wanted to be in the sling anyway!  I had so much fun running around because there were so many things to do!

Sometimes Daddy had to catch me and stop me from running, but I just could not help it!  We had rides in the choo-choo train, of course, but when I tried to get on the roller coaster, I was not allowed to do so because I was not tall enough. 🙁

We then decided to take a break to have a treat.

Hawaiian Shaved Ice definitely sounded good, and just look at all the colorful juices that would go into it!

I heard Mommy and Daddy say it was a very expensive bowl of ice with syrup, but it sure looked good!

Initially I made a face because it was ICE all the way.  C-O-L-D!!!!  But soon, Daddy, Mommy and I finished the whole cup!  Yummy!

The one thing we MUST do the next time we come again to Gilroy Gardens is to ride in the paddle boats that were shaped like swans!  There was a long queue for the boats so Mommy decided to take me on the giant artichokes instead.

And before we left, Daddy took me for a final choo-choo train ride.

…with breathtaking scenery…

Oh, we are SO coming back here again soon!

Mr Manners

April 25, 2009 in Ethan, Funny Moments, Growing Up | 4 comments

Scrap Credits
Spring Blossoms QP from Bon Scrapatit Designs
Elegant word art (little moments) from Bethany
Without End – partie 1 (papier 04) from Scrapmalin

Ethan is getting very good at being polite now.  He says Please and Thank You at the right times.  When he does something wrong, he will look very sad, apologize and say, “Sorry Mommy” or “Sorry Daddy“.

He even says Good night and Good morning!  … although these depend on his mood.

I remember a funny incident when he asked me for some chocolate.  We would tell him that he can have just ONE Hershey’s Nugget on condition that he has finished his dinner.

Ethan (opening the fridge): Mommy, I want chocolate.
Me: Okay, since you have finished your dinner today, Mommy will give you one piece of chocolate.
Ethan (smiling happily): Chocolate!
Me: Here you go…what must you say, Ethan? (I was expecting him to say “Please”)
Ethan (without skipping a heartbeat): CHOCOLATE!
Me: No… you must say, PLEASE..
Ethan: Please Mommy…
Me: Okay, here you go…now what must you say?
Ethan: Thank you Mommy!

Now, the Please and Thank You come naturally 🙂

Lately, he has also learnt how to say “Excuse me“, but sometimes it sounds like he is saying “Kiss me“!!  And yet, sometimes when someone or something is blocking his way, he forgets his manners and says, “MOVE!!!”

… well, sometimes he does remember to say, “PLEASE MOVE!” 🙂

Fi(r)st Discovery

April 24, 2009 in Growing Up, Hannah | No comments

Scrap Credits
Captured QP  from My Life And Scrap
About girl butterflies  from Elisja Design
Magnetic Poetry pieces from Digi-Designs by Nicole

As my little Hannah grows day by day, she’s starting to explore and discover more things.  When I change her on the changing table, her favorite stance is to grab one of the little vertical bars on the table.  And her grip is really tight too!

Another thing she has discovered recently is her fist.  In her exercising and stretching sessions, she would inadvertently find her fist in her mouth, and she would then suck on it fervently!

Fist first, then toes next? 😛

Busy body

April 21, 2009 in Ethan, Funny Moments | 1 comment

Scrap Credits
Elegant word art (child’s uniqueness) from Bethany
Quick page par Soco – Avec le kit Lilou de Moune & Worn Alpha from Soco, scraps et loisirs

Our little Ethan boy is getting to be quite the inquisitive little fella.  Besides asking us where did so-and-so go, his favorite query now is to find out what we are all doing.

He’ll go, “Hi Mommy!  What you doin’ Mommy?” or “What you doin’ Daddy?”

Oh, I know it should be grammatically corrected to sound, “What ARE you doing?” but he sounds just too cute!  And he can go onandon, I tell ya… “What you doin’ Mommy?” , “Mommy, what you doin’ Mom?!!”

Gosh…looks like after the “where” and the “what” phase, we should brace ourselves for the “why” phase next eh?

Alone with the kids

April 20, 2009 in Ethan, Parenting | 2 comments

Last weekend marked our first one alone with the kids.  My parents headed for home on Friday morning, and Pete and Ethan sent them off at the airport.  The plan was to drop Ethan off at daycare after thar, but when Pete reached the daycare, Ethan started crying loudly and pitifully, asking for Mommy all the while.  So Daddy took Ethan home and we all had lunch at home.  Ethan had FOUR steamed paus!!! (normally he only takes two)

Then after lunch, we managed to persuade him to go to Aunty Van’s, and he happily went.

Hmmm…we think his initial crying incident at daycare could be due to his insecurity.  He must have been afraid Daddy would leave him, after he said goodbye to his Ah Ma and Ah Kong.  Well, I believe he certainly misses his Ah Ma and Ah Kong very much, because he keeps asking where they are, and I have no doubt the feeling is mutual…Never mind Ethan Boy, time passes very fast (especially when you’re having fun) and you’ll see Ah Ma and Ah Kong very soon back home in Malaysia!

So what else did we do last weekend?  Apart from the usual grocery shopping routine, Daddy, Mommy and Ethan got our haircuts.  Ethan can now sit independently on those planks they place on salon chairs, for kids…so proud of him, and he got a nice haircut too!

On Sunday I made Ethan some star-shaped pancakes, which he walloped with aplomb!  Then he requested from circle-shaped ones too. LOL!

Looks like the first weekend alone for our little family went rather well.  At times, we would expect it to be challenging handling two kids, without the additional two pairs of hands from my parents when they were here, but we’ll manage… 🙂

…..somehow.

She ain’t heavy, she’s my sister

April 17, 2009 in Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah | 9 comments

Maybe he just wants to join in the crowd…
Ethan has been requesting to carry Hannah on his own nowadays. He would make his request with both his arms outstretched.

I’d allow him to carry Hannah with her head on his lap and him sitting on the couch. I feel it is important to let Ethan know that he plays an important role as a big brother. Maybe this makes him FEEL like a big brother.

But one thing’s for sure…they look so adorable together, don’t they?

Piecing it together

April 16, 2009 in Entertainment, Ethan, Milestones | 5 comments

Ethan loves playing with jigsaw puzzles, and solving them, of course!  That’s a good thing, right?  Jigsaws hone a child’s ability to think, be creative and it’s fun!

A few weeks ago, my Mom got Ethan a 24-piece Little Einsteins jigsaw.  He was thrilled when he saw it, and wanted to fix the puzzle immediately.  We had to guide him the first few times, so he was able to solve it.  Then by and by, he would practise on his own, trying to fit the pieces together.  Sometimes he would try a particular piece, turning it in all directions, and when he saw it did not fit, he would try a different piece.  He would only ask us for help if he was really stuck.

Ethan would practise solving his jigsaw puzzle almost every day, sometimes several times a day.  And each time he completes it, we’d praise him and say, “Wow, you did it!” and applaud his efforts. 🙂

Well, practice indeed makes perfect, for now Ethan can solve the jigsaw puzzle all on his own, in just a very short time!  He’s all seriousness when he’s at the puzzle, sometimes saying, “Two more pieces…” and “One more piece..” as he completes it.  And then when he does, he’ll go, “I did it!” and flash a jubilant smile!

Sporting the Mohawk!

April 16, 2009 in Ethan, Funny Moments | 4 comments

 

How do you like my hairstyle?  Daddy did it for me last night after my shower… 🙂

No gel, no hairspray, just plain ol’ water, is what he used…

My cheeky grin suits it just fine, eh?

A splashin’ bubblin’ good time!

April 14, 2009 in Ethan, Exercise | 4 comments

After promising Ethan for such a long time that I would take him swimming “when it gets warmer”, I decided to *take the plunge* last Sunday afternoon, when I saw that the sun was shining and the weather was warm.  I could see a few people sunbathing too, and the pool looked absolutely inviting.  The day before we managed to get Ethan a new swimsuit (shorts and shirt), so I was quite eager to see him in it too.

However, when we reached the pool, I put my finger in it to test the temperature and retracted it immediately!  It was freezing COLD!!  I asked Ethan to feel the water too, and he said, “It’s cold!”

So what to do?  We decided to try the heated jacuzzi nearby instead.  For months, we had seen people enjoying the bubbly jacuzzi, but we had not tried it ourselves yet.  Pete switched on the timer on the jacuzzi and Ethan and I stepped in.

 

He said excitedly, “Look at the bubbles!”, and man, was the jacuzzi relaxing!

 

It was a win:win situation for all: Ethan had fun splashing around, and Daddy and Mommy experienced some therapeutic water massage!

 

Unwanted white gold

April 14, 2009 in Breastfeeding, Food & Feeding, Hannah, Parenting | 2 comments

This is the story of my *unwanted* EBM (expressed breast milk)… 🙁

 

I had a one hour conference call scheduled today, so I asked my parents to look after Hannah during that time.  The day before I’d made an effort to express some breast milk for Hannah, just so my parents could feed it to Hannah if she asked for milk during my meeting.  Well, turns out she didn’t, but asked for it as soon as my conference ended, so I decided to warm the EBM and feed it to her instead.

It was the first time I had expressed milk since I had Hannah, and the very first time I was gonna feed her using the bottle.  I honestly didn’t think it would work, but gave it a shot anyway, because my EBM was already kept for 24 hours in the fridge, and I would have to throw it out had I not fed it to her then.

The first few tries were unsuccessful because I didn’t close the bottle properly, so the EBM leaked out.  And then when I made sure it didn’t leak, Hannah used her tongue to push away the nipple, and cried and screamed even louder!  I guess she knew I was feeding her so she flatly refused the bottle!  When I asked my Mom to try feeding her, she still refused, because the smart little girl *knew* that a *better milk package* was around…so why should she settle for less?

So that’s the story of my leftover EBM…being a kiasu breastfeeding mommy, of course I could not bring myself to throw out the milk just like that, although it was just about two ounces…

So I poured a little of the EBM onto a wet washcloth and washed Hannah’s face with it when I bathed her!  Hey…breast milk works wonders on heat rash, y’know? 🙂

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