Little Miracles · October 2009

A Handy Happy Birthday to Daddy!

October 13, 2009 in Celebrations, Ethan, Hannah | 2 comments

We had a very simple at-home celebration for Daddy’s birthday recently. I had asked Ethan what cake he wanted to get Daddy, and he had consistently replied, “Handy Manny cake!” Maybe he sees Daddy as being very handy in the house 😛

Anyway, much as I wanted to bake the cake myself, there was no way I could have done it as nicely as this ordered one:

Maybe someday when my kids are able to help me in the kitchen, I’ll be able to bake something nice like that… hehehe…

Anyway, Ethan surprised Daddy with a “Tadaaaaaa!!!!” We sang the birthday song, blew out the candles and cut the cake.

And the person who enjoyed eating the cake the most? The little boy in green in the photos above! He donned a green shirt, just like Handy Manny did on the cake 🙂

Stunt of the day!

October 10, 2009 in Hannah, Milestones | 4 comments

Hannah at 7 months

October 8, 2009 in Hannah, Milestones | 4 comments

Scrap Credits
Happy Everyday QP from Thaliris Design
Funny Bubble Alpha from Loloden designs
Sun Porch alpha (the number 7) from Shabby Princess

Weight

9.1 kilos. This month she only gained 100g, maybe because she was ill a few weeks ago. But her weight is still in the 90-something percentile.

Height/Length

67cm

Motor Skills

She started with the commando crawl backwards, and now she can crawl slowly by moving first her arms and then lifting (sometimes dragging) her knee. You’ll see Hannah moving all around the floor, and from one end of the cot to the other.
Hannah can sit unsupported most of the time, and when she does tumble over to the side, she will assume her crawling position.
Hannah also tries to do *stunts* like balancing herself on one knee and one elbow.
Very good and deft with her fingers. She is able to hold objects very sturdily, transfering them from one hand to the other and back. She hardly ever drops the objects, unless she is throwing a tantrum.
Attempting to STAND while being held by her hands. Gave me a shock!
Hannah can (for the most part) sit independently in the bath tub when I give her her bath. She loves playing with water and will kick and squeal with delight. And she adores playing with the washcloth and a little cup I sometimes give her. At times she will *protest* when I take her out too soon. Note to self: time to introduce some cool bath toys to her! 🙂

Communication and Social Skills

Saying “Mum-mum-mum” when she wants milk or Mommy.
Vocalizing many different sounds, “Bababa…”, “ooooh…”, “ahhh…” etc
Will stop, listen, look at me and smile when I start singing to her. Her favorite songs: the ever popular “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, “The Wheels of the Bus” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It”. The actions totally tickle her. And hey, I have noticed she has also started to try to copy my actions in “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”!
Absolutely intrigued by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s Hot-Diggity-Dog song. Will stop whatever she is doing, look in the direction of the TV, and smile happily.
Showing signs of readiness to play with Ethan. She laughs and smiles at him and is always looking at him, as if *learning* how to behave.

Food and Feeding Every ounce of milk she takes is 100% Mommy’s milk. She is back on rice cereal and EBM once a day now. After I stopped her rice cereal for a few weeks, she initially didn’t seem interested in the cereal when I reintroduced it a few days ago. But when I allowed her to hold her spoon and supervised her feeding herself, she got excited! Now Hannah looks forward to every evening when I feed her the rice cereal. I normally will feed her at dinner time (and her brother will want some of his own cereal too!) So rice cereal for Hannah, and a serving of Koko Krunch with fresh milk for Ethan! 😛 (I’m not complainin’!)

The Power of Sibling Influence

October 7, 2009 in Ethan, Food & Feeding, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | 2 comments

…or is it a form of (healthy) competition?

When Hannah was on medication a couple of weeks back, we asked Ethan to *witness* her taking the medicine using the syringe. By the way, if you are not already aware, it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to feed Ethan medicine. He would kick and scream till the cows come home.

Anyway, Ethan was very intrigued watching us feed Hannah. Hannah, on the other hand, was initially receptive of the medicine, but after a few rounds, she knew how to turn her head away when she saw the syringe. Only Daddy knew how to administer the medicine in one swift motion 🙂

A few days later, Ethan started sneezing. So I asked him, “Ethan, are you sneezing?” He said, “Yes”. I said, “Do you want to take some medicine? You’ll feel better after taking it, and then when you are all better, Mommy will take you swimming.” He paused and kept quiet. I continued, “I’ll ask Daddy to shoot the medicine into your mouth like Hannah, okay?” He said, “Okay.”

And I almost fainted.

I asked Daddy to get the medicine ready, and MIRACULOUSLY Ethan allowed his Daddy to give him the medicine without any fuss. After that he downed it all with some Milo.

Therefore, do not underestimate what Hannah can do or influence at her young and tender age. 🙂

I can ride the train too!

October 5, 2009 in Growing Up, Hannah | 4 comments

Thanks to Ethan Koko who very generously allowed me to ride his favorite toy vehicle, the choo-choo train! 🙂 Hannah’s feet cannot yet touch the floor though, but she has a really firm grip on the steering wheel!

Ethan made cookies!

October 4, 2009 in Ethan, Food & Feeding | 2 comments

As a SAHM, I try very hard to think of activities that would be interesting and stimulating enough for both Ethan and me to enjoy together. After all, he is in school for half a day, and the rest of the time, he needs something to while away his time (other than watching TV 😛 ).

So last week, I asked Ethan if he would like to help me make some cookies. He was excited and said YES. Ethan’s favorite cookies are chocolate chip cookies, and I figured it would definitely be a healthier option to eat homemade ones rather than commercially purchased ones.

For the recipe, I again turned to Happy Home Baking for her Chocolate Chip Cookies (Drop Cookies, as she calls it), and made sure I had all the ingredients. After all, I had achieved good results with the Horlicks Doggie Cookies recipe before, so I trusted the track record there 🙂

I taught Ethan how to stir the egg and vanila into the mixture, and then I showed him how to fold the flour into the cookie dough. And fold he did…never mind that some of the flour fell on the table, chair and floor… hehe. Then Ethan helped to bring me the chocolate chips and poured them into the mixture (I think that was his favorite part). And he watched as I scooped tablespoon after tablespoon of cookie mixture on the cookie sheet to bake in the oven. Okay, he couldn’t resist *testing* a bit of the mixture though…

He then excitedly watched the cookie bake in the oven and exclaimed “WOW” when I took them out to cool on the rack.