Little Miracles · December 2009

Our Christmas this year…

December 31, 2009 in Celebrations, Ethan, Hannah | 3 comments

…was definitely a joyous occasion.

Coupled with the fact that we were away from Malaysia last Christmas and now that Ethan can talk a million words a minute, this was definitely a Christmas that did not contain a dull moment.

This year, Ethan (especially) has been looking forward to Christmas, counting down the days every day since the 20th. He would ask us how many more days to Christmas, and we’d tell him 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1. And in the days leading up to Christmas, he was my little helper, helping me hold the tape while I wrapped the presents, and also bringing the presents to arrange them under our Christmas tree.

And on Christmas morning, he woke up cheerfully and greeted everyone, “Merry Christmas everyone!”

We knew then that he was ready for his presents.

…and MORE presents!

Some “sharing” of Christmas presents amongst cousins was also apparent, especially the colorful toys.

Little Hannah, who was celebrating Christmas for the first time, decided to have a little beauty sleep of her own, and only awoke past 10a.m. (which is why she is still in her jammies). Here she is *showing off* her blouse and jeans Ethan *got* for her.

And then much later, after she washed up and got dressed, here’s my little princess, sitting pretty on her *throne*.

On Boxing Day, we celebrated baby Caitlynn’s full moon.

I think Ethan was the one who enjoyed the cupcakes the most.

…at least I *thought* he looked like he was enjoying it the most! 🙂

And then when we got back to Penang, there were more presents to be opened! Yup, we kept some at home because we knew Ethan would love opening presents everywhere! In fact, he would readily offer his gift-unwrapping services too!

…and another one…

Just makes our day to hear him say, “Wow!! Thanks Daddy and Mommy! I LOVE it!”

Here’s the look of JOY on his face when he opened one of his presents: A Mickey Mouse KITE.

Ain’t that precious?

And after that he said, “I want MORE presents, Mommy!”

Weddings and Bravery

December 24, 2009 in Celebrations, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting | 5 comments

We received several wedding invites in the recent weeks, some of which Pete decided to go it alone, simply because it would be too tiring for the kids to attend. However, we did bring the kids to a couple of wedding receptions (brave as we are!); one was a dinner reception of Pete’s nephew, and the other was a buffet luncheon.

Took the opportunity to take a family photo with the view of the sea before the dinner reception started.

Hannah was VERY interested with the candy cane wedding favors we received…

Never mind that I had to pick it up over and over again each time she *dropped* it…as long as she’s happy, yes?

Of course, it certainly helped that we had very *willing* baby sitters at the wedding too…here’s a precious shot of Hannah with Kor Kor (her godma too!) 🙂

And crystal wall hangings are ALWAYS a very good distraction, provided parental supervision is present.

And what about our little energizer bunny, Ethan? He was busy running around with cousin Jonathan; in and out the banquet hall they went, chasing after each other, hopping here and there.

No wonder he was the first one to knock out…

Not long after, Hannah followed suit…

Oh, and what about the buffet luncheon? No pictures from that one, cuz both kids were at their most active levels and I had no time to whip out the camera, and before we could even say “Yum Seng”, it was time to go home! LOL

Loving Embrace

December 19, 2009 in Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah | 3 comments

Won’t you just look at that? Ain’t that the sweetest loving embrace you have ever seen?

This is Ethan in one of his loving big-brotherly moods. And if you’re wondering what he is saying while he was hugging Hannah, check out the video below….simply PRECIOUS! 🙂

Another jolly good vacation

December 18, 2009 in Ethan, Hannah, Vacation | 5 comments

So good we had so much fun that Mommy very nearly forgot all about the photos we had taken! …and that was like three whole weeks ago!

Our main prerogative was of course to see little baby Caitlynn (ain’t she sweet?):

But apart from that, we (both adults and kids alike) certainly had fun!

Here’s the customary shot right before we left Penang. Everybody’s wide awake and all excited.

We made our first detour in Taiping and had lunch at one of Daddy’s all-time favorite chicken rice stall.

Hannah’s looking rather happy despite the fact that she can’t taste the chicken rice yet.

And Ethan is all smiles, because he too, like Daddy, LOVES chicken rice.

Next stop: Ipoh. We broke our journey here and had a pit-stop for the night. Took the opportunity to have the ngah choy kai too. Somebody looks really hungry…

And here she is again….still yearning for food…

The following day, we headed for KL, and checked into our hotel, much to Ethan’s enjoyment. Despite the fact that we didn’t get to stay on the 18th floor like he wanted, he adapted really well to the 17th floor too.

And this is one of the reasons why….actually this would be the MAIN reason.

Hannah wanted in on the fun too, but let me tell you, it was rather terrifying, because she tried to stand and play with the bubbles just like her brother!

The kids also got to meet up with their cousins…it’s so heartwarming how the boys can play together now.

It didn’t take long for Ethan to bond with Collin. In the hospital where we visited Aunty Pei Gee and Caitlynn, both Ethan and Collin were busy *spreading* the cheer around.

And the following day, when we met up with cousin Jonathan, Ethan and Jonathan were like best buds!

Jonathan was wailing and complaining when it was time for him to leave! And the sweetest thing was that Ethan ran over and gave the crying Jonathan a hug! (awwww…….)

We also had good food during our vacation. The hotel room comes with buffet breakfast, and the spread is really good.

Poor little Hannah could only look on as we ate. So I decided to introduce papaya to Hannah. You be the judge as to whether she likes it.

Holidays always come and go in a blink of an eye, and before we could even say “IKEA”, we had to pack up and leave. (we did go to IKEA though…)

Here’s Hannah posing for the camera in her dress. Ethan calls it “Hannah’s pretty dress”.

On the way home, my girl discovered that she didn’t have to look straight at the back window all the time. She found out that, hey, if I lifted my head and turned around, I can see Mommy! Peekaboo!

We certainly had an awesome vacation, and we can’t wait for the next one!

Counting in Chinese

December 16, 2009 in Ethan, Growing Up, Milestones | 1 comment

Ethan is a natural with numbers. He picked up counting on his own, without our prodding or pushing. He can count to a hundred very well now, but I was totally surprised when he started counting in Chinese one day when I was out with him.

He is exposed to both English and Mandarin in school, as he has two teachers: one for English and one for Mandarin. And so by the by, he has also managed to pick up counting in Mandarin too, although to us, it sounds rather *slangy”, if you know what I mean… 🙂

Hannah at 9 months

December 15, 2009 in Hannah, Milestones | 1 comment

Scrap Credits
Colchique dans les prés QP from Studio Soval Scrapbook Graphics
Giving Thanks Alphas from Stacey’s Scraps

Weight

Did not measure but should be close to 10 kilos now.

Height/Length

Getting taller and taller!

Teeth

2 bottom incisors, and we can see the *whites* of 2 more at the top! She is a perfect candidate to sing the song, “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!”

Motor Skills

Crawling everywhere
Cruising everywhere, but at a slightly slower pace compared to crawling.
Slowly beginning to *let go* of the support she uses to stand.
Likes to arch her back upside down when being carried.
Can raise one index finger as if in pointing, and sometimes 2 fingers too!

Communication and Social Skills

Calling “Mommy” more consistently. 🙂
Can clap her hands. Can clap her hands when being asked to verbally, and also if we show her by action.
Loves playing with all of Ethan’s toys.
Smiles a LOT – has a very cute dimple to boot!

Food and Feeding

She’s on Mommy’s milk 100% and is taking a little bit of solids too. New foods she has been introduced to include:

Ground red rice porridge
Spinach
Pumpkin
Japanese sweet potato
Papaya

Come fly with me!

December 14, 2009 in Entertainment, Ethan | 2 comments

Last Saturday, we had some friends visiting from KL, and for want of something different and intriguing for the kids, we decided to meet at the Esplanade field for a kite-flying session in the morning.

Now, it has been ages since I last flew a kite, but I knew the feeling was out-of-this-world. And I knew that it would be something that Ethan wouldn’t wanna miss.

There….look at the kites…Ethan flew the one on the left. He’d borrowed the kite from Uncle Kin Hoon.

Of course, Daddy had to release it into the air and allow the kite to take flight first.

Ethan was chasing Daddy all around the field, going, “I wanna fly the kite, Daddy!” And so, when the kite was flying nice and high, Daddy passed it to Ethan to fly.

Check out that look of intense concentration. 🙂

..and a turnaround pose for Mommy to take a picture.

Ethan had so much fun! …and he also got a tan! LOL

We walked over to Fort Cornwallis after that. We had never been inside, despite being residents of Penang for so long.

Here we are, posing by the statue of Sir Francis Light.

…and Ethan *reading* something, also showing off his newly-acquired tan and rosy cheeks.

And the *compulsory* pose with the canon.

And finally, my attempt at getting a rather nice shot of the wall and canons:

The Finishing Touch

December 13, 2009 in Celebrations, Ethan | No comments

We put up our Christmas tree last week. And guess who had the honor of putting the Christmas star at the tree top?

Easy does it….easy easy….slowly, THERE!

That sweet magical word

December 9, 2009 in Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones | No comments

Finally, just slightly after 9 months, she uttered the word that has the ability to wrap me around her little adorable fingers.

Last night, Hannah awoke, let out a “come carry me” cry, stood up in her cot, faced me and said, “Mameh….!”

She’s currently under the tutelage of her big brother to perfect the pronunciation, and from the looks of it, it will certainly be “Mommy” really soon.

…can we say that that’s officially her first word? 🙂

Warmer Upper

December 4, 2009 in Ethan, Funny Moments, Growing Up | No comments

Ethan is a very friendly and sociable guy. Only catch is that he tends to get REALLY shy amongst strangers or even familiar faces in a new surrounding. It takes him some time to warm up and then he’ll be his usual boisterous self.

Just like a couple of weekends ago when we attended his classmate Griffin’s birthday party. Ethan was all excited in the morning of the event, because it was a pirate-themed party. He read aloud the words on the gift too, he said, ” Happy Birthday Griffin. From TWO Ethan!” (the 2 dots were read as *two*)

But as soon as we stepped into Griffin’s home, Ethan clung on to me like a leech and didn’t want to join in the games at all, even though several of his friends were there.

By the by, he warmed up and soon he was running around happily and playing with the birthday boy and his other friends too.