Bible Verse of the Day

December 2011

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Sorting Beans Can Be Lots of Fun!

December 30, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting | 2 comments

On one of the days when I was running out of ideas on how to occupy the kids’ time, I decided to try this Bean Sorting exercise I had read about in one of my newly-acquired homeschooling books.  It was an activity I felt both Ethan and Hannah could share and enjoy..and I was right.

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I made use of the Organic Soup Mix beans that I had, and explained to them both that the task was to sort the beans according to type and color into separate cups.  They had to work together to complete the task.

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It was fun to see how attentive both Ethan and Hannah were, trying to complete the task on hand.  I assisted in telling them that they could each take a different type of bean and then sort that out.

They were done in about 15 minutes.

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And then I asked them to count the beans in the individual cups and I provided some sticker labels to label the number of beans.

Kids enjoy simple pleasures in life 🙂 – and they were so proud of their “completed assignment” that day and couldn’t wait to show Daddy when he got home.

Hannah at 33 months

December 29, 2011 in Hannah, Milestones | No comments

hannah_33monthsScrap Credits
Child’s Life Kit from Elo Designs

Weight

13.5 kilos or maybe more!

Height

Actually she was previously about 89cm or 90cm , but I recently took her height measurement, and it was around 91cm.

Teeth

19 teeth, or almost there… Right now, she has 4 incisors on the upper jaw, 3 incisors bottom jaw;  2 canines upper jaw, 2 canines bottom jaw;  4 pramolars and 4 more back pramolars are making their appearance slowly but surely.

Developmental Milestones

  • We can carry a decent conversation with Hannah now, and she is a joy to talk to.  She is very inquisitive in nature and asks a LOT of questions, including follow-up ones.

Hannah: Mommy, what are you eating?
Me: Oh, I’m eating tomyam noodles.
Hannah: Is it spicy?  Can I try?
Me: It’s a little bit spicy, Hannah.
Hannah: A little bit spicy?
Me: Yes
Hannah: Why only a little bit, Mommy? Why not a LOT?

  • She wants to be treated like a big girl most of the time now, and that has resulted in her rejecting the baby chair or high chair.  “I don’t need the baby chair now, I’m a big girl!”.  And when taking her to the potty when we’re in the mall, “I can hold my poopoo Mommy, I’m a big girl now.”
  • Will ask for permission to do most things. “Mommy, can I drink some chocolate milk, please?” “Mommy, can I watch TV please?”
  • Can reason within means.  One recent episode stays in my mind (and will stay there for a long long time).  I was getting the kids to sleep and they both wanted to sleep together on the mattress on the floor.  I was afraid they would kick each other accidentally, so I asked Hannah to let Ethan sleep on his own.  And she replied, “I don’t hit my brother, Mommy…I LOVE my brother.” Awwwww…
  • Has an emerging fashion sense (and still learning).  She knows now that dresses go with Mary Janes and shorts go with sandals.  But occasionally, you’ll still see her in red socks and Mary Janes with a floral frock! 😛
  • Tries her best to show her independence by feeding herself or dressing up, and when we try to assist her, she’ll protest and say, “No no, I CAN!!!”

Toilet Training

Toilet training for peepee still in progress.  She can more or less tell us when she needs to poopoo and successfully does it in the toilet.

Food and Feeding

Still very much a food lover and is not choosy when it comes to food.  Sometimes does not want the chicken pieces though, but still loving her fish balls and carrots.

Day 2 Singapore Getaway: Jurong Bird Park

December 28, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting, Vacation | No comments

One of the first things we prepared before Day 2 was to get our ez-link cards to use on the MRT and the buses in Singapore.  Kids up to 0.9m in height can travel for free, and Hannah just barely made it 🙂  However, for preschoolers over 0.9m and below 7 years old, like Ethan, we got him the Child Concession Card, which entitled him to a 50% discount on all fares.  Of course, Ethan was all happy and felt grown-up when he could also tap his very own card and walk across the gates.

On Monday morning, armed with our day backpack, camera and loads of energy (somewhat), we made our way on foot to the nearest MRT station near Bernard & Pei Ling’s house…..but….halfway there, Pete turned around and asked,

Pete: Did you bring the (Bird Park) tickets?
Me (giving him a blank stare): Nooo…..I thought they were in your bag!

So while the kids happily whiled away their time playing in the play structure in one of the HDB flats, I walked back to the house to get the tickets.  It was a little extra exercise for me, and we haven’t even gotten on the train yet!

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We had actually left the house quite late and when we boarded the MRT it was close to lunch time.  So we decided to stop at Jurong Point Mall for lunch…instigated by pictures of Burger King’s food in the MRT too, actually!

Ethan was busy looking at the MRT map and telling his sister which station would come next and which station we would get off.

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…and finally we arrived!

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It was our first time at the Jurong Bird Park and one of the highlights the kids wanted to go to was the Lory Loft Feeding.

“Mommy, Mommy, can I feed the birds?” Hannah would ask, and hold up her hands as if holding the bird feed.  But when we arrived, as soon as I was handed the sweet bird feed in the little plastic cup, I daresay at least 4 or 5 lory birds swarmed towards me and started eating from the bowl.  The kids would not hold the bowl, and they were visibly afraid.  We tried to cajole them into feeding the birds, but the most we got was them touching the feeding bowl together with Daddy (missed the chance to take a picture though. Boo.)

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Other pictures from our enjoyable Bird Park trip:

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It was a hot, hot, hot day that day (contradictory to the weather forecasted then), and the kids had their Kidz Banz sunglasses to protect their eyes (and look cool at the same time)!

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Children’s Christmas Party

December 21, 2011 in Celebrations, Ethan, Hannah | No comments

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Last Saturday morning, Hannah’s parent-toddler class was more or less “transformed” into a Children’s Christmas Party for all the kids and their siblings.  It was an annual affair for all the kids in the parent-toddler classes, and they had a garden party with Teddy Bear tents, splash pools, ball pits and also art and craft areas for the kids to explore.

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Both Ethan and Hannah had a fun time making a Christmas wreath with Daddy.  Check out the level of concentration on my little girl’s face… 🙂

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And of course, a Christmas Party is never complete without food!  Each family was asked to bring something to share with the rest and for a change from my usual cupcake fare, I decided to try my hand out at making Christmas sugar cookies in the shape of Christmas trees 🙂

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I’d forgotten that I did not have enough icing sugar for the frosting, and my last minute attempt to buy it from Tesco the night before the party failed because Tesco had run out of it too.  So I had to use whatever icing sugar I had left to make the royal icing and improvised.  Not bad for a first attempt, eh? 🙂

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The party ended with some songs and fun for the kids, and finally an appearance by “Santa Clause”, who gave away the presents to the kids as part of the gift exchange.

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It was a fun Saturday morning for all, and a great way to end the year… 🙂

Day 1 Singapore Getaway: Southward Bound and the Marina

December 20, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah, Vacation | No comments

It was a Sunday on December 4th when our long-awaited family vacation was to begin.  Both Ethan and Hannah had been eagerly looking forward to this day for weeks, and I had told them that they would need to get up extra extra early that morning, for our cab would arrive to pick us up to the airport at 8a.m.

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Well, miracles DO happen when the kids excitedly got ready and did not dilly-dally.  We got to the airport well on time and even had time to grab a quick breakfast at McDonald’s in the departure terminal first.

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It was another short wait for our plane to arrive, but you know…the kids got restless and kept asking, “Why is our airplane not here yet?”, “When are we boarding?”, and the like.

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day1-5We’d redeemed airplane tickets using our Krisflyer points (finally), and it was an exciting occasion for the kids because I felt this was the time they would both remember they were in an airplane together.  The last time Hannah boarded a plane, she was only 4 months’ old, and could only lie down in a crib!

The kids occupied themselves with complimentary doodle pads from SilkAir and drank some milk and juice that was served, and before we knew it, we had already landed in Singapore.

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Share-A-Gift of Love

December 17, 2011 in Ethan, Growing Up, Parenting | 1 comment

About a month ago, while we were at MPH bookstore, Ethan noticed the Christmas tree at the bookstore had many many paper hearts hanging on its branches.  And he was curious as to what they were.

So I explained to him that it was a charity drive MPH bookstore did every year during Christmas where they would put up names of kids who were in orphanages or who were physically- or mentally-challenged, and the customers in MPH are invited to participate in this charity drive by choosing a child’s card from the Christmas tree and then purchasing a gift from MPH to present to the child.  MPH would then wrap the gift up and place it under the tree and present it to the child for Christmas.  I told him that it would make the kid(s) very happy indeed to get presents.

Ethan was very intrigued and decided immediately that he wanted to do it.  Pete and I choose a present each year for a child, but this year, we decided to give the honor to Ethan.

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So he chose a card from the tree, and we helped him decide on an appropriate gift for the child he chose.  Then he wrote a message to the child and signed off, “Love, Ethan”.

I thought that was very sweet of him and I am so proud of my big boy with an EXTRA BIG heart.

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Water Play and a Surprise in December

December 15, 2011 in Celebrations, Entertainment, Ethan, Exercise, Hannah | 3 comments

We just got back from our family vacation in Singapore last week, and I am far far behind in my blog postings.  I’ve got so many drafts sitting and collecting digital dust, and other non-blogging things to do too, so while I gather my thoughts and (hopefully) publish alternate posts about our Singapore getaway really soon, here are some pictures taken at Pauline Kor Kor’s condo’s swimming pool, during our recent trip to KL for the Barney show…we had the whole pool to ourselves that day!!! 🙂

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Oh and by the way, check out this month’s issue of BabyTalk, where Hannah picture is featured in the Star Toddlers section. 🙂

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And if you like reading, you could also read one of my personal Christmas stories here, featured in that same magazine 🙂  Just click on the image to enlarge it.

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With a Great Big Hug and A Kiss From Me to You

December 1, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | 3 comments

Mommy: Hannah, we’re going to KL this weekend.  Do you know who we’re going to see?
Hannah: Barney!!
Mommy: Yes..
Hannah: …and Baby Bop!  And BJ!
Mommy: Oh yeah…and..?
Hannah: And Riff…and Mother Goose…
Mommy: Hehe…oh yes..
Hannah:…Oh…and the kids.. 🙂

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Turns out we did see all of the above at the Barney’s Space Adventures show, held at Plenary Hall, KLCC last weekend…well, save for Mother Goose and the kids though.  Mother Goose did not make an appearance because I suppose she doesn’t take too kindly to anything “outer space”y, and as for the kids, well,…they were replaced by some singers and dancers who looked quite like adults to me.

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Hannah was in total awe when Barney and his friends appeared on stage, so awestruck was she that she could hardly sing and dance, and could only watch in amazement.  During the 20-minute intermission in the middle of the 90-minute performance, she was visibly upset for a while, asking me, “Where’s Barney, Mommy?”

And when I told her Barney and his friends had to make their way to the perfectly purple castle and the journey would take them 20 minutes, she wailed, “Nooo…:(”

Her brother Ethan, on the other hand, was having the time of his life, singing and dancing and clapping to almost every song during the performance.

In fact, Daddy looked more excited to watch Barney than he was when we went to watch Cats some years ago. 😛

It was an enjoyable show, and fun-packed with great songs the kids enjoyed.  I might add that the seats were really comfortable too, and the sound system was superb.  There were some people who showed their true Malaysian kiasu colors by moving from cheaper seats at the back to the front more expensive seats, since the hall wasn’t full…ah, but that’s a story for another day.

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We had a great family time together watching Barney, and if that wasn’t enough, later that night, we celebrated cousin Caitlynn’s birthday at Friday’s at Alamanda too!

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