Bible Verse of the Day

May 2013

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Science-O-Rama

May 29, 2013 in Ethan, Growing Up | No comments

Last Friday, Ethan’s school organized a Science-O-Rama (like a school science fair) for the 1st Graders.  Parents were invited to attend the event in the child’s individual classrooms for a half an hour.

They were studying about the life cycle of plants and seeds, which coincidentally was what Hannah was learning about too, so I brought Hannah along with me too.

Pushing a baby stroller and walking with Hannah, we made it to Ethan’s school in time for the event, even though it was a rainy day.

The Science-O-Rama event was an impromptu one and the kids would just explain to their parents what they had been learning about and would show them their “plant folder”, together with some seeds they had planted: Zinnia and Pumpkin.

The kids also took turns planting two other seeds: Carrots and Turnips.  Here’s Ethan scooping up some seeds to plant in his cup:

I loved the interaction between the parents and kids during the event, and it was also a fun way for the parents to be taken on a tour around the kid’s class.

Hannah Adores Emma

May 28, 2013 in Emma, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | 1 comment


Scrap Credits
Purple Delicacy QP from Paprika
Autumn Splendor Alphas from Beth Long Designs 

Hannah probably relates to Emma like a girl to a baby doll, but the fact remains that Hannah adores her little baby sis.  She would ask to hug her and hold her, and she loves to sing to Emma too.

Sometimes, when she is in the mood, she would even give Emma a good night kiss.

Emma, of course, responds with gurgles and coos and smiles.

I simply love watching them both together.

Big Toe, Little Toe

May 27, 2013 in Emma, Ethan, Funny Moments, Growing Up | No comments

Ethan: Look Mommy!  My little toe is the same size as Emma’s big toe!  In fact….I think it’s slightly bigger than her big toe!

Gosh, how fast my little kids grow! 🙂

Emma at 2 Months

May 22, 2013 in Emma, Milestones | No comments

Scrap Credits
Birthday Minikit from Verena Designs
Fuzzy Felt Alpha from Misschifis
Treasured button from Debra Anderson Designs 

Weight

11 lbs 7 oz (5.188 kilos).  She is in the 50.28 percentile on the weight for age chart, having gained about 2 kilos since birth.

Height/Length

23.25″ (59.1 cm).  She’s a rather long baby, don’t you reckon?  It’s probably because Emma stretches so much! 🙂

Motor Skills

  • She’s gaining more strength in her neck, and can hold her head upright for longer periods when on her tummy now.
  • She sometimes likes to suck on her fist.
  • She likes to move her gaze towards objects which are red.
Communication and Social Skills
  • Emma seems to want to *communicate* with us, and she does so by cooing at us in response to what we say to her.  Her cooing is always right on cue and it’s endearing to communicate with her that way.
  • She has started smiling!  She’s mostly her “smiliest” in the mornings and also she appears to smile more when Daddy is talking to her.  She’s also showing great affection for Ethan and Hannah: all they need to do is smile at her and she will smile back.  Harder for Mommy to make her smile though…hmmmph..no fair!

Others

  • Emma is still being treated for Seborrhoeic Dermatitis, which looks a little like eczema on certain parts of her body, especially on her limbs.  We’re hoping it will clear up soon.
  • Still unable to fully sleep through the night, but thankfully there were a few nights where she has slept 4 hours straight!  Let’s hope she keeps it up and prolong those sleeping hours.

Food and Feeding
She is 100% on Mommy’s milk.

Picture Day Photos

May 17, 2013 in Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | 1 comment

Recently, Ethan and Hannah, both on separate occasions, had their pictures taken in school for the obligatory Picture Day shots.  I suppose they would have had one earlier on in Fall had we been here then, but since we only arrived around Winter, the Picture Day shots they got were for Spring this time around.

Here’s a glimpse of what the pictures look like:

The pictures come in several different sizes and types and in some cases, different poses and backgrounds too.

In a way, I am glad they only had one in Spring because these pictures are exorbitantly priced!!  I mean we’re not forced to buy or anything, but this is how the photographer does it.

After the pictures are taken, they send a package back home with several printouts of your child’s photos.  The tricky part is where the cost structure comes in.  For example, it will be All 5 sheets for $44, Any 4 for $56, Any 3 for $42, Any 2 for $28 and Any 1 for $14.  We are asked to pay for whatever we want and return the rest.

Because I am simply paranoid about what they would do with the returned photos, I simply bought all. SIGH.  A sign a weakness on my part, I know…but …

In any case, I really love the photos!  For one important thing, thick makeup isn’t applied on the kids (unlike in most Malaysian schools). 🙂

Well, as cliché as it sounds, kids are kids just once in their lives anyway… and I’m enjoying these pictures as it is 🙂

Emma Smiles!

May 10, 2013 in Emma, Growing Up, Milestones | 2 comments

Scrap Credits
Birthday Minikit from Verena Designs
Elegant word art (beautiful smile) from Bethany
Stamp cluster 8 (modified) from Lindsay Jane Designs

We’ve been waiting for Emma to flash us that precious smile ever since she was born.  As far as we can remember, her two elder siblings started smiling very early on, but it appeared that Emma was a tad serious.  She wasn’t fussy or anything, it just seemed as though she was always deep in thought.

We did catch her smiling to herself in her sleep off and on (displaying her cute little dimple on her right cheek), but the social smile still eluded us.  I tried talking, singing, laughing, tickling, …but nothing.  She would coo a lot and watch me intently though.

However, just last week or so, Emma decided to start SMILING! 😀

I’m not quite sure how it started, but I remember her Daddy got pretty excited when his little girl started smiling at him.

Here’s to more SMILEY days ahead.  I simply can’t wait to hear her first giggle 🙂

The Making of A Lego Engineer

May 9, 2013 in Ethan, Growing Up | No comments

Several weeks ago, Ethan brought back a note from his school informing us that the school would be hosting an 8-week Lego program for kids.  Ethan would fall into the program for children in grades K-2, and registration was on a first come, first serve basis.

The cost for this program would be $125 per child, however, the organization running this program would also be sponsoring 4 “scholarships” by way of lucky draw.

Just for fun, I entered Ethan’s name in for the lucky draw, and guess what…he WON!

So he stays back in school every Friday now, for his program named Pre-Engineering With Lego.  There are 16 children per class, and I can tell he really loves it!

Class Description: Students will build cities, bridges, and motorized cars/planes and explore many creative possibilities of engineering with the LEGO system.  With access to over 100,000 pieces of LEGO, your child will have the opportunity to build what they have only dreamed of with the support of an experienced instructor to guide them.

Last week he told me he built a tall tower in class, and when he came home, he built this structure, and asked me if I knew what “technique” he used to build the wall.

The answer is “OVERLAPPING“: which will result in a stronger structure. 🙂

Lego Engineering FTW! 🙂

The One With The Cradle Cap

May 9, 2013 in Emma, Growing Up, Parenting | No comments

A couple of weeks back, we noticed that Emma was beginning to develop some red rashes on her scalp.  We’d thought it was just an extension of her baby acne on her face which we figured would heal itself by the 2nd month.

However, the rashes on her scalp began to take on a yellow-brownish look that was crusty and scabby.  It looked really dry.  After googling and calling her pediatrician, Emma was diagnosed as having cradle cap, also known as Seborrhoeic Dermatitis.  Apparently it is pretty common in newborn babies.

I also noticed that the rash had spread to behind her ears and it looked really uncomfortable for her, because it was red and raw.  Also, it was oozing some liquid. 🙁

Our pediatrician suggested we try some hydrocortisone 1% cream on the skin behind her ears.  It’s a steroid cream, so I used it sparingly.

Thankfully, this treatment cleared her up within 2 days. 🙂

That wasn’t the end of it though.  As soon as it cleared, I noticed Emma’s neck area was getting really red and sore.  The creases in between her folds had some creamy-like substance too.  Fearing an infection, I took her to her pediatrician, and the doctor thought it looked like a bacterial infection.  She prescribed bacitracin, an anti-bacterial ointment to be applied 2-3 times daily.

Also, because her cradle cap scabs were still present, the pediatrician suggested the following steps to be done 3-4 times weekly:

  1. Using some baby oil/olive oil, massage gently into scalp to soften the crusts.  Leave on for 10 minutes.
  2. Loosen the crusts gently using either a soft baby toothbrush, soft comb or wash cloth.
  3. Shampoo off using an anti-dandruff shampoo, containing selenium sulfide.

We’re so pleased to note that we are seeing so much improvement after treatment.  Emma still has some rough patches on her skin which we are treating with the hydrocortisone, and hopefully her skin will clear up 100% soon.

 

Easel Fun on Warm Spring Afternoons

May 8, 2013 in Entertainment, Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | No comments

Well, we finally get to put the kids’ easel to good use!  We’d shipped it over from Malaysia, but since it had been incredibly cold over the last few months, the easel has been kept in storage.

Spring is finally here and the days are getting longer, not to mention warmer.  The afternoons and evenings now often see us having warm sunlight on our patio, so we took the easel out for the kids last week.

…and boy, were they delighted!

They even brought their chairs out, to make it more comfortable while painting!

They certainly had FUN! 🙂

Ethan Earned a Medal!

May 8, 2013 in Ethan, Exercise, Growing Up | No comments

Last Saturday, after his second soccer practice session, Ethan proudly showed me the Sportsmanship Medal he had earned.

The teams play either a  4 vs 4 or 5 vs 5 game at the end of each practice session, and at the end of each game, a “Sportsmanship Medal” will be awarded to a participating team member.  Sense of teamwork, playing to the best of his/her abilities and hustling to make a play will be some of the considerations when awarding the medal.

So proud of Ethan, and he is improving every week too.  Pssst…his Daddy takes him to a nearby park on a couple of evenings during the week days for “extended” training too, now that it’s warmer outdoors. 🙂

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