All about Emma
Hannah’s school’s Family Fun Day is an annual affair celebrating Mother’s, Father’s and Teacher’s Day, and this year was no different. So last Sunday we got up bright and early and made our way to Occupy at Beach Street, an area which is cordoned off from motor vehicles every Sunday morning as part of Penang’s Smoke-free campaign. Believe it or not, it was our first time there, and it was also the venue for the Family Fun Day.
We all had on identical t-shirts, with the exception of Emma of course. We parked a little ways off the site of the event, so we had to walk together with a bicycle and a scooter too…not to mention a baby in a stroller! We then quickly registered, grabbed our Subway breakfasts, and dove right into the hustle and bustle of all the activities.
We did trishaw rides…
We had fun on bicycles built for two:
While Ethan’s legs were long enough to pedal on the bikes, Hannah had to leave her legs up, and let Daddy do the pedalling:
There were traditional games, like this one..I think it’s called Flying Feather…
… and vainpot activities like Face Painting:
Fun with sidewalk chalk! This was the boys’ creative contribution:
…and this was the selfie we took for Ethan and Hannah as part of the task list for the Treasure Hunt competition:
Coincidentally we won a prize for that competition! 🙂
It was a fun-filled day, albeit a scorchingly hot one, but definitely a great day to spend Sunday morning! 🙂
Scrap Credits
Celebrate {You} QP from SuzyQ Scraps
Sweet Storytelling elements from Sahlin Studio
Weight
About 7.5 kilos (weighed at most recent pediatrician well-child visit)
Height/Length
Not measured.
Teeth
7 teeth: 3 bottom teeth (either 3 incisors or 2 incisors and 1 canine) and 4 upper incisors. Her teething is making her wake up more and more at night, making for an extremely sleep-deprived mommy.
Motor Skills
- Emma is still not walking yet, but I’m not hung up on it. We will just let her walk when she’s confident enough. As it is, she is rather adept at exploring on all fours and can pull herself up to standing position very easily too.
- Can climb the stairs on all fours if given the opportunity to do so.
- Tries to get up and escape from her baby high chair when we put her in it.
- Emma loves to play with her toy blocks. She loves it when we build it really high up and she will push the blocks over. She also loves to hold the blocks and gives it to us.
- Loves it when we comb her hair.
Communication and Social Skills
- Says “Deh Deh” for most things but Daddy responds to her every time she says that.
- Loves it when we sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. She will attempt to do the actions related to the song. The amazing thing is when I noticed her doing this not too long ago, I realize I had only shown her the actions like 2-3 times before. We have a music lover here! 😀
- Puts her hand to her mouth when I say “Give a flying kiss!”, but she’s still polishing her act 🙂
Others
- Emma had her Pneumococcal and MMRV (MMR + Varilrix (chicken pox)) shots during her recent visit to the pediatrician. We had to go to a different one this time round because her usual pediatrician had run out of the MMRV vaccine. Highlight of the visit was when the doctor asked Daddy to distract Emma while he gave her the shots in her upper butt. The first shot was administered without so much as a whimper, and the second shot went in without her crying at all too. Doc said she was indeed a “tough cookie”. Daddy said Emma is just like her sister.
Food and Feeding
Emma is still drinking mostly Mommy’s milk with a smattering of new foods introduced here and there.
Some of the foods she has tried this month:
- Grapes – she ate 2 whole grapes at one sitting!
- Naan
- White pomfret
- Seabass
- Honeydew
- Organic rice cakes
Last Sunday, Ethan woke up bright and early, took a shower and got dressed in his not-so-usual long sleeved shirt and jeans for church. He told me it was a special day because he was going to be singing in the kids’ choir.
That Sunday was the day some of the 9-year-old kids were going to celebrate First Holy Communion and Ethan was part of the kids’ choir, who had been practicing for the past 2 months as part of the kids-animated church service.
Doesn’t he look handsome? 🙂
Next year it will be Ethan’s turn to celebrate Holy Communion for the first time…exciting times ahead 🙂
Yes, yes…I do know I am more than a week late in doing this, but trust me, it has been one hectic day after another. But that’s another story now, ain’t it?
Here’s a handmade picture frame Hannah made in school:
My 2 older kids surprised me with handmade cards in the a.m. on Mother’s Day. I was so touched..and still am. All entirely their own ideas.
The card Ethan made during Catechism class:
Hannah gave me a card she had been working on for a week. Here’s the front of the card:
The inside of the card (She even included a lovely blue glitter fan and a word search activity!):
And the back of the card:
The following day, Hannah made me another card, “just because” 🙂
I am blessed beyond words, aren’t I? ♥
Just over 2 weeks ago, after some positive reinforcement and influence from some girlfriends of mine, I decided to start drinking fresh vegetable and fruit juices. I stocked up on fresh vegetables and fruits and decided to use my immersion blender, just so I could get all the fiber too. My sole intention of drinking green juices was to help to heal my eczema from inside out, and hopefully the goodness will pass on to my breast milk and that will in turn heal Emma’s eczema too.
The ingredients I chose were primarily green, with the occasional orange. I added water or soy milk depending on my mood. The resulting drink is a nutritious, and somewhat filling green smoothie.
On one occasion, however, as I was holding my cup of green smoothie, and carrying Emma at the same time, she quickly grabbed my cup and put it to her mouth. I relented and let her have a taste.
Well, well…surprisingly she loved it and kept asking for more! She drinks the juice and eats the fiber..maybe like 4-5 sips but it’s a healthy and promising start! 🙂
So now, since I have an accidental green juice lover in the house, I make my own organic soy milk from organic soy beans and use it to make the green smoothie. That way, I can be sure there are no preservatives and sugars added to the smoothie for Emma to drink.
Have you had your green juice today? 🙂
Cribside Chomping!
Scrap Credits
Daisies and Dandelions QP from Delicious Scraps
Dandelion dream alphas from A work in progress
Weight
About 7.5 kilos
Height/Length
Not measured.
Teeth
4 teeth: 2 bottom incisors and 2 upper incisors. Four other incisors (top and bottom) coming out soon too.
Motor Skills
- Emma is able to stand unsupported for longer periods now, especially when she is unaware of herself doing so. Just waiting for her to take that first step.
- Giving her a bath is no longer as easy as before, because she sometimes refuses to sit but wants to stand instead. And because it can get rather slippery, I need to hold her with one hand, and bathe her with the other!
- Crawling around still gets her places the fastest.
Communication and Social Skills
- Calls “Mama” when she wants me, or milk.
- Responds to her name when called.
Others
- Only ONCE in the past month, did I get a full 5-hour sleep through at night. On most nights, I only get 2-3 hours and then the little missy’s up. Could be due to teething.
Food and Feeding
Her diet is mostly 100% on Mommy’s milk, and she does drink some water (either from a regular cup or from a sippy cup), owing to her slight intake in solids. She’s not taken a keen interest in drinking from a straw yet though.
We’ve noticed that Emma seems to prefer fruits and veggies to meats; could this be a vegan in the making?
Some of the foods she has tried this month:
- Sweet potato
- Lettuce
- Celery
- Chicken liver
- Plums
We are often amazed (and still are) at how closely Emma resembles Ethan. It’s almost like having and holding Ethan all over again, except that Emma’s a girl.
This here is Ethan at about 7.5-8 months (photo taken from my archives):
…and over here is Emma at about 8 months. I’ve rotated the photo so we can get a better view of her face:
The same button nose to the same BULAT head 🙂
Would you just look at how Hannah lovingly takes care of her little baby sister, by offering her a drink?
This certainly brings back memories…see? This was what Ethan did to Hannah some years back when she was just starting to learn how to drink from a straw.
Simply, amazingly PRECIOUS!