Bible Verse of the Day

Ethan

All about Ethan

The Sleep Process that Worked Itself Out

August 10, 2011 in Ethan, Sleep | 1 comment

Have you ever encountered a problem that you tried to solve but could not, and then one day, you realize that it had worked itself into a solution?

Well, I think that just happened to us… 🙂

When Ethan was born, I made up my mind to implement co-sleeping.  Well, actually initially he slept in his crib, but the frequent middle-of-the-night feeds for a new mommy who was exclusively breastfeeding her firstborn was getting too tiring for me.  So thankfully, I managed to master the art of breastfeeding him while sleeping/lying down.  Besides I didn’t want to put him in another room then, and have to run into his room to sleep with him at night.  That would defeat the purpose altogether, wouldn’t it?

So eventually Ethan moved into our bed and we were all happy.

However, as he grew bigger, his rotational sleeping behaviour was causing us our peaceful sleep.  We ended up with no space at all!

When we moved to the States (at that time Ethan was about 2.5 years old), we’d planned on training him to sleep in his own room.  After all, he would have a room of his own and it was a fresh environment perfect for training.  Alas, that plan backfired when he refused to sleep in his room alone.  In the end, all three of us crammed into the queen sized bed.  Imagine, our bed in Penang is a king sized one, and now we had to all somehow fit into a queen sized bed!  On top of that, at that time, my pregnant belly was also getting bigger and bigger.  How on earth we managed to do it is beyond me…

Anyway, we came back to Penang with Ethan still refusing to move to his own room.  We told Ethan he could use our guest room as his own room, and he agreed to move when he turned 4 years of age.

When the day came, he tried sleeping in his own room, but got up and complained that he didn’t want to.  He claimed that sleeping there gave him bad dreams and he always dreamt of a snake.!

So back we all went on to the king sized bed.  To make matters more squeezy, Hannah now had moved onto our bed as well.  Yeah, blame it on me who did not train her when she was a newborn…anyway, the nights got really crammed, is all I can say.

Then one day, Ethan had a bout of food poisoning and threw up frequently.  I took him to the doctor and gave him medication.  Then I advised him to rest, but not on the bed, because he might dirty it if he threw up suddenly.  So I put a single mattress on the floor in his room (the guest room) and he agreed to sleep there.

When he got better, he still requested to sleep on the single mattress in our room.  And we obliged.  He said sleeping on the mattress on the floor was so much more comfortable!

Well, seeing that he was SO comfy on the mattress, and realizing that half our battle might already have been won, I decided to get him a little present.

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Combining his Lightning McQueen and Cars craze and his newfound love in sleeping on that mattress, I made him an offer he could hardly refuse!

So now, Ethan sleeps on his own Cars mattress in our room.  He can go to sleep on his own without needing anyone to be in the room with him.  And he can wake up by himself too!  We have reclaimed our space on our bed, with the exception of Hannah, who is still sleeping with us. By the way, Hannah has also recently shown a keen interest on sleeping on her brother’s mattress too..so perhaps we can work something out there. 🙂

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The next step is for Ethan to move into his own room.  He has already indicated he is ready.  It’s only a matter of time now.

Crazy over Cars!

August 8, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan | 4 comments

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Ethan’s current craze is non other than Cars.  Oh yes, he has moved on from his Thomas & Friends craze…

I can’t really remember when it started but it could have started from the time he got his first Cars magazine.  He has been eagerly looking forward to every monthly issue since then and has amassed quite a number of magazines too.  On top of that, he has also won some prizes from some competitions in the Cars magazine and right now he is collecting the Cars stickers for the Cars Panini collection.

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He also has a Cars calendar and some posters, plus a height chart, which he uses to measure his height frequently.

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His favorite character from Cars is Lightning McQueen, and it’s no surprise that he has already made a special request for a birthday cake next year!  Not sure if his mind will change then, but we shall see…

So guess who’s eagerly counting down the days to the movie premiere of Cars 2 later this month? 🙂

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Creativity, Storytelling and Imagination

July 29, 2011 in Ethan, Growing Up, Milestones | 1 comment

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Ethan goes to a school that uses the “Learning through Play” methodology.  The kids are taught what they need to learn through arts and crafts, projects and simple stories they enjoy.  For example, in a Mathematics lesson, instead of drilling the concept of 1 + 2 = 3, the kids will pretend to buy things in a grocery store, e.g. “If  you buy 1 orange and 2 apples, how many in total do you get?”

In addition the amount of “homework” per se pales in comparison to other schools.  I am totally opposed to the idea of homework, especially at such a young age.  To have kids being drilled every day to complete their “work” is definitely uncalled for, in my opinion.  It brings unnecessary stress to the kids and to parents too.  Ethan only brings home homework once a week; 2 pages of handwriting (1 page of purely letters, lowercase and uppercase; and 1 page of words beginning with the letter of the week), and sometimes, 1 page of Chinese handwriting homework…and even then, I feel this is too much. 😛

Ethan also brings back an English book and a Chinese book each week, as a move to inculcate the love of reading from young.  I applaud this move and feel that it is very useful as Ethan looks forward to reading it every week.

One of the aspects his school has been encouraging the kids on is in honing their creativity and storytelling skills, which I am truly happy with.  I’m impressed and am very pleased to see the progress Ethan has attained in this field.

When he was in Nursery, the kids were initially asked to draw what they thought or felt.  This gave the kids the freedom to explore their feelings and thoughts.  They were also prompted to express themselves verbally.  For example, in this following picture, Ethan was prompted “Love is…?” and he replied, “My purple bicycle.” “I love….?” and he replied, “The wind, kites and circles.”

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I found it fascinating that even his thoughts rhymed! 🙂 (never mind that he does not own a purple bicycle!)

In this next creative writing exercise example, the theme was “When I was a baby…”.  The kids were asked to draw what they did as a baby and then narrate to the teacher.

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Ethan’s picture showed:

  • When I was a baby, I played with baby balls (depicted in top right)
  • When I was a baby, I played with a toy rectangle (bottom left)
  • When I was a baby, I drink breast milk (picture of the breast at the bottom right.. LOL) – I found it heartwarming that even till then, one of his fondest memories as a baby was being breastfed! 🙂

Another example of creative writing and imagination:

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As time went on and Ethan entered K1, the kids were then encouraged to create and write their own stories using their own ideas.  It may seem very difficult for kids their age, but you’ll be amazed at what stories these kids could come up with!  The kids would then draw out their ideas to illustrate it in a clearer manner.

An example of Ethan’s short story, as dictated:

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And one of “Creating a Fairytale”:

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Such vivid imagination, don’t you think?

The next step which Ethan is being encouraged on now is creating and writing their own thoughts and stories.  Words are formed by way of trying to sound and blend the phonics of the alphabets together.  Some of the words might be spelled wrongly at first but what is being focused on is the idea that is created and not the spelling of the words.

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It’s a great start, isn’t it?  And I find that this is certainly better and more interesting that mindless drilling of words and letters and numbers…but that’s just me.

Anyway, Ethan is sharpening his listening and comprehension skills now; the teacher tells a story and the kids are prompted to repeat the story in their own words.  It’s an activity I hope to enforce at home too. 🙂

Apart of creative writing, I’m surprised the school curriculum includes some topics which I’ve either forgotten about or not aware of, like a few weeks ago, when Ethan told me there were FOUR layers in the rainforest: Forest Floor, Understory, Canopy and Emergent.

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Wow.

See?  We can learn things from kids every day too! 🙂

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We Made it for Ethan’s Sports Day!

July 23, 2011 in Celebrations, Ethan, Exercise | 1 comment

This year, Ethan’s School Sports Day (or Sports Carnival) was held on a Sunday morning, as opposed to a Sunday afternoon last year.  Coincidentally, the Sports Day falls on the Sunday following the Liverpool Asia Tour 2011 match in Bukit Jalil.  As a result, after the Liverpool match, we had to make a beeline all the way back home to Penang, so that we could attend the Sports Day the following morning.

We had to be in Ethan’s school by 8:30a.m. and we only reached home at 2:00a.m.  I was also worried for Ethan, because he was still coughing a little, but after he’d woken up and brushed his teeth, he said he wanted to go for his Sports Day.

Here’s Daddy and Hannah waiting for the events to start, with Daddy cleverly donning a pair of shades to hide sleepy and tired eyes 😛

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Ethan in the march-past, where all the kids assembled on the field and presented their class cheers in unison.  Look how happy and handsome he is…makes it all worthwhile to make the rush back from KL the night before 🙂

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Hannah, cheering her brother on, and happily joining in the clapping.

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Ethan’s event was the penultimate event of the day, but thankfully, it was not too hot.  Here are Ethan and his classmates, waiting for their turn.

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The event saw two teams (BLUE and RED), each with its members taking turns to hop on paper-shaped lilypads, whilst holding a ball with both their hands.  Ethan had briefed us on what he was supposed to do for Sports Day.  He said, “I’m supposed to hop on the lilypads like a frog, Mommy.  NOT like a kangaroo.  I have to keep my body low, like a frog.”

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He did very well, I would say, and it was a very close fight between the two teams, however, Ethan’s BLUE team came in a close second after the RED team.  His team still got a medal though…a silver medal, and everyone was given a goodie bag.

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Awwww…don’t look so sad, baby.  Daddy and Mommy are SO proud of you!  And you know, the important thing is that you tried your best!  *hugssss*

Ethan, Our Little Red Supporter

July 20, 2011 in Celebrations, Ethan, Sports, Vacation | 3 comments

When we heard that Liverpool would be playing Malaysia as part of their Asia Tour 2011, we wanted to take Ethan to the match, but still, we were not sure if he would want to go.  We told him that it was going to be noisy, very hot, and the match was going to be a whole 2 hours.  He thought for a while and then he decided he wanted to go.

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We enlisted the help of Allan Aku, Pei Gee Ah Kim and also Ah Mah, who had travelled all the way from Ipoh to take care of Hannah for a few hours while the three of us went for the match.  We took an LRT from the Sungai Besi station, which was only a station away from the Bukit Jalil station.  It was Ethan’s first time ever on the LRT.

He was having a little cough but not once did he complain that it was hot or crowded.  He asked for a snack before entering the stadium.

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He only kept asking when the match was gonna start.  You see, we’d arrive in the stadium about 1 hour and 45 minutes before kickoff..and it was a good thing too, because a little later and we would not have been able to get seats.

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We didn’t bring any scarf or banners, but we were approached by a Standard Chartered representative to provide our contact numbers and in return we would get a Liverpool poster.  So that’s what Ethan held during the singing of the Liverpool anthem, You’ll Never Walk Alone.  I also taught him to sing the “Liverpool…..Liverpool….” tune 🙂

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Ethan taking a catnap 45 minutes before the match started.

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Throughout the match (especially during the first half), Ethan kept asking us when the goals would come.  And when they did, he cheered as loudly as all of us.  I’m sure he wasn’t disappointed with the score 🙂

Tired though we may be, we had to rush back home to Penang after the match.  Both kids, especially Ethan, were very tired too, for they slept through almost the entire journey.  Thanks to Daddy’s safe driving (not to mention FAST), we arrived home at about 2:00a.m.

Well, if you’re wondering why we had to rush back so soon, there’s a very good reason, and here’s a sneak peek…

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For more pictures from our Liverpool Asia Tour 2011 match, please click here.

Dental Checkup Time

July 9, 2011 in Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones, Parenting | 1 comment

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We took both Ethan and Hannah to see the dentist for their twice-a-year checkup yesterday. Well, for Ethan, it was his 2nd time with this dentist, but for Hannah, it’s her first time ever going for a dental checkup.

While waiting for their turn, the kids were fascinated by the door sensor that went “Ding Dong” every time they’d go near it.  The waiting area was pretty spacious, which allowed them to roam around.  SIGH.  They obviously ignored our reminders to “keep it down!” 😛

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I took both kids into the treatment room, because I wanted Hannah to observe Ethan having his checkup first.  The dentist remarked that Ethan’s teeth were absolutely clean and told him to keep up the good work.  Our boy was beaming from ear to ear! 🙂

Then came Hannah’s turn.  She willingly got into the patient’s chair and did not wriggle or scream when the dentist ask her to open her mouth to check.  Such is the power of sibling influence 🙂 and I was very impressed by her courage at such a young age.

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Unfortunately though, the dentist detected a small cavity in Hannah’s 2nd upper right incisor, which she said had penetrated the dentin layer (not sure why Hannah had not complained of pain).  Anyway, the dentist did a composite filling for Hannah using slow frequency equipment that would not be so *scary* and loud for a two-year-old.

And Hannah did GREAT.  I’m so proud of her.  She laid very still as I held her hand and the filling was done in less than 5 minutes.  No wailings, no screaming and no tears.

I told Hannah she had to let Daddy or Mommy brush her teeth from now on (or at least take turns with her, i.e. “First Mommy will brush your teeth…and now it’s Hannah’s turn!”).  Sometimes she would insist on brushing her teeth herself, which could be the reason why she had a cavity in the first place.  Well hopefully, in 6 months’ time when they go for their dental checkup again, the dentist will give an “all clear” report! 🙂

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My Little Songstress

July 4, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah | 2 comments

Hannah LOVES music.  When she was a small baby, she would respond very positively to music and it came as no surprise when she started to tap her feet and move her booty to the music too.  She loves to sing now, and a few days ago, I was able to capture a few snippets of her singing.  Enjoy!

Oh, they were laughing at the end because Pete was behind me doing something funny, trying to make them laugh! 🙂

Day-Trippin’ to Taiping Zoo

June 28, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting | No comments

During the same long 3-day weekend when we visited the beach, the other place the kids wanted to go to was the zoo.  Ethan and Hannah both adore animals, and since Hannah had not been to the zoo before, we decided to make a day trip to the nearest zoo: Taiping Zoo.

We initially planned on arriving in the morning and then having lunch afterward, but that plan clearly backfired and we only arrived in Taiping around lunch time.  We had lunch with Taiping Ah Ma and Ah Kong before we headed for the zoo.

After slapping on lots of sunblock all over, we bravely walked into the hot scorching sun ….err…. ooops, I mean zoo. 😛 We wanted to start off our trip with a tram ride, but after waiting for our turn for 20 minutes with no sign of movement from the LONG queue, we decided to walk around the zoo first, and then do the tram ride later.  Amazing how so many people there were at the zoo despite the burning hot weather!

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It was definitely no walk in the park, for the weather was really hot.  Plus I wasn’t really in the mood to take pictures too, despite bringing my camera along.  The kids weren’t in camera-smiling mode either.  So pictures were rather minimal…

Anyway, here are a few pictures I snapped of some of the animals in the zoo:

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I was surprised that most of the animals were rather well cared for.  I didn’t remember them looking this good from my last visit years ago.  The elephants especially, looked really healthy! 🙂

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We went back to take the tram ride after we had walked round the zoo, and the kids really enjoyed that.  Despite the hot sun, we had a swell time, and no one got sun-burnt! 🙂

The Lure of Toys R Us

June 24, 2011 in Ethan, Hannah, Parenting, Shopping | No comments

When we go to either Queensbay Mall or Gurney Plaza, the kids would be exhilarated!  In a normal scenario, after lunch/dinner at the mall, they’d come up to us and ask sweetly, “Daddy, Mommy, NOW can we go to Toys R Us, please?”

We try to accommodate whenever we can, because they do enjoy themselves there, even though it’s just for toy-window-shopping.

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Kungfu Panda Mania

June 22, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah | 1 comment

Better put up this post while the show is still showing on the silver screen…hehe…

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We went for Kungfu Panda 2 the 2nd day after its opening.  It was also the last day of school before the school holidays, and the best seats in the house were about 4 rows from the screen.

Not wanting to let the kids down, I bought the tickets anyway, and upon entering the cinema, we found that the seats weren’t too bad after all.  I mean, we didn’t need to strain our necks or anything, in fact it was rather comfy, cos ours was the first row before a group of rows which was nearer to the screen, hence we had a LOT of leg room!  We found out that the majority of the tickets in that cinema was booked by an international school for some of its students.

Anyway, we made sure this time that the popcorn lasted way longer than our previous experience with Rio. 🙂  Hannah was quite all right and was very excited every time she saw Po, the panda.  Halfway into the show, our little Hannah fell asleep in my arms, and we managed to watched the entire show without disruption.  Ethan of course, is an expert cinemagoer now and he enjoyed every bit of the show.  Even Mommy and Daddy enjoyed it (some parts tugged at the heart strings too…)

We enjoyed the show so much that last weekend, we decided to watch Kungfu Panda 1 at home, simply because we had not seen it, and we wanted to piece together the entire story.

If there is a Kungfu Panda 3, we’re definitely gonna watch it! 🙂

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