Bible Verse of the Day

Ethan

All about Ethan

Happy Father’s Day 2011

June 22, 2011 in Celebrations, Ethan, Hannah | No comments

First off, I just wanna wish all fathers, including my hubby, my father (Papa), my FIL (Papa) and all daddies out there a Happy Father’s Day.  Belated, rather.  It’s a day that is oft overlooked and stays much in the shadows of Mother’s Day.  Psstt…maybe it’s because it’s so much harder to get a gift for daddies…some parties choose to have Parents Appreciation Day instead.

fathersday1

In any case, last Sunday Ethan presented Daddy with his self-made laminated heart-shaped card with a Chinese written message, and a bag of self-made heart-shaped cookies (with colorful sprinkles; didn’t manage to take a picture of the cookies, because they all ended in our tummies.  He made both in school and had whispered to me on Friday that we ought to keep it a surprise from Pete.

For our Father’s Day lunch, we decided to head off to Victoria Station.  We had not been there in AGES, and it was a familiar comfortable surrounding that greeted us.  Plus, the kids were overjoyed to be dining in a “train”! 🙂

fathersday2

fathersday3

Enjoying the bun and butter before the main course arrived.  Hannah preferred to dip her bun into Daddy’s Cream of Dutch Pea soup, before eating.

fathersday4

fathersday5

fathersday6

They did not have a kids’ menu available, so we had to order a plate of spaghetti bolognese for the kids to share.

fathersday7

Vanilla milkshake for Hannah and Chocolate Milkshake for Ethan:

fathersday8

Pete ordered the Feast for the King of the House special (but of course!) and I ordered my all-time favorite rib-eye steak (which I am happy to say turned out marbled and medium just like I had requested).

fathersday9

fathersday10

fathersday11

After our very satisfying lunch, Ethan and Hannah had the privilege to climb onboard the front of the train (which formed part of the restaurant).  Well, Daddy too…of course!  I declined the offer because I was wearing an above-the-knee length dress that restricted me from climbing up.

fathersday12

fathersday13

The Art of Using Chopsticks

June 20, 2011 in Ethan, Food & Feeding, Growing Up, Milestones | No comments

chopsticks1

Doesn’t Ethan look like a pro using his pair of training chopsticks?  They were a gift from Pauline Kor Kor a couple of years ago (when Ethan was way too small for chopsticks), but look at my little big boy now…

chopsticks2

He is not really a fan of noodles or beehoon, but just last week, I just asked him for fun if he wanted rice or beehoon for lunch.  Surprisingly, Ethan said he wanted beehoon soup, so that’s what I served him! 🙂

chopsticks4

Add a pair of chopsticks to the equation and you have a happy camper of a toddler 🙂

chopsticks3

Our Saturday Routine

June 17, 2011 in Ethan, Exercise, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | No comments

The weekend is here, oh how we have missed it.  Our Saturdays are more or less routinely planned out each week.  In the mornings, we’ll all go out together and Hannah and I will be dropped off at her parent-toddler class.  While we are at the class, Daddy will take Ethan for a *bonding session*.  They’ll either go for a quick exercise session, some football in the park, or lately, sometimes they’ll just take the car for a wash.

Anyway, I’ve come to realize that I have not been posting any pictures of Hannah enjoying her parent-toddler class, because the fact is she really does!  She looks forward to her class every week and would cheerfully wave goodbye as Daddy drives away.  She’s always asking to go to “Teacher Puva’s class” and will happily participate in all the activities.  Sometimes she will even volunteer to “go first” in some of the group activities.

Hannah intently cutting up some pretend fruits and vegetables with her pretend knife…

pt1

Fun with arts and crafts…

pt2

pt3

pt4

pt7

pt5

pt6

pt8

Water play can be methodical too.  High level of concentration needed here.

pt9

Hannah loves a good story, and the pretty stickers she gets afterward.

pt10

And here are a couple of pictures of when Ethan and Daddy went for a short visit to the Botanical Gardens during the recent Floral Festival.

bgardens1

bgardens2

Isn’t it marvelous to see the kids happy that way? 🙂

Our Saturday lunches are almost certainly our favorite chicken rice at Fatty Loh.  Even the kids know that by now.  Then again, kids thrive on routines.. 🙂

Sun, Beach and Sand

June 9, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Exercise, Hannah, Sports | 2 comments

Last weekend, we’d asked Ethan to choose where he wanted to go, since Pete had a long holiday weekend (Agong’s birthday).  At first, Ethan was undecided, but then he later announced that he wanted to go to the beach.

beach1

I told him that if he wanted to go to the beach, he would have to wake up very early, and he would also be responsible to wake everyone up, so that we could reach the beach early.  The previous weekend, cousin Jonathan (from KL) went to the beach too, but Ethan declined because he said it was TOO HOT.

Anyway, on Saturday morning, at approximately 6:30a.m., I was awakened by Ethan at the foot of my bed, saying, “Mommy, wake up!  Time to go to the beach!”  At 6:30a.m. I tell you!

Well, despite waking up so early, we got ready and arrived at the beach at about 9:45a.m.  That’s considered very early for our standards.  The sun was still warm (not baking hot), and the sea was inviting.  We chose a rather secluded beach that was not too rocky, and that was not too popular with tourists.  Slapped on copious amounts of sunblock on top of the layer I put on them at home and we were all set!

The kids got to play with the Rio beach ball Ethan had won in a magazine contest.

beach

Ethan and Hannah immediately wanted to go and play with the waves.  But as soon as the waves licked their feet, Hannah was screaming, “Carry me, Mommy!” and she wanted to return to our umbrella.  (see that pout?)

beach2

Ethan, meanwhile, had a LOT of fun with the waves, showing totally no fear whatsoever.

beach3

beach4

beach5

Hannah preferred to steer clear from the water’s edge, and play with her plastic cup, scooping up the sand and pouring it out.

beach6

beach7

beach8

beach9

We definitely need to get more sand-castle building tools for them the next time we visit the beach.

beach11

Ethan said, “Daddy and Mommy, thank you for bringing us to the beach today!  I had a LOT of fun!! Please, can we go again?  Please please?”

Of course we can, darling…and hopefully soon!  Can you believe that it was the FIRST time Ethan and Hannah had been to the beach in Penang? 😛

beach10

Literature Night 2011

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

About a week ago, Ethan’s school organized a Literature Night for all the Kindergarten-1(K1) students.  Apparently this is an annual event for just the K1 kids.  It was held on a Saturday night and there were 2 classes of K1 kids involved.  Unfortunately Pete had to miss this rare opportunity because he was away on a business trip.

The rationale behind having a Literature Night is to celebrate literacy amongst students, and also it is tradition that there would be short presentations from parents/siblings/grandparents who were sporting enough to volunteer.

Initially, because I knew Pete would not be around, I intended to give Literature Night a miss, but then I discovered that it would be only for K1 and next year, Ethan would not have this chance again.  Plus, he kept on telling me that he would also be performing with his class as Narrator 1.

He said, “Mommy, Teacher said I am Narrator 1 because I can read SOOOOOOO well.” And then he beamed with pride.

How can I say no to that?

So I checked with my Mom and asked if she could accompany us to Literature Night, and I was so grateful she said yes.  Even though she had to rush to Genting Highlands the next morning, she still came all the way from Ipoh to lend her help and support.  And for that I am eternally thankful. 🙂

Ethan was SO excited in the days leading up to Literature Night and kept giving me a countdown as to how many more days it would be  to Literature Night.  Here he is, all ready for Lit Night, and impatient for us to leave the house.

litnite1

On the way to his school that evening, he kept telling me that he had to arrive BEFORE 7:00p.m.  Well, of course we arrived on time, and the event was going to start very soon too, because everyone was incredibly punctual 🙂

Here’s Hannah posing for the camera before Literature Night started.

litnite2

…and with Ah Ma too:

litnite3

Ethan and his classmates getting ready for the Chinese presentation:

litnite4

…and Ethan doing a spectacular job at being Narrator 1.

litnite5

Ethan’s class did a rather ambitious performance in the form of a Readers’ Theatre.  His class teacher chose the story Skyfire by Frank Asch.

 litnite6

litnite7

Some of the kids gave very good recitals of poetry and song presentations.  And Hannah had a good time watching the presentations too.  She even sat close to one of Ethan’s classmates, Marcus, to watch. LOL

 litnite8

When it was time for our presentation, we headed out to stage as the “Three Generation Quartet” (Grandma, Mommy & Kids).  We were supposed to sing a two-song medley comprising Do-Re-Mi and This Little Light of Mine, but halfway through Do-Re-Mi, the mp3 stopped playing.  Nevertheless, as the saying goes, “The show must go on”…so we continued singing Do-Re-Mi till the end.

Later on, when the school principal managed to make the mp3 work, we were asked to present the whole medley again, this time with no glitches.  Hannah more or less *grabbed* the mic from me so I was left without a mic for some time.  She even asked to go up to the stage to *sing again* after we had come down from the stage. 😛

Errr…pictures and video of our presentation are with a friend of mine, who has not passed me the downloads yet. 😛

All in all, a really enjoyable night.  And Ethan had a really great time.  So glad he managed to experience this night.

 

(Late) Morning Exercise at The Botanical Gardens

May 22, 2011 in Ethan, Exercise, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | 1 comment

Time and time, we had planned on going to The Botanical Gardens for a family exercise session, but time and time again, circumstances, (reasonable) excuses and sheer laziness got the better of us.  Granted, Ethan and Daddy do go there quite often…well, it’s either there or the Youth Park.  Ethan and Daddy has about an hour or so of bonding time on Saturdays when I accompany Hannah to her parent-toddler class, so they’ll either go for a walk/jog or football session.

Anyway, I digress.

I was gonna talk about our recent family exercise session at The Botanical Gardens. 🙂

It was the long Labor Day weekend, so Monday was a holiday too.  I remember years back I used to arrive at The Botanical Gardens before 7:30a.m. for a hike up Penang Hill.  But now, I’d be happy to reach there by 10:30a.m. 

Anyways, we decided against riding the tram and decided instead to take a walk around the park.

botanical1

Ethan, who was brimming with boundless energy, kept on asking us to “Hurry up!”

botanical2 

His stamina was quite good, and he could run for a long while before he got tired.  When it was obvious it was a shorter distance to walk on the pavement, Ethan decided he wanted to make a detour and climb up and down a mini hill by the road instead.

botanical3 

Every time either one of us caught up to him, Ethan would quicken his step and try to outrun us.

botanical4

…and every time that happens, little Hannah would ask us to “Catch Ethan!”  Not a problem at first, but when she started to get tired, and whoever was in *charge* of her had to carry her AND run after Ethan…well, let’s just say it’s a combo of cardio and strength training at the same time.  Try carrying 13 kilos and sprinting! 😛

botanical6

After the workout, the kids were all rosy-cheeked and exhausted (we thought).

botanical5

Well actually, the adults were also rather tired out themselves…but that is certainly not a deterrent.  We’ll definitely do this again.

I’d very much like to take the kids along to the gym too…that is, IF I can find a gym in Penang that has a section/classes specially catered for the kids. 🙂

Random Bulat Shots

May 12, 2011 in Ethan, Funny Moments, Hannah | 2 comments

Sometimes…when my kids are in the mood to pose for pictures, I will grab this opportunity to snap a few random shots.  Usually what I get is a series of pictures that money definitely cannot buy…and pictures that are bound to light up even the dullest day, and guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.

random1

These pictures were taken in the compound of our condo, while waiting for Daddy to get the car ready to take us out for dinner last Friday.

Getting warmed up…

random2

Watch and Learn…

random3

…and Copy!

random4

I asked for a SERIOUS shot and this is what they gave me…

random5

Time to get cheeky again!

 random6

“Where’s your nose?”

 random7

“Simon says, ‘Touch your hair!'”

random8

My Mother’s Day Gift

May 8, 2011 in Celebrations, Ethan, Parenting | No comments

Last Friday, when Ethan came back from school, he told me he had a Mother’s Day gift for me in a little brown baggy, but I was not allowed to open it until Sunday, because it had to be a surprise.  I asked him if I had to keep it in the fridge, but he said no.

However, just to be on the safe side, I asked him to show it to Daddy and then Daddy can decide if it needs to be refrigerated.  Well, turns out it did.

momsday2011

Ethan did drop *hints* here and there, so I had more or less guessed what it was…so when I opened the baggy this morning, it wasn’t really a surprise to me,…well, the only surprising thing was the star sprinkles on top of the blueberry muffin.  Nevertheless, regardless of whether it was a surprise or not, I was more touched by the effort he put in and the genuine excitement and pride he felt when I told him I LOVED it.  It was a gift from the heart, with words that he wrote all by himself and it was really yummy too (I shared it with both Ethan and Hannah)…

Happy Mommy’s Day to me, and to all the lovely mothers out there too!  Take the day off if you can…you so deserve it!

Age Classification according to Ethan

May 5, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Funny Moments, Growing Up | 2 comments

ethan-beingsmart

This is how Ethan classifies age and age groups.  According to Ethan:

  • At the age of 0 years, you are considered a baby.
  • At the age of 1 year old, you are considered a small toddler.
  • At the age of 2 years, you are a medium toddler.
  • At the age of 3 years, you are a small kid.
  • At the age of 4 years, you are a medium kid.
  • At the age of 5 years, you are a BIG kid.
  • You remain a BIG kid from 6, 7, and so on until you attain the age of 12.
  • At the age of 13, you are a small teenager.
  • At the age of 14, you are a medium teenager.
  • At the age of 15, you are a BIG teenager.
  • You remain a BIG teenager until the age of 19.
  • When you hit 20 years old, you become a small adult.
  • At the age of 21, you are a medium adult.
  • At the age of 22, you are a BIG adult.
  • You remain a BIG adult until you get married and have kids.
  • As soon as you have kids, you become either a Daddy or Mommy.
  • And when those kids grow up and have their own kids, then you move on to become Grandpa or Grandma.

Me and You and Déjà vu

May 4, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Funny Moments, Hannah | No comments

hannah-driving

During our regular visits to Toys R Us, Hannah never fails to “test drive” the kiddie cars.  Of course, it’s rather difficult now because they do not have any which aren’t chained up.  But that does not deter her, for she will just climb in and out of the cars one after another in a row.  Sometimes she finds herself stuck and unable to get out, so I will have to carry her out from the front windscreen of the car.

Now, doesn’t this scenario sound familiar? 🙂

Yes, it was exactly what her brother, Ethan, did several years ago, when he was about 1.5 years old.  See photo evidence below:

policecar

Ethan has definitely outgrown that phase, but it looks like his sister is quickly learning the ropes! 🙂

« Older entries § Newer entries »