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All about Ethan
You know that distinctable starting sound of that Glee song “Don’t Stop Believing”? Yes, the part at the beginning when the cast of Glee sings, “Da-da-da-da-da…..”?
Well, this is what Hannah does whenever she hears this song, be it on the radio, on the TV, or when we play the CD..
…and errr… the last bit of that video is just Ethan trying to get part of himself into the shot. LOL
When Ethan was much younger, he loved dogs. In fact, his close encounter with a golden retriever was a really fun and loving one.
But somewhere along the line, he began to have a fear of dogs. We would be taking our walks in the park when we were in the States and he would scream, “Aaaaahhhh!!! Dog!!!!” and run away or hide behind us.
So a few weekends ago, when we were vacationing in KL and decided to pay his Aunty Adelle a visit, we were bracing ourselves for some major screaming. Adelle has a labrador and we figured Ethan would be afraid.
But we were so wrong…!!!
Look at how well they got along together…in fact, I think the lab (Hazy) was a bit scared of him for following her all around the house. Even Hannah was not afraid of the dog.
When we asked Ethan why he wasn’t afraid of the dog, he said, “Because it’s a friendly doggie, Mommy. It’s not a barking one!”
We should have done this a long time ago…but we had always thought the Green Mamut table from Ikea would not be able to fit into our trunk.
We took the risk anyways, and were surprised to find out that it fits!
So the kids now have a new table. They use it for just about anything under the sun: for their activities, for the coloring and drawing, for their meals…and errmmm…for climbing on too! Sometimes Daddy and Mommy will join them at the table for their meals as well (we get that Japanese vibe cuz the table is lower).
Ethan loves the table because he can do almost anything there, and Hannah loves it because she does not need to be strapped into the high chair for her meals now. I love it because it’s round and has absolutely no sharp edges (and also because crayon and pencil marks wash off super easy!)
The green table has taken over the place of our dark brown side table in the living room, making the room brighter and more cheerful.
We should actually be counting our blessings that the phase had lasted this long. For after 18 months of sitting in the stroller when we’re about to go out, pushing Hannah all the way in the stroller to the car and then loading her in the car and unloading her back onto the stroller when we get back home, Hannah finally decided to *put her foot down* and now refuses to get into the stroller when we are going out.
It started with her in the infant carrier, where all I needed to do was carry her in the carrier and place it in the carrier base in the car. Then when she outgrew the carrier, I pushed her in the stroller and loaded her into the car seat in the car. Sometimes she would refuse, but we’ve always managed to get her into the stroller with the lure of a toy or a book. The use of the stroller has made it so much easier to handle both kids, especially when we have other stuff to carry.
Not anymore though.
Now she wants to walk with us all the way to the car. So now I have both my hands full, one hand holding Ethan and the other holding Hannah. She also insists on slinging her bag whenever she walks. Looks like I will not be able to carry a lot of other things with me now.
And the picture above was taken just yesterday, just after we had parked our car and were preparing to go upstairs. Don’t they look happy and cheeky at the same time?
I ran out of videos to show the kids the other day, so I finally decided to show them the song segments from The Sound of Music DVD. After a couple of times watching the Do-Re-Mi portion, Ethan started singing the song over and over again…in a style that is all his own…
I recorded this while we were waiting for our food in a restaurant .. here is his version, albeit a little cut short.. LOL
A few weekends ago, Ethan’s preschool had a little concert. The theme of the concert this year was “The Garden”.
Prior to the concert day, Ethan had been reporting to us as to what he would be doing. Apparently he would be singing and dancing in a Chinese song performance. Initially he was supposed to say something in Chinese onstage together with another girl, his classmate. But the teachers then decided that the girl would say it on her own, and Ethan was instead tasked with introducing his performance number….yes, in Chinese 😛
On the evening of the concert, we all drove to Ethan’s school and Ethan went off to the room to get into his costumes and do some *hair and makeup*.
The concert was rather well-organized, and given the fact that the performers were all 2 to 4 year olds, it was superb. Based on the concert’s theme, all the performances were centered around the garden theme: flowers, planting, the sun, farmers…etc.
Ethan’s performance was the very last one, and the truth is, both Pete and I were REALLY proud of our boy because he did a FANTASTIC job. He danced, he sang and he thoroughly looked like he enjoyed himself. 🙂
Hannah unfortunately had fallen asleep before her brother’s performance, so we’ll have to show her the video some other day.
Here’s Ethan introducing his group’s performance. What he said was,
“我们是地球的孩子 ( wǒ men shì dì qiú de hái zǐ )” which means “We are the children of the Earth”, a very meaningful song indeed.
We actually practised saying what we *thought* he was supposed to say during the concert, but little did we know that what we practised was a different phrase. It was the *earlier* one, but the teachers had changed it. Anyway, Ethan still managed to say the right one when the time came.
And here are some of the *rather blurry* photos from the concert – these were the best we could get from where we were sitting. We’re waiting to see the video 🙂
Ethan exuded confidence and showed us what a big boy he was becoming. On stage, we could tell he was very HAPPY and he was looking out for Daddy and Mommy, perhaps to tell us, “Look Dad and Mom! Here I am!”
And we are so very proud of him. 🙂
It all started off when I decided to print some simple activity sheets for Ethan to occupy himself with. The internet has an endless resource of all sorts of activity sheets and Ethan loved them all. He loves using his pencils and color pencils and completing everything those activity sheets required.
Then Hannah got interested too. Of course, she can’t quite do the activities per se yet, but she just simply loved the idea of holding a pencil or color pencil and scribbling on a piece of paper.
She would pull up a stool and sit together with her brother and they would both go wild with their creativity. Yes, sometimes they snatch from each other and yes, sometimes it gets out of hand and they start scribbling on the tables, but still, it’s such a joy to watch them spending time together…and not pulling each other’s hair out! 😛
Ethan stayed home from school today, because he was still nursing a forceful dry cough. Didn’t want him spreading those germs around school.
Just so he doesn’t miss out too much, I called up his teacher and asked if I could homeschool him today. His teacher prepared some activity sheets and I stopped by his school to collect them just now.
After I had explained the first activity (writing and coloring) to Ethan, I left him alone and went about my house chores. When I came back to check on him a few minutes later, this is what I saw on his chair:
Now I don’t know whether to laugh or cry…he said he wrote his name on it because the chair belongs to him. 😛
..oh by the way, the picture above shows him in the background busy doing some *painting*… 😛
Is Hannah asking for a lullaby?
Well, Ethan certainly thinks so…for every time Hannah sweetly says, “Lullaby, lullaby..”, Ethan will say, “Mommy, Hannah is asking you to sing her a lullaby”, and when Mommy is busy, Ethan will take matters into his own hands and sing, “Lullaby, and goodnight…little Hannah go to sleep…”
Everybody say…”Awwwwwww…..” 🙂
It’s difficult to imagine that Ethan was once a quiet boy, unable to express himself … but now, he’s all words and active as ever. He speaks like an adult, possibly because we have never used baby talk with him before.
I’m not allowed to call him “darling” or “sweetie” or “baby” anymore, because Ethan says he is not a small baby anymore. Now he is a “medium boy”.
He picks up after us like a sponge; whatever we say or do is repeated in a similar fashion, often in an endearing manner:
One morning, when his Daddy gave him a kiss on the forehead before he left for work, Ethan responded with, “Awwwww…” , maybe because he heard me say that before.
He’s also learning the “Copy me” game now, where he would cheekily follow what we say or do. And then when I start speaking to him in Hokkien, he would retort, “Mommy, why are you speaking in Spanish?”
Sometimes Ethan says logical things like:
“Mommy, I drink chocolate milk and fresh milk. I don’t drink low fat milk, because I’m not fat!”
We’ve had embarassing moments too, like last week in church during the sermon, Ethan proclaimed loudly, “Daddy, why is he taking so long?”
…and his questions just keep getting harder and harder:
Ethan: Mommy, where is God?
Mommy: God is everywhere, Ethan. He’s all around us, He is in our home, He is in school with you, and most importantly, He is in our hearts.
Ethan: Where is heaven?
Mommy: Heaven is where God lives. It’s a really beautiful place and someday we will all go and stay there together with God.
Ethan: Why doesn’t everybody know God?
Mommy: Well, maybe because not everyone has gotten the chance to know God yet, Ethan.
Ethan: Why doesn’t *** pray to God? (he makes this remark because he noticed that some homes do not have the cross hung outside the door)
Mommy: Oh, maybe *** DOES pray to God…it doesn’t mean he/she doesn’t pray to God if they don’t have a cross outside their house.
Some questions are simply too *HARD* to answer…
Ethan: Daddy, why are we parking on the 6th floor, Daddy…why why why?
He’s even got a plan for the future:
Ethan: Mommy, when I grow bigger, I’ll go to office with Daddy; and when Hannah grows bigger she will go to market with you, Mommy. 🙂
And he keeps surprising us every day…especially with his reading skills. A few nights ago, as we were tucking the kids in to bed, Hannah brought their goodnight story book, and Daddy said it’s Mommy’s turn to read. But Ethan interjected and said, “NO! I wanna read tonight!”
And he did.
The whole story…all by himself, save for a word or two, which he paused and asked us how to pronounce.
He did such a good job, really. And even ended the story with a dramatic “THE END”.
How can we not be beaming with pride? 🙂
