Bible Verse of the Day

Ethan

All about Ethan

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Last week, Ethan was literally counting down to the weekend, because we told him we would take him out to play football in the field.  You see, it’s quite hard to experience the Jabulani ball at its fullest potential by merely kicking it around the house, yes?

Even on Friday night, he was already telling me, “Mommy, tomorrow will be Saturday the 24th of July.  I’ll go and play FOOTBALL!”

Yes, he was THAT excited. 🙂

So on Saturday morning (well…actually it was quite LATE in the morning), we packed his ball, his boots and socks and we headed off to the Esplanade field, where Daddy and Ethan could kick some ball.  On the way there, while in the elevator, and in our apartment lobby, Ethan was eagerly telling every Tom, Dick and Harry that he was going to play football.  He even told the apartment cleaning lady!

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We got him into his gear when we arrived and he went absolutely crazy!  He really had a lot of fun, running around and screaming GOAL!!!!  everywhere… even though there was no goal post.

A Dutch family, who was in Penang for a vacation, happened to be there too, and coincidentally, the twin boys in that family were Ethan’s age.  So Ethan had two new friends playing football with him.

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Just look at the way he kicked the ball!

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And here’s how you complain to the referee…”Hey ref!  That was a FOUL!” Ethan said.

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We have GOT to get him that makeshift goal.

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Ethan experienced his first ever Sports Day last Sunday.  He had been looking forward to it for many weeks now, and every day leading up to the Sports Day, he would report to us the preparations and pratices he did in school.

We arrived about 15 minutes before the events kicked off, so little Hannah had some time to roam around too…

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First, they had a torch run and then the kids from all the classes did a march past.  Look at my little boy, all grown up! 🙂

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For the events, each class was split into two teams of different colors.  For Ethan’s class, he was in the GREEN team, challenging his other classmates in the YELLOW team.

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First they had to walk on a balance beam.

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…and then weave in and out of the traffic cones.

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Then, pick up a small coconut, aim and hit a row of 4 cans. 

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Pick up the coconut, arrange the cans back in order, and run back to the team to tag the next person.

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Cheer as loudly as you can for your team!

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It was a close fight, but at the end of it, Ethan’s green team won!  … and parents of the kids in the green team cheered and high-fived each other! 🙂

Yay for team spirit! 🙂

The kids each got a medal and a goodie bag:

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There were also events for the parents to participate in together with their kids.

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I had not planned on taking part at first, because I had to care for Hannah, but one of Ethan’s teachers offered to carry Hannah for a few minutes, so I could participate.

And our team WON!  Yay!!

All in all, Ethan really had fun during his Sports Day.  In addition to winning his medal and prizes, he got to hang out with his friends after his event.

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..and of course, he kept saying that he WON! 🙂

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Two weeks ago, I decided to take Ethan to the movies for a treat.  His school was closed on that day, so we headed off to Queensbay Mall to catch Toy Story 3.  Check out his happy and excited face:

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Unfortunately though, all the tickets were sold out and so we had to walk away disappointedly 🙁

Of course, to appease him, we hung around Queensbay Mall for a little while longer and did some fun stuff.

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And I promised him I would take him to the movies some other day.

Little did I know that the screening of Toy Story 3 ended on that very same day, so I was left to look for other suitable kids’ movies.

..which was when I heard about Despicable Me.  The title sure doesn’t sound very kid-friendly, but I read a few reviews and apparently it was deemed more suitable for kids compared to Toy Story 3.  Plus, a few of my friends had watched it, and gave their thumbs up.

So yesterday, since Ethan’s school had declared a holiday/rest day following their school sports day on Sunday, my boy and I trotted off to the cinema to catch a movie.  It was Ethan’s first ever experience watching a movie, and we could tell he was really hyped up about it.  The night before, he had exclaimed, “Yay!  Tomorrow we’ll go and watch a movie!”  He even proudly told our neighbors in the elevator that we were going to catch a movie.

We were a little bit apprehensive about bringing Ethan to the movies before, because at home when he is watching TV, he would ask to change the channel every now and then.  And we ALL know changing channels is not to be heard of in movies, right? 😛

But just last week, he managed to sit through an entire movie session of Toy Story 2 on my laptop, so we figured he must be ready.

So anyway, to make perfectly sure we had tickets, I had booked the tickets online and collected them a day before the movie.  Before we left the house, Ethan reminded me over and over again to bring the tickets.

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We arrived in Queensbay Mall and had a quick chicken rice lunch, after which Ethan said we should hurry to the cinema before the show starts. Got ourselves some popcorn, and headed into the cinema.

I got back row seats, so we could exit quietly if need be, but there was really no reason for concern.  At first, Ethan asked lots of questions, and commented on why the show had not started, all LOUDLY.  But after I’d explained the basic rules to him, he was good throughout the movie and sat through.  There were times when he said the movie was “a little bit scary” and he held on to my arm, but most of the time, he watched it intently and even went “Uh-oh” and “Hurry!” at the right parts.

All in all, we had a blast and after the show, Ethan wanted to sit through all the credits too.  We’ll definitely do it again…hopefully really soon! 🙂

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Ethan’s got new playthings!  Check ’em out…

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We finally managed to find a pair of football /soccer boots for Ethan in his size, and Daddy got him a Size 1 Jabulani ball in the Liverpool flavor too!

Ethan has been *scoring goals* around the house ever since, and he really can’t wait to break into his new boots too!

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There was something else we are seriously considering getting for Ethan…we’re holding back only because it’s a little bit big on him…but what do you think?  Should we get it anyway? 🙂

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scissors

I knew this day would come, but it came a little faster than I had expected.  Using the scissors is very important fine motor skill to master, especially for toddlers, and Ethan is now old enough to learn and perfect that skill.

He has been showing a very keen interest in mastering the scissors, so I try to coach and guide him as best as I can.  I got him a scissor-cutting book with different shapes and lines to cut, and of course, a pair of safety scissors. The first pair of scissors we got for Ethan was way too blunt.  It did not have any steel blades, only plastic edges.  And this became very frustrating to use.  So a few days ago, I spotted a pair of scissors with steel blades but BLUNT points, and the packaging mentioned that it was recommended for children aged 4 and above.  Perfect, I thought.

And Ethan has been happily using this pair since.

Among the *skills* I am emphasizing are:

  • How to hold the scissors (point blades down when not in use)
  • How to pass the scissors to another person (i.e. close the blades, hold the blades and pass the handles to someone)
  • Turn the paper, NOT the scissors
  • Alternative ways to cut shapes

We try to cut out shapes and lines a page a day, but we can only indulge in this when Hannah is asleep.  Hehehe…

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When I picked Ethan up from school yesterday, he had a medal around his neck.  He proudly showed it to me, saying, “Look Mommy, I’m a STAR KID!”

Apparently, his school has a Star Kid of the Week award whereby kids who are at their best behaviour get awarded with the Star Kid medal for the week.  Ethan has mentioned this Star Kid award before, but this was the first time he has gotten it.

His face was beaming ever so brightly, and Mommy is as proud as can be. 🙂

When Hannah turned one, we had been looking for a photographer to take nice portraiture shots of her.  We had gone to a kids photo studio when Ethan turned one the last time, but that photo studio had already moved.   

We were still hunting for a photographer, when our friend Linda, who’s a freelance photographer, very kindly offered to take the photos for us.  We also wanted some family shots and of course, of Mr Bulat (aka Ethan) himself.

Now, if you don’t already know, family and kids’ portraiture shots are quite difficult to take and need a lot of patience and time, both from the photographer and from the *objects being photographed*.  This is because kids lose their focus easily and might not be at their best behaviour at all times.  And knowing my kids and how active they can get, we were prepared for a *highly energized* session, … which was what we got.

It was a Saturday morning in late May, and we planned on taking some shots indoors in our home, just to allow the kids to relax and be themselves, and then adjourning downstairs to the pool area.  However, it started RAINING just as Linda walked in, so we had to make do with indoor shots for most part of the morning, with the earlier shots taken of Ethan and Hannah in their jammies 🙂

Ethan warmed up immediately (which was so unlike him) whilst Hannah took a little while to *get into the mood*.  And with whatever *props* we found at home, we tried to make the session as lively and as entertaining as possible. We only went downstairs to the pool around noon, and because it had been raining the whole morning, it wasn’t that hot.

And I’d like to add that Linda was such a sport and took so many many many photos, of everything we did, and of everything that happened.  It was a delightful (but Pete said *tiring*) session and I loved every second of it.

Linda recently passed us the photos and they are awesome!  I love all the shots she managed to capture, and they all looked simply amazing!

Here is a preview of our Family Portraiture shots … I’m experimenting with Windows Live Movie Maker and decided to compile some of the shots into a short movie-presentation… 🙂

  

You can see the rest of the filtered shots here.  For the entire collection on DVD, please make a viewing appointment and come view it at our house, okay? 🙂  Thanks again Linda, for creating these wonderful memories! 🙂

Hannah is VERY intuitive.

Ethan recently started playing a game where he would hide and scream “Surprise!!” when Daddy walks in the door in the evenings.

After about two times of doing this routine, Hannah has picked up this *game* too.

When we hide ourselves, Hannah would put a finger to her mouth, indicating “Shhhhhh…..!!!”  (see how she picked it up from her big brother?)

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and when we yell “Surprise!!”, Hannah raises her arms in the air and screams out loud too!

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What follows after that is the welcoming committee greeting of hugging their Daddy as he comes in the door…. (Awwwwww….)

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This ride-on train is one of the most popular toys in our house.  Ethan still rides on it, even though he is way too tall for it now, and Hannah can now climb on it on her own and move around in it with her feet.  Yeah, that’s how much our little girl has grown!

When once Hannah needed Ethan to take her for rides in the train, now she can give her brother rides too!

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Soon, I doubt the seat would be able to fit the two of them simultaneously! 🙂

Of course, sometimes there are squabbles as to who gets to ride on the train, and sometimes Hannah is forbidden to ride on it, but in the end, my two little ones do work things out… 🙂

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Yesterday, while I was driving Ethan back from school, we passed McDonald’s and he asked me to stop for some ice cream.  However, I had already driven past it, so I told him he could have ice cream at home instead.

Mommy: Don’t worry, you can have the vanila ice cream at home.  We have some in the freezer.  You want some?
Ethan: Yay! YES!  I want some ice cream, Mommy!
Mommy: But wait..is your cough all better?
Ethan: Yes Mommy, my cough is ALL GONE.
Mommy: Good, then you can have some ice cream.
Ethan: Mommy, my cough is ALL GONE because I give ALL the germs to HANNAH!

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