Bible Verse of the Day

Growing Up

You are currently browsing the archive for the Growing Up category.

Ethan and Hannah have been sharing our bedroom space ever since they came into our lives.

Ethan, who started from the crib, and moved to the cot and then to our bed and then to the mattress on the floor, had been indicating that he is all ready to move out to his own room, on the condition that the bedsheet is a Cars bedsheet.  You see, he currently has a Cars bedsheet, but it’s on a single mattress.  We figured it’s time we moved our little big man to his own room with his own bed, and currently our only available option is our 2nd bedroom which has a queen-sized bed.  So we had to get a Cars Queen-sized bedsheet set.

Hannah, on the other hand, has been wanting to sleep on her brother’s single mattress for the longest time, and has requested for a Barney bedsheet.

Coincidentally, we finally found the Cars bedsheet (in Queen size) last weekend, so we got it for Ethan and he was very excited when I washed it clean and laid it out on the bed for him.  He happily said goodbye to our room and moved to his new room with his new bedsheet.

The plan was for Ethan to sleep in the other room and for Hannah to move to the single mattress in our room, as a form of gradual transition.  But what we hadn’t expected was when Hannah requested to sleep on the single mattress in Ethan’s room too.  She wanted to be with her brother, apparently.

bedroom

That’s not all.

She asked me to LEAVE the room and said that she could sleep by herself.

On the first night, I sat at the foot of her mattress till she fell asleep.  On the second night, she asked me to leave the room.  On the third night, she wanted to lie down with me.   But now most of the nights, she can fall asleep on her own.

I was still a little apprehensive if she would be able to sleep on her own, so since Ethan and Hannah moved out, we have left both the room doors open, and on almost every night, Hannah has either wandered back into our bed in our room, or she has cried and I’ve carried her into our bed.

I say “almost every night” because last night was the very FIRST night that she slept through in the room with Ethan.  I woke up in the early hours of the morning and discovered that she wasn’t by my side.  When I checked on her, she was fast asleep, albeit she had rotated 180º!! 🙂

That’s a HUGE improvement and we are so proud of both Ethan and Hannah for making this transition.  Shows that they are growing up in leaps and bounds…

…but why does our room feel kinda empty now? 🙁

concert1

For weeks and months, Ethan had been telling me all about his concert practices in school.  Initially he would show me some of his dance steps, but as the date of the concert drew nearer, he told me he was not going to reveal anymore, because it is supposed to be a surprise.

His school’s annual concert has always been a grand affair, and this year the concert, which was entitled “The Broadway Kids – In Search of Happiness”, promised to be a truly enjoyable one, because I am a big fan of Broadway.  The school’s annual concert is performed by all the kids from K1 and K2, and is even grander than the wee concert.  Typically the K2 kids would play the main roles and the K1 kids will be supporting as dancers, but nevertheless, I was very excited.

Check out the one of the many lovely backdrops used as the concert props.

concert2

As the date drew nearer, Ethan would grow more and more excited.  I gave him extra vitamins every day to prepare for the concert.  They had concert camps and staybacks, full-dressed rehearsals complete with makeup and photo sessions too, and when the day finally came, we dropped Ethan off at Dewan Budaya in USM at 1:00p.m. and quickly went off for lunch before coming back at 2:00p.m. to get ready for the concert at 3:00p.m.

I’d extended invitations to our close relatives and family members, but only my Mom could make it.  Ethan was thrilled.  And his sister was equally excited to watch her brother perform live onstage! 🙂

concert3

concert4

concert5

Although we weren’t allowed to take any videos during the concert, I did see some parents ignoring the request.  I didn’t take any videos though, but the full video will be made available to us soon by the official videographer.

The show was very enjoyable and it was so much fun to see Ethan out there having fun (I’d have to say the makeup was a tad garish though, but that’s concert performance makeup for ya).  All the songs were taken from famous Broadway musicals, either in their original English forms, or translated to Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia, all with the kids voicing and singing the words.

concert6

Ethan’s item was a very lively and well-choreographed dance done to the song The Other Generation from The Flower Drum Song.  In addition, he also made an appearance in the Concert Finale, singing the theme song: Happiness.

concert7

Ethan was very happy and relieved when it all ended well, and that night, he slept ever so soundly! 🙂  (I’m not surprised!!)

I’m looking forward to next year’s concert excitedly when my boy will be contributing more 🙂

concert8

ethanclimbingondaddy

In his young age, Ethan just *may* have grasp the difficult concept of faith in God.

While he was playing with Daddy a few days ago, I overheard this verbal exchange between them.

Daddy: Haha, I’m gonna tickle you!
Ethan: Noooooooo!!!! (climbs on top of Daddy and tries to wrestle him)
Daddy: Ethan, Daddy’s gonna get you soon!
Ethan: I’m not afraid!  God will help me! 🙂

Spoken confidently with true conviction.  Ain’t he a gem? 😀

together

I was clearing up some of the kids’ stuff and books last weekend and I found this little notebook that belongs to Ethan.  In it, I found a message that Ethan wrote early this year.

dominoes

Just in case the message is hard to decipher, it says, “Dearest Mommy, Sorry Hannah accident(ally) drop(ped) 28 Super Dominoes.  Please do not bring me and Hannah to hospital.”

Actually, all I said was, “Uh-oh…Hannah, did you drop those dominoes?  Please be careful, okay?  If you drop those dominoes, you might slip on them and hurt yourself.  Then I’d have to bring you to the hospital.”

Hannah didn’t know how to apologize then, but Ethan took the initiative as a big brother to apologize on her behalf.  Doesn’t he have a BIG heart? 🙂

Lately, my two kids have sometimes been involved in sibling squabbles.  Most of the time, they will be playing happily together, but sometimes, the inevitable happens.  He would be playing with something and he wouldn’t allow her to *destroy* what he created.  She snatches from him.  Or sometimes Ethan asks Hannah to play with him, but she doesn’t want to.

Little things like that, ya know.  Small to us, but a big deal to kids.

Well, anyway, we try to get Hannah to apologize to Ethan, and she would say, “I’m sorry Ethan” or “I love you Ethan.”  And we’d ask her to add, “Please forgive me, Ethan.”

And then they’d hug.  (awwwwwww)

The other day, Ethan was engrossed in reading something and his sister wanted to show him something she had drawn.  He impulsively crumpled her paper, and she came running to report to me, “Mommy, Ethan crumpled my paper!” , while pouting.

And then later, Ethan asked me for a pencil and said he wanted to write a message to Hannah.  This is what he wrote:

sorry

Makes me feel all emotional inside when I see such caring behavior from someone so young. 🙂

masterpiece1

Yesterday, I decided to introduce paint-stamping to the kids, using vegetables.  Thanks to my friend’s blog, it had evoked many happy memories of my childhood.  I remember as a child, I used to bring lady’s fingers and lotus root to school for art projects and such, and I remember having a good time doing it.

So as I prepared the items, I explained to Ethan and Hannah how vegetables can look pretty too, and then I demonstrated how to make the paint.  It was actually edible paint, as I used corn syrup and dropped some food coloring into it.  The kids thought it was simply magical 🙂

masterpiece2

They mixed the colors and made stamps of different colors, patterns and sizes.  They filled up that one piece of mahjong paper with so much color, you’d just had to smile.

masterpiece3

masterpiece4

And they were so pleased to show Daddy their masterpiece when he came home…it’s still on our balcony, by the way 🙂

eeniemeenie-2gether

We’re all used to hearing the Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe chant, albeit some in different versions from the rest.  Do you wanna know how my kids do it? 🙂

Here’s Ethan giving a demo:

And here’s Hannah proving yet again that the power of sibling influence is really strong… 🙂

Just for the record, here’s what they were saying:

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe
Catch a tiger by the toe
If it wiggles, let it go!
Mmm mmm mmm…Buffalo..
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, MOE!

forgiveness

This is one of my favorite photos of Ethan with Daddy.  Every time I look at this picture, I am thankful for what a big heart my little man has and how much he has grown up way beyond his years.

At an age when most of his peers are so keen on fighting for their toys and always wanting to have their own way, my little boy has, in many instances, shown us that he understands and knows what are the more important things in life.

Just last week, when Daddy was playing with the kids, Daddy had wanted to hug Hannah, but Hannah playfully pushed Daddy away.  Daddy was sad and in jest, he mentioned that “Hannah is a naughty girl.”  This conversation then ensued.

Ethan: What, Daddy?  Why is Hannah naughty?
Daddy: Because she pushed Daddy.
Ethan: Oh…but you can forgive her, right?
Daddy: Oh yes, of course I can…

I am so proud of my boy that he can think of forgiveness in such a situation. Good job, Ethan! 🙂

You would have remembered this darling video a while ago, where Ethan gave Hannah a very loving embrace, while saying “I love you, Hannah!”

It feels just like yesterday and as I look at it, I realize how quickly my kids are growing up! 🙂

Back to the video…Hannah recently reciprocated with this gesture, which is so déjà vu yet so adorable at the same time… 🙂  A perfect display of sisterly love!

Ain’t that precious? 🙂

getwell1

What do you think Ethan’s doing?

He asked me for a piece of recycled paper, pencil and color pencils and he said he wanted to write a note.  This is what it said:

getwell2

This evening, Hannah had a small accident in Queensbay Mall.  She tried to climb up the escalator as it was riding up and somehow tripped and grazed her shin.  Although Daddy was holding her hand, the cut was rather deep and there was slight bleeding.

Ethan was very worried about his sister and kept asking, “Is Hannah okay?” …and when Daddy cleaned up her wound at home, and Hannah didn’t cry much, Ethan commented that Hannah was so brave.

That was when he asked me for some paper to write her a note.

Ain’t he the best brother ever? 🙂

greatkid

I’ve always thanked the Lord for blessing us with a great kid like Ethan, who’s wise beyond his years, caring and forgiving, and sometimes his words and actions do strike a chord in our hearts.

He may be very active and boisterous, but deep down he is a gentle spirit, who puts others above him and who is an obedient boy (most of the time).

Just a few days ago, when he saw how upset his cousin Jonathan was when he did not get what he wanted for his birthday, Ethan told me in private, “Mommy, maybe we can get Jonathan a real Finn McMissile for Christmas.  Then he will be happy because he will get to play with it like a real car!”

carstumbler

And today, when Hannah tried to snatch Ethan’s new Cars 2 water tumbler (check it out, by the way…it’s way cool!), Ethan again whispered to me, “Mommy, I think we should get Hannah a new tumbler too…because her tumbler is leaking!  We can get her one for Christmas…”

Such love being displayed for someone his age is really admirable, and I could not ask for anything more.  Ethan is indeed one-of-a-kind and we love him dearly…

“For somewhere in my wicked miserable past, I must have done something good…” ~The Sound of Music~

« Older entries § Newer entries »