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Growing Up

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The Art of Using Chopsticks

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

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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…

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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! 🙂

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

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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…

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Fun with arts and crafts…

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

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

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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.

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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.. 🙂

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.

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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.

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…and with Ah Ma too:

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Ethan and his classmates getting ready for the Chinese presentation:

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

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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.

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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

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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.

 

…and Hannah looks like…?

May 26, 2011 in Growing Up, Hannah | 6 comments

Been getting these, “Oooh, is that your girl?  She looks JUST like you!” and “When I look at Hannah, I see you immediately!  She looks exactly like you!” remarks rather often.  So I decided to do a little experiment.  We all know how a photo proves a lot:  see how Ethan resembled Daddy from way back when? (by the way, Ethan still looks like Pete now…like a *mini Pete*)

Anyway, you guys be the judge…

This is a picture of me when I was little:

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Yes, I was a chubby lil one… 🙂  And here’s a recent picture of Hannah.  She is a little bit older than I was when my picture was taken though.

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What do you think?  Does she take after moi? 🙂

And here’s another one of my “little girl” photos…

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And one of Hannah taken 2 days ago, wearing her pair of Mary Janes.  She insisted she wanted me to take a photo of her, and she made sure I got the Mary Janes in the picture…

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What’s the verdict then?  Is she every bit Mommy’s little girl? 🙂

I’d say she does look like me somewhat…but with a tinge of naughtiness and cheekiness which I am quite sure she inherited from Daddy!  What say you?

(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.

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

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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.

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

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…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! 😛

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

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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. 🙂

Age Classification according to Ethan

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

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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.

A Pleasant Surprise

April 27, 2011 in Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones | 1 comment

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Last Sunday, we were all hanging out in our home, and Pete was playing with the kids.  He was holding a numbered flash card and he asked Hannah if she wanted the card.  Hannah was going about her *work*, moving blocks and stacking toys, walking around here and there, seemingly ignoring her Daddy.

Pete asked a few times if she wanted the card, but she didn’t respond.  He asked, “Hannah, do you want this?” and “Come Hannah, Daddy will give this card to you…”

Then all of a sudden, Hannah ran towards her Daddy, swiped the card from his hand and said, “I dowan FOUR!”

Pete was dumbfounded, because he was indeed holding the card with the number 4 on it.

You see, up till then, we hadn’t realized that Hannah could recognize numbers.  We only know that she could count 1-10 by rote.

Pleasantly surprised, we tested her newfound skill further by holding up a few other numbered cards, and she could tell us most of the numbers 1-9.  Sometimes she would confuse 9 and 7 because of their similar shapes, but it’s a great start.  Of course, Ethan tried to get Hannah to say the numbers 11-20 too.. LOL

The wonderful thing is that we didn’t even teach her how to say those numbers, because we don’t believe in forcing a young toddler to learn numbers or alphabets.  She just picked it up on her own, probably through observation. 🙂 … or probably it’s just in her genes. 😛 … or perhaps because she is a breastfed baby! 🙂

Cheeky Bulats

April 26, 2011 in Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | 1 comment

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I call him Mr Bulat and I call her Miss Bulat.

She absolutely adores him, and obeys his every word.

He loves her to bits, although sometimes he claims she makes him SO angry.

She copies whatever he does and follows whatever he says.

He holds her hand as they walk across the road, and he supervises her when she washes her hands.

They have their fun times, and their *naughty stool* times…but at the end of it all, they still hug each other and say sorry.

They are both generous with their kisses and hugs, tickles and giggles…and they light up each others’ lives as they lit mine up each and every day.

I love them so…

They are God’s miracles.  And I am so thankful to be blessed with them.

She gets away with anything!

April 25, 2011 in Ethan, Funny Moments, Growing Up, Hannah | 1 comment

…I mean *Fashion-wise*.

The other day, Hannah INSISTED she wanted to wear her sneakers and socks.  No issues with that, except she was wearing a pretty little demure dress.  She complained that her sandals were too tight, so I suggested she put on her Mary Janes instead, but she held firm to her decision on wearing sneakers….so…

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But then, come to think of it, no fashion police would arrest her, don’t you agree?  She still looks sweet and cute, despite the clash of fashion items….kids!  They get away with just about anything!

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A Rainbow Sky

April 15, 2011 in Ethan, Growing Up, Parenting | 2 comments

Recently, Ethan’s school had a fund raising campaign to raise funds for the people in Japan in the wake of the natural disasters that had affected the country.  The children were exposed to what happened in Japan and the teachers explained how and why it was important for us to help in whatever way we can.

Apart from organizing a donation and food fair, the K1 and K2 kids in the school were also given the chance to paint a picture to express themselves.  These pictures would then be displayed in a silent auction whereby proceeds would be channeled to the Japan fund. 

I attended the food fair, where all these paintings were displayed.  Ethan told me, “Mommy, I used REALLY strong paint to paint this picture!”

It was a very colorful and I would say abstract piece of art, and I was very proud of him.

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Bidding starts at RM20, but I don’t know why I put down RM50.  Anyway, I was incredibly impressed with Ethan’s work of art and also of what he felt and expressed in words.  You see, the kids were asked to express and explain their painting in their own words and the teachers would then note them down with a little piece of paper next to the painting.

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It was a very sincere message, straight from the heart of a 5-year old.  Ethan told me he hopes the funds collected from his painting can be used to help the Japan people build their homes back, “because Japan is broken”, he said.

As a mother, I couldn’t be prouder.  It was RM50 well spent. 🙂

However, the framing was not done very well, and because I was afraid the splinters would hurt the kids, I did what any mother would do: I took it to an art shop and had the painting reframed.

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…all ready to be hung in Ethan’s room! 🙂

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