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Growing Up

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Ethan must miss school

December 4, 2010 in Entertainment, Ethan, Growing Up | 2 comments

It’s hard to believe that a whole school year has already passed.  It feels like it was just yesterday when I took Ethan to his school on the first day of the school year in January, as he started his year in Nursery.  And now it’s the end of the year, and he is anxiously waiting for the coming year when he would be in K1.

Yes, my boy loves going to school.  And yes, he tells me that. All the time 🙂

I’m so thankful that with Ethan I don’t have to deal with tantrums and tears on why he doesn’t want to go to school, because he genuinely LOVES school.

He has made so many friends in school, and he has grown in leaps and bounds in all aspects: physically, emotionally, spiritually and socially.  He started school as quite a shy guy but now his teacher tells me he is quite *noisy* in school and will volunteer information and answers quite readily.  His confidence, too, has skyrocketed and he has mastered many useful skills.

In fact, I am not surprised that he looks forward to school.  During the final week of the school term alone, Ethan was out on a school field trip to Sushi King, where they learnt how to make sushi, ate the sushi they made and had plain clean fun.  On that day, his teacher had asked them to arrive at school before 9:00a.m. and although I was afraid we might not be able to make it on time, Ethan wasted no time in getting ready and we arrived at 15 minutes to 9:00a.m.!

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And then on the last day of school, there was a school party, with water play, food and games for everyone.

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How could Ethan not love school?

Well, much as he loves school, he is also enjoying his school holidays very much now.  During the 1st week of the school holidays, Ethan attended a Circus School Holiday program and next week, he’s looking forward to a Science Holiday Program.  Whatever it is, we’re trying to keep him occupied as much as we can, because we know he has tons of energy to expend!  Besides, we all know that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, yes?

Just because I love you

November 29, 2010 in Ethan, Growing Up, Parenting | 2 comments

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We use the “naughty stool/chair” method as a form of discipline for our kids.  So whenever one of them misbehaves, he/she will get sent to the naughty chair and “sit out” his/her time.  For Ethan, he needs to sit for 4 minutes and for Hannah, it’s 1 minute; the number of minutes spent on the naughty chair is equivalent to the child’s age.

After their “time done” we’ll explain to them what they did wrong, and the child concerned will then promise to not do it again.  He/she will apologize and give each one of us a hug.

There was once when Hannah did something wrong.  I think she hit me with a toy or book, so she sat in the naughty chair.  When she was ready to say sorry, she came over and gave me a hug. 

Ethan said, “Daddy, come here.  I want to hug you too.  But I didn’t do anything wrong.  I just want to hug you because I love you…”

Awww…..

You make my day

November 19, 2010 in Ethan, Growing Up | 1 comment

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Ethan: Mommy, your makeup today is beautiful.  I like it!
Mommy: But Ethan, Mommy’s not wearing any makeup today.
Ethan: Really?
Mommy: So do I still look nice?
Ethan: Yes of course Mommy! 🙂

Making an Influence

November 18, 2010 in Ethan, Growing Up | No comments

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As the eldest among all his cousins, Ethan’s role as an influencer is reinforced each time he meets up with them.  Of course, it goes without saying that he gets daily practice by being a role model for little Hannah. 

Hannah adores and admires her brother.  She follows his actions and his words and looks up to him like any girl would look up to her big brother.  He is her idol, and Ethan…well, he basks in all that admiration.

Ethan’s influence does not end just there.  When his younger cousins are around him, they tend to gravitate towards him and follow his every move too.  Not long ago, I witnessed his cousin Jonathan, learn how to jump, just by watching Ethan.  His cousin Collin also followed exactly what Ethan did when he last visited us a few weeks back.

Big brother.  Role model.  And superstar to his sister and all his cousins.  Ethan has really come a long way from being Mr Bulat. 🙂

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Baby Steps to School

November 10, 2010 in Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | 2 comments

I can’t deny that my kids LOVE being in Toys ‘R’ Us.  For some magical reason, it unleashes surprise after surprise in the form of entertaining toys and delightful collectibles, some even enthralling to adults!  For Hannah, one of the attractions in this toystore is the children’s schoolbags.  She would head for the bag section and pull out girly pink bags, bags which are too big for her, but she would be contented just pulling and dragging it along.  Recently, she found this adorable Chuggington backpack in the store, and without fail, she would ask me to help her put it on, and she would then parade around the store.

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It’s just the right size for her, and she looks absolutely darling wearing it!

Granted, she’s too young to start school yet, but she probably got the idea from observing her brother carry his bag to school every day.

In any case, we decided it was time for her to experience the parent-toddler program run by the school Ethan goes to.  When Ethan was 2 years old, he attended the same program and benefited a great deal from it, so since Hannah is showing signs of readiness, we made an appointment for her to go for a trial class.

The parent-toddler program is a 1.5 hour program held once a week, and the child would be accompanied by a parent throughout the session.  This helps to further reinforce the parent-child relationship as well as promote social awareness as the child learns to mingle with kids their age.

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When we arrived at the school on the day of the trial class, Hannah was all too eager to get down from the car.  She happily said, “Buh Bye!!!” to her Daddy and Ethan as she followed me to the class.  Oh by the way, Daddy and Ethan were off for their *football practice* 🙂

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Hannah was quiet at first, but she was not TOO clingy.  She willingly played with all the toys in the playroom, and interacted with me, naming the animals and numbers and so on.

We then proceeded to do some arts and crafts, where she got to play with paint, sand and water.  She was provided with a mini kid apron, but she would not wear it, so I had to be careful not to get her shirt dirty.

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Probably intrigued by all of the different things to do, Hannah was a little quiet but she was certainly very participative.

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When it was time to go and play in the outdoor playground, we finally saw some giggles and smiles…

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She loved the rocking horse, the slides, the little house…and it almost seemed like she was too reluctant to leave.

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After the playground, the kids were treated to some light snacks in the pantry and then it was circle time in the hall.  Hannah was very attentive to the teacher and even when all the other kids had lost their interest and were running around, Hannah was very interested in the story the teacher was telling.

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Of course she was quickly distracted when she caught sight of Ethan, who had come back from football practice, and was waiting for Hannah’s class to finish. 

After the parent-toddler class, the teacher gave Hannah two stickers.  She loves stickers and was only too eager to show them off to us.  Hannah left the class looking very happy, but not before she gave the teacher a nice hug. 🙂

Certainly looks like she’s ready for the class, huh?

Ring Around the Rosy with Hannah

November 9, 2010 in Entertainment, Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah | No comments

One of my favorite playtimes with Ethan Koko is when we play “Ring Around the Rosy”.  Sometimes Mommy would join us and we would all join our hands and make a little circle and sing and dance around together.  Sometimes it will just be Ethan Koko and me, and Mommy will sing the song.

But there are times when Ethan Koko is busy with his other activities.  During those times, I customize my “Ring Around the Rosy” playtime and have a lot of fun by myself too!

 

Who says we can’t have fun on our own? 😛

Impromptu Soccer Training

October 14, 2010 in Ethan, Exercise, Growing Up, Hannah | 2 comments

Last Sunday morning, we made it to Youth Park for some fun impromptu “soccer training”.   It was also the first time we used the 1 on 1 soccer set we bought for Ethan.  The kids had a lot of fun, as did the adults… I’ll let the photos speak for themselves 🙂

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Ethan doing some warm-up exercises before *training*.

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Hannah doing some light stretching too…

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Run Ethan, run!!!

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Ethan doing a mental calculation of the angle he should curve the ball before taking a free kick…

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Hannah, preparing to shoot for the goal!

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 …and Ethan scores…from an EXTREMELY close range! (he could even do the celebratory hugs and whatnot!)

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Ethan and Daddy, perfecting a *pass and score* sequence.

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“It’s mine!!!”

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…and…err…honing his goalkeeping skills.

 

Look what I can do, folks!

October 11, 2010 in Ethan, Funny Moments, Growing Up | 1 comment

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Ethan, proving that he has inherited the ART of rolling the tongue from Daddy and Mommy 🙂

Brave Brave Hannah

October 8, 2010 in Growing Up, Hannah | 2 comments

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I have no doubt in my mind that Hannah will grow up to be a very brave and determined young lady.  From the way she carries herself, to the way she puts her foot down (stubborn nonetheless) when she wants something, she’s certainly turning out to be one courageous girl.

A couple of months back, when she had completed her 3-month-long iron therapy, her doctor requested that Hannah had her blood test done again so that we could ensure her Serum Ferritin count was in the acceptable range.  I was worried when I was told that the blood to be tested would be drawn from the inner crook of Hannah’s elbow.  The could be traumatizing for a child as young as Hannah.

But we had to do it anyway.

I took her to the lab in the hospital, and sat her on my lap.  I told Hannah that it would only take a while and then it would all be over.  The lab person came over and strapped Hannah’s arm, and then tried to locate her vein.  After a few seconds, she asked me to switch to the other arm.  And she tried to find the vein again.  Again…nothing.

I was beginning to get irritated, because the delay would cause anxiety in a young child.  But I held my own and patiently waited while the first lab person asked a senior lab person (I think) to look for the vein in the first arm.

Thankfully, they found it!  The senior lab person applied some alcohol on the inner crook of Hannah’s elbow, then inserted a needle to draw the blood.  Hannah winced a little while the needle was inserted, but she didn’t cry AT ALL.  I kissed her head and comforted her.  It certainly helped that I didn’t get weak in the knees or anything, because I am a blood donor and I was used to seeing needles inserted into arms.

Anyway, the whole process was over in about a minute or so, and Hannah did not shed a single tear!  We were all so proud of her!  She was such a brave little girl, and she definitely won the hearts of everyone in the lab that day.

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Fast forward to a week later, Hannah fell sick and had to have another blood test done again.  This time she laid down on the bed and they took the blood from the other hand.  She only cried a little when the needle was inserted, and that was it.

Courage: nothing can beat that that is inherent in my little girl.  She might be little, but she’s a mighty brave girl with a heart of a lion 🙂

Driving Mr & Miss Bulat

October 7, 2010 in Entertainment, Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah | 2 comments

Many many moons ago, our visits to the malls were only for shopping, movie-watching and (sometimes) eating.  Now, with kids, our trips to malls are for (mostly) window-shopping, eating and, more often than not, include visits to certain *sections* in the malls where the kids can have a go at the rides.

Here are some shots this blogger-mommy managed to snap whilst my kids were having fun.

Hannah *driving* a red car next to Mr Bear:

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My kids LOVE the little merry-go-round.  Ethan loves to high-five us as he goes around and around…look how cheeky my boy looks!

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And Hannah’s favorite is the purple horsy.  I think it’s so adorable the way she hold’s the horsy’s ears, instead of the handles provided!

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There are also some rides where both Ethan and Hannah get to ride together, like in this red convertible.  Here’s a short video I managed to take:

 

Ethan and Hannah have also enjoyed driving their own kiddy cars…see how cool they look?

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Ethan had a go with the go-kart car, and Hannah got into a car that could be controlled remotely, by, who else but, Daddy! (by the way, the band-aid on Hannah’s forehead was because she had a small ouchie when she fell and hit her head on the cabinet earlier that day).

 

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