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Little Miracles · Hannah
Bible Verse of the Day

Hannah

All about Hannah

A Simple Caring Gesture

September 9, 2011 in Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones | 2 comments

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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:

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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? 🙂

Hannah at 30 months

September 8, 2011 in Hannah, Milestones | No comments

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Scrap Credits
Gourmandise Collab Kit from Sekada Designs & Goldensun Designs
Child’s Life Kit’s elements from EloDesigns
Masks We Wear from Digital Freebies

Weight

13.1 kilos

Height

88cm

Teeth

Still 15 teeth: 4 incisors on the upper jaw, 3 incisors bottom jaw.  2 canines upper jaw, 2 canines bottom jaw.  4 pramolars.  4 more back pramolars have not made their appearance.

Motor Skills

  • Hannah can walk up and down the stairs by herself.  When she goes up the stairs, she sometimes alternates her feet as she climbs up.
  • Sometimes she can put on her pants and shoes by herself.
  • Hannah can draw a (rough) circle and a straight line; she loves to experiment and scribble with color pencils.

Communication and Social Skills

  • She is talking really well for her age, and expresses herself clearly.  “I don’t like that smell, Mommy!” or “Who’s that?” or “I wanna go to sleep!” or “Help me to wash my hands, Mommy!”
  • She is showing a keen interest in playing with other kids, but sometimes is not willing to share yet.
  • She can wash and dry her hands on her own.
  • Loves to brush her teeth on her own, but I will also follow up by brushing for her too.
  • She is obsessed with colors and numbers and keeps on asking me what color is this and that and where is this and that number.
  • She’s learning some new shapes this month!  For example, she has learnt the hexagon and trapezoid 🙂
  • She can sing a lot of songs and sometimes will insist on singing them on her own.  The rate at which she picks up new songs amazes me!

Toilet Training

  • I’ve started a simple chart to record her potty training progress.  There are still some accidents but we’re getting there..

Food and Feeding

  • Hannah is showing a keen interest on wanton mee now.  She loves eating it and even devours the wantons with glee.
  • Drinks fresh milk and UHT chocolate and strawberry milk.
  • Loves jelly and all types of fruits.

Fun, Fun and More Fun at AdventureZone!

September 5, 2011 in Celebrations, Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah, Vacation | No comments

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When we told Ethan we were going to AdventureZone once again, he was ecstatic!  He had been asking and asking and asking to go back there and he was really really psyched up this time.

Took all of their effort to pose and smile for the camera before I let them run into the play area…

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Amazing how much energy these kids possess.  They had 2 hours to play in the area, and after what felt like an hour and a half, Pete tells me it’s only been 20 minutes.  Thank goodness the entire area was air-conditioned.  Hehe.

This time round, Ethan was more adventurous, and loudly proclaimed that he wasn’t afraid to go down the slides now.  His favorite was the “Hyperglide Astra Drop” (rainbow) slide, which had a height of 18 feet (5.5 metres) and a length of 50 feet (15.2 metres).  This one required the us to use a mat as we slid down.  Ethan also tried the  “Double Drop” (blue) slide, which had a ball pit exit, and stands 20 feet (6.1 metres) tall and has a length of 48 feet (14.6 metres).   The red slide is called the “Demon Drop” slide, and is not for the faint-hearted.  It has a vertical drop of 24 feet (7.3 metres) and spans 75 feet (22.9 metres).  Pete got on it a couple of times, and I got on just once (because Pete dared me to).

Since Hannah was not old enough to get on the Hyperglide Astra Drop on her own, she would either sit on Pete’s or my lap while we rode on the mats.  Ethan would go over and over again, each time gaining more and more confidence.  Initially he needed our help to carry the mat up, but in the end, he would carry the mat up by himself.

Here’s a video I took of Ethan riding the Hyperglide Astra Drop all by himself:

And after a two-hour PLUS workout, we headed nearby for a totally satisfying reward: The Rasa Sayang Seafood Buffet Dinner. *burp*

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Logos Hope: Second Time’s a Charm!

September 4, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting, Vacation | 2 comments

Mommy: Ethan?
Ethan: Yes, Mommy?
Mommy: Guess where we’re going later today?
Ethan: Where?
Mommy: We’re going to visit a floating bookstore on a HUGE ship! (trying to make it sound really exciting)
Ethan: Errr…no!  I don’t wanna go!
Mommy: But … why? It’s gonna be really fun!  Can you imagine a bookstore in a ship?
Ethan: NO!  I don’t wanna go on a PIRATE SHIP!!!

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Well, we’ve since made it clear to him that it’s NOT a pirate ship and we’ve reassured him that there will be NO pirates aboard the Logos Hope.

So.

Both Ethan and Hannah got all excited to get on the famous Logos Hope, which holds the biggest ever floating bookstore…and what happened when we arrived at Swettenham Pier on the first day of Raya?  The queue to get into the ship was like a mile LONG!  I remembered going onboard the Doulos years ago, and there was NO queue at all!  Things certainly have changed.  Or perhaps it was the public holiday.

In any case, we decided to come back another day, which we did, and that day was a day after Merdeka Day.  It was still a public holiday, but we were praying that the queue would not be as long.

Hurrah!  The queue was like a tenth of the LONG queue we encountered the first time, and we promptly got in line.  After about 15 minutes, we had already gotten our tickets and were on our way onboard the ship.

As we entered the bookstore proper, it was as if the air-conditioning stopped working altogether.  There were so many people that it was so difficult to move around and browse to our hearts’ content.  Add to the equation 2 kids with minds of their own who wanted to see different things at different times and you can imagine how nerve-wracking it was.

But despite all this, we still managed to land some cool stuff, some chosen by me and some personally selected by the kids.

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There was also a pictorial exhibition section in the ship called the Journey of Life, which depicts a modern day story based on The Prodigal Son.  I had wanted to take more pictures but because of the influx of visitors, I could not get all the pictures…just a few random ones of the kids…

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The cafe on the ship was also packed full of hungry visitors…so we did not stop there.  It was a memorable day for the kids and although it could have been a more relaxing visit if there weren’t so many people, we had great fun!

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What Can a One-Day Trip Achieve?

September 3, 2011 in Celebrations, Ethan, Hannah, Vacation | 1 comment

Quite a lot, apparently.

August 31st (Merdeka Day) this year saw us making a one-day trip to Taiping.  Cousin Jonathan would be having his 4th birthday celebration, and Ethan and Hannah were really excited to go celebrate it with him.

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The *long* wait for the cake to be cut and served was incredibly excruciating…

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…but definitely a worthwhile wait!  All the 4 kids really enjoyed the cake… 🙂

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The idea for the game I initiated, “Who can stay quiet the longest?”, was eagerly received by the kids…

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Later in the evening, we took the kids to one of the huge playgrounds in Lake Gardens where they worked up a sweat (and appetite).

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Just in case you’re wondering, Ethan is saying “1 Malaysia!” and was asking Jonathan to do the same, but Jonathan wanted to hold up the “peace” sign instead.  Hannah and Phoebe, meanwhile, were just contented to look pretty for the camera.

And there you have it…all in a one-day trip 🙂

Lightning McQueen – Here we come!!!

August 29, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah | 2 comments

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Last Friday, a day after the new movie Cars 2 officially opened in our local cinemas, we took the kids to watch it at Gurney Plaza.  Ethan had been reminding me a week ago to book the tickets online.

“Mommy, have you booked the tickets for Cars 2 yet?”

Alas, I discovered that online booking would only be available 2 days before the movie date.  I had book and pay for the tickets via e-payment ticketing, because there were no more seats available through the regular online reservation system (where we reserve and pay upon ticket collection).  Thankfully, and to Ethan’s HUGE relief, we managed to get the tickets.  Ethan even had the chance to choose the exact seats he wanted!

On the day itself, we had to drop by Poslaju first before going to Gurney Plaza.  All along the way, we’d hear:

“Daddy, why is it taking so long?”
“Are you SURE we can reach Gurney Plaza by 4:30p.m.?”
“This is going to take forever!”
“Why are we not at Poslaju yet?”
“I have been talking and talking and talking, but we STILL have not reached!”
“See?  I *told* you it will take a long time!”
“Mommy, what time do you think we’ll reach?”

Yes, he can be quite he drama king…

FINALLY, we arrived at the cinema at about 4:10p.m., 20 minutes before showtime.  We still had time to visit the restrooms, get some popcorn and get our tickets…and also some time for the kids to run around a bit.

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It was certainly an enjoyable movie, both for the kids as well as for the adults.  I would watch it again in a heartbeat 🙂

Ethan, of course, was glued to his seat and was absolutely transfixed by the movie, while Hannah was busy hopping up and down on her seat, eating popcorn and drinking water.  Towards the end, Hannah got restless and tried to get some shuteye, but when that did not work, she attempted to walk up and down the stairs on the aisle, even inviting me to come along with her.

“Mommy, I wanna go outside”
“No Hannah, the door is closed.”
“Let me see..!!!”

Suffice to say, it was quite a challenge, but a good one at that.  It was a great family date that Friday, and we were all tired but thrilled at the end of the day.

Here’s a charming little photo of Hannah, taken when the boys were at the loo, before we left for home..

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Ooooh…notice the store that will be opening soon? 😀

The Negotiatior

August 26, 2011 in Growing Up, Hannah | No comments

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Hannah has picked up the art of negotiation, probably from her brother.  Couple that with those adorable big brown eyes and she’s got us with our backs against the wall.

Mommy: C’mon Hannah, it’s time to go fetch Ethan from school!
Hannah: Noke…just 2 more minutes?

Mommy: All right, time to go!
Hannah: I wanna go Guardian!
Mommy: Some other time, sweetie…it’s getting late.
Hannah: Just only for a while?

She knows that I do not respond to whining and crying and we do not tolerate that, so she’s smart enough to wing her way by negotiation instead.

Hannah at 29 months

August 24, 2011 in Hannah, Milestones | 1 comment

hannah_29months

Scrap Credits
Gourmandise Collab Kit from Sekada Designs & Goldensun Designs
Endless Love Alphas from Laurie’s Scraps

Weight

13.1 kilos, from a recent weighing-in in Ipoh.

Height

86cm, also from that same session in Ipoh.

Teeth

Still 15 teeth: 4 incisors on the upper jaw, 3 incisors bottom jaw.  2 canines upper jaw, 2 canines bottom jaw.  4 pramolars.  4 more back pramolars have not made their appearance.

Motor Skills

  • Hannah can balance on one foot, with the other foot placed across the thigh of the standing foot…something like the Yoga Tree Pose.
  • She can turn the door knob open by herself (on tiptoe).  She can only open the door from outside-in though.
  • Wants to put on her clothes and shoes by herself.

Communication and Social Skills

  • Hannah can recognize the basic shapes and some of the secondary shapes now.  When we draw the shapes out, she will say “square”, “triangle”, “rectangle”, “circle”, “star”, “heart”, “oval” and even “diamond”.
  • She can identify most of the basic colors now, and will also sometimes ask what we get when we mix two colors together.  Her favorite color changes from day to day depending on her mood and what she wears.
  • Hannah can identify which is left and which is right.
  • She can also differentiate between a boy and a girl.  She can say that she is a girl and Ethan is a boy, and even for the people she has met, like relatives, she can correctly distinguish the gender.
  • She’s getting more and more interested in playing with other kids, and frequently names some of her friends in her parent-toddler class.  She is quite the sociable one, this one.
  • Loves scribbling and drawing things with color pencils.  It helps to harness her imagination and build her creativity.  She’ll even ask me to take a picture of her with the picture when it’s done.

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Toilet Training

  • Thought she was about to be toilet-trained for poopoo, but lately Hannah has been having frequent accidents.  I might start a sticker chart soon.

Food and Feeding

  • As of sometime near the end of July 2011, Hannah has been 100% weaned from the breast.  She now drinks fresh milk and UHT milk, and also has her dairy intake from cheese and yogurt.
  • In addition to chocolate milk, she has begun to show an interest for strawberry milk too 🙂

The Goodies that Returned with Daddy

August 23, 2011 in Celebrations, Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah | 2 comments

Daddy came back home on Sunday.  He had been away for a one-week business trip to US, and although it seemed like just a short while, we do miss him dearly.  Ethan, especially, told me how much he misses Daddy.

Therefore it goes without saying that when Daddy arrived at our front door last Sunday afternoon, he was greeted with cheerful faces, hugs and kisses.

…and then the kids swarmed around Daddy, saying, “Daddy, I want present…” 😛

Well…urm…we’re still working on steering the kids away from too much materialistic ideas, but you know, kids are still kids…

Anyway, here’s a glimpse of some of the goodies and surprises Daddy got for the kids…

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One could never ever go wrong with Cars 2.  With the movie release set for later this week, Ethan was definitely thrilled to see this 4-piece die-cast set.  He did not own any Cars die-cast *anything* before this, so he was overjoyed when he saw it.

As a bonus, the kids also got a new Lego set; Cars 2 themed as well.  That’s the box it came from, by the side of Hannah.

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…and it had all these new cool Lego pieces, from which awesome buildings could be constructed!

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And then, especially for Hannah, Daddy got her a pretty nifty little teapot set.  It had the sound effect of water/tea/coffee/Milo being poured out and also says things like “Why, thank you!”, “You’re very welcome!” and “More please!” to teach the child manners.

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The kids also needed some new shoes and sandals and Pete chose some really great ones, at unbelievable clearance prices…anyhow, Ethan was too busy playing with his toys to bother trying them on, but Hannah, of course ever the willing *tryer*, wanted to try out all her new stuff.

Aren’t her new sandals daintily pretty?

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Oooh…and I love her new pair of Mary Janes! 🙂

Memories are Made of These…

August 20, 2011 in Entertainment, Ethan, Funny Moments, Hannah, Vacation | 2 comments

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Whenever Daddy travels away on a business trip, we all miss him dearly.  But on the flipside, the kids and I really look forward to spending some top-notch quality time with Ah Ma and Ah Kong from Ipoh.  You see, my parents will try their very best to come and accompany Ethan, Hannah and me in Penang during Pete’s absence, and I am eternally grateful for the “extra hands” they lend 🙂

The kids enjoy the story-telling sessions and the undivided attention they get from Ah Ma and Ah Kong, and likewise, I would say the reverse is also true. 🙂

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Sometimes, if the timing is right, we will also take a drive down to my hometown in Ipoh for a short holiday.  The kids enjoy their time spent with their grandparents and they get to do a myriad of activities in Ipoh too.

Well, we recently had this golden opportunity again, and even though Ethan kept asking if we had arrived yet, all the way from Penang to Ipoh (Hannah was fast asleep, naturally!), both the kids were overjoyed when we finally reached our destination…would have reached earlier had I not been delayed by a police roadblock, where I was flagged aside and asked to show my driver’s licence…not for speeding, rather it was a random check that was being conducted.

Anyway, I digress…

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We spent 4 days and 3 nights in Ipoh…so what did the kids do to occupy their time?

Look how simple it is to keep kids entertained (albeit for only a short period of time).  The Ipoh City Council is using the parking coupon payment method, where we need to scratch out the date and time on a coupon and then display it in the car when we park.  Ethan and Hannah then used these used coupons to further scratch out the rest of the numbers, using coins.

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Look how engrossed they were… 🙂

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The kids enjoyed taking their baths with a scoop container too!  With the weather being so hot, a cool bath definitely helped to lift their spirits and upped their energy levels.  There was no problem whatsoever when I announced it was time for their baths.

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In Ethan’s words, he said, “Wow Mommy…it’s SO cooling, I love it!”

Ethan’s favorite computer game in Ipoh is Solitaire.  I was incredibly amazed at how fast he picked it up and soon was able to play on his own.  He was so impressed when he completed his first game ever…announcing to everyone, “Look!  I made mountains with it!!  I win!”

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We all have been there and done that now, haven’t we?  Maybe it’s time to introduce FreeCell to him 🙂

While walking around in Kinta City, we came across a height and weight machine, and Ethan remembered that I had asked him to remind me to measure his height and weight.  And of course, if Ethan gets on it, so will Hannah…

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I’m happy with their height and weight, especially since their BMI readings showed that both Ethan and Hannah were in the healthy zone. 🙂

Lastly, of course, any vacation is incomplete without the presence of good food.  Although this time round I did not get to eat the usual Ipoh fare, the kids did enjoy the yummy food.

Hannah discovered a love and appetite for wan ton mee, especially the one Ah Kong ordered from the hawker that rides past the back lane of the house.  Great tasting food that comes straight to your door, who could ask for more?  I was surprised she could eat half a plate all by herself, including the wantons!

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At the special buffet lunch at Excelsior Hotel, Ethan and Hannah had fun *making* and *creating* their own signature dishes…and tasting them too, of course!  They were excited because I told them it would be just like in MasterChef!! 🙂

Here’s Ethan tasting his version of koay teow soup:

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Hannah eating her own creation of “ABCD” (I had told her it was “ABC” but she added the “D” in herself!):

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…and Ethan wanted a go at making his version of ABC too…but he ended up drinking “strawberry soup” instead!

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We all sure had a good time in Ipoh 🙂  Thank you Ah Ma and Ah Kong for the excellent hospitality!  We look forward to more visits and enjoyable times soon! 🙂

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