Bible Verse of the Day

Hannah

All about Hannah

Weddings and Bravery

December 24, 2009 in Celebrations, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting | 5 comments

We received several wedding invites in the recent weeks, some of which Pete decided to go it alone, simply because it would be too tiring for the kids to attend.  However, we did bring the kids to a couple of wedding receptions (brave as we are!); one was a dinner reception of Pete’s nephew, and the other was a buffet luncheon.

Took the opportunity to take a family photo with the view of the sea before the dinner reception started.

 

Hannah was VERY interested with the candy cane wedding favors we received…

Never mind that I had to pick it up over and over again each time she *dropped* it…as long as she’s happy, yes?

Of course, it certainly helped that we had very *willing* baby sitters at the wedding too…here’s a precious shot of Hannah with Kor Kor (her godma too!) 🙂

And crystal wall hangings are ALWAYS a very good distraction, provided parental supervision is present.

And what about our little energizer bunny, Ethan?  He was busy running around with cousin Jonathan; in and out the banquet hall they went, chasing after each other, hopping here and there.

No wonder he was the first one to knock out…

Not long after, Hannah followed suit…

Oh, and what about the buffet luncheon?  No pictures from that one, cuz both kids were at their most active levels and I had no time to whip out the camera, and before we could even say “Yum Seng”, it was time to go home! LOL

Loving Embrace

December 19, 2009 in Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah | 3 comments

Won’t you just look at that? Ain’t that the sweetest loving embrace you have ever seen?

This is Ethan in one of his loving big-brotherly moods.  And if you’re wondering what he is saying while he was hugging Hannah, check out the video below….simply PRECIOUS! 🙂

 

Another jolly good vacation

December 18, 2009 in Ethan, Hannah, Vacation | 5 comments

So good we had so much fun that Mommy very nearly forgot all about the photos we had taken!  …and that was like three whole weeks ago!

Our main prerogative was of course to see little baby Caitlynn (ain’t she sweet?):

 

But apart from that, we (both adults and kids alike) certainly had fun!

Here’s the customary shot right before we left Penang.  Everybody’s wide awake and all excited.

 

We made our first detour in Taiping and had lunch at one of Daddy’s all-time favorite chicken rice stall.

Hannah’s looking rather happy despite the fact that she can’t taste the chicken rice yet.

And Ethan is all smiles, because he too, like Daddy, LOVES chicken rice.

Next stop: Ipoh.  We broke our journey here and had a pit-stop for the night.  Took the opportunity to have the ngah choy kai too.  Somebody looks really hungry…

And here she is again….still yearning for food…

The following day, we headed for KL, and checked into our hotel, much to Ethan’s enjoyment.  Despite the fact that we didn’t get to stay on the 18th floor like he wanted, he adapted really well to the 17th floor too.

And this is one of the reasons why….actually this would be the MAIN reason.

Hannah wanted in on the fun too, but let me tell you, it was rather terrifying, because she tried to stand and play with the bubbles just like her brother!

The kids also got to meet up with their cousins…it’s so heartwarming how the boys can play together now.

It didn’t take long for Ethan to bond with Collin.  In the hospital where we visited Aunty Pei Gee and Caitlynn, both Ethan and Collin were busy *spreading* the cheer around.

And the following day, when we met up with cousin Jonathan, Ethan and Jonathan were like best buds!

Jonathan was wailing and complaining when it was time for him to leave!  And the sweetest thing was that Ethan ran over and gave the crying Jonathan a hug! (awwww…….)

We also had good food during our vacation.  The hotel room comes with buffet breakfast, and the spread is really good.

Poor little Hannah could only look on as we ate.  So I decided to introduce papaya to Hannah.  You be the judge as to whether she likes it.

Holidays always come and go in a blink of an eye, and before we could even say “IKEA”, we had to pack up and leave. (we did go to IKEA though…)

Here’s Hannah posing for the camera in her dress.  Ethan calls it “Hannah’s pretty dress”.

On the way home, my girl discovered that she didn’t have to look straight at the back window all the time.  She found out that, hey, if I lifted my head and turned around, I can see Mommy!  Peekaboo!

We certainly had an awesome vacation, and we can’t wait for the next one!

Hannah at 9 months

December 15, 2009 in Hannah, Milestones | 1 comment


  Scrap Credits
Colchique dans les prés QP from Studio Soval Scrapbook Graphics
Giving Thanks Alphas from Stacey’s Scraps

Weight

Did not measure but should be close to 10 kilos now.

Height/Length

Getting taller and taller!

Teeth

2 bottom incisors, and we can see the *whites* of 2 more at the top!  She is a perfect candidate to sing the song, “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!”

Motor Skills

  • Crawling everywhere
  • Cruising everywhere, but at a slightly slower pace compared to crawling.
  • Slowly beginning to *let go* of the support she uses to stand.
  • Likes to arch her back upside down when being carried.
  • Can raise one index finger as if in pointing, and sometimes 2 fingers too!

Communication and Social Skills

  • Calling “Mommy” more consistently. 🙂
  • Can clap her hands.  Can clap her hands when being asked to verbally, and also if we show her by action.
  • Loves playing with all of Ethan’s toys.
  • Smiles a LOT – has a very cute dimple to boot!

Food and Feeding

She’s on Mommy’s milk 100% and is taking a little bit of solids too.  New foods she has been introduced to include:

  • Ground red rice porridge
  • Spinach
  • Pumpkin
  • Japanese sweet potato
  • Papaya

That sweet magical word

December 9, 2009 in Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones | No comments

 

Finally, just slightly after 9 months, she uttered the word that has the ability to wrap me around her little adorable fingers.

Last night, Hannah awoke, let out a “come carry me” cry, stood up in her cot, faced me and said, “Mameh….!”

She’s currently under the tutelage of her big brother to perfect the pronunciation, and from the looks of it, it will certainly be “Mommy” really soon.

…can we say that that’s officially her first word? 🙂

Her first porridge

November 26, 2009 in Food & Feeding, Hannah | 4 comments

It’s been long overdue but it’s finally here.  Last week, I prepared porridge for Hannah, just like I did for Ethan previously. I used organic red rice, washed it and oven-dried it. (I guess I chose red rice because it is not so starchy)

 

Then I ground the rice in a dry mill till the consistency is that of a powder form.

I used just one or two teaspoons to cook the porridge and the remainder of the powdered red rice is stored in an airtight container for future use.

Hannah’s porridge has yummy stuff in it too.  For her first time, I chose familiar tastes like carrots and potatoes.

Steamed and pureed carrots, and steamed and fork-mashed potatoes, that is.  I usually prepare them in bulk and freeze the rest in ice cube trays, like so:

This way, it makes it easier on subsequent days when I cook her porridge.

I mix the powdered rice with some hot boiled water, throw in the food cubes and put this mixture in a small claypot.  I put this claypot in a water bath in the slow cooker and let it cook.

Sure seems like a lot of trouble cooking some porridge, but it’s truly worth it when the *customer* smiles eagerly when the dinner tray is placed in front of her, and happily eats the porridge cooked with love.

Sometimes she tries to grab the spoon and feed herself too!

Affectionate Hannah

November 19, 2009 in Funny Moments, Hannah | No comments

Maybe it’s because we kiss Hannah all the time…how can we not when she flashes that adorable smile, with the almost-there dimple on her chubby cheeks?  Yeah, it has to be because we are incredibly affectionate with her, so much so that the affection we shower on her has made her affectionate too.

When I carry Hannah, she would hug me tight, sometimes using both hands to hold my head or my face, and attempt to kiss or chomp on my cheek or chin.  A similar trait that was exhibited by Ethan last time.

 

Last weekend when we visited Ethan and Hannah’s cousin Phoebe, Hannah was all affectionate again.  Crawling over to stroke Phoebe’s head, attempting to hug and kiss her…maybe Hannah thought Phoebe was a big soft toy for her to play with!

She’s also very loving and affectionate towards Ethan, but Ethan will run away from Hannah whenever Hannah comes a-crawling.  He’ll shout, “Hannah’s coming!”  and run very quickly away.

How can we ever resist affection from our little sweet Hannah? 🙂

The Winning Combination

November 18, 2009 in Food & Feeding, Hannah | 1 comment

 

Bingo!  The winning combination of rice cereal + EBM + pureed carrot + pureed potato makes Hannah ask for more! 🙂

Their cups runneth over

November 13, 2009 in Ethan, Food & Feeding, Hannah | 3 comments

I am very pleased that both my kids are fully on drinking cups now, be it regular cups or sippy cups.  No more bottles to wash, no more bottle nipples to scrub…

When we left for the States, Ethan was still on the bottle, and I had planned on weaning him off it while we were there.  I was about 70% successful.  He was only taking the bottle once in the morning and once at night, and then slowly we eliminated the night one.  When we returned to Malaysia, he went totally off the bottle for good 🙂

As for Hannah, since I breastfed her for 5 months without having the bottle, it was expected that she would not want the bottle, so now when she is at the sitter’s, she drinks from a sippy cup.  A toddler sippy cup, mind you…the kind without the valve.  We don’t have to worry at all about weaning her from a bottle 🙂

 

I bought these Tupperware bell tumblers from US, which comes in 4 different colors.  Ethan drank from these when he was at the daycare in US.  But now in Malaysia, he rarely wants to drink from them anymore, preferring instead to use regular cups.  The pink one is Hannah’s.  She drinks her EBM and water from that one.

The NUK sippy cup is meant for Hannah, but so far it doesn’t seem like she likes the spout very much.

We’ve also got these 2 cups for the kids.  Got them from Gilroy Gardens.  At first we didn’t want to get them because we only found Ethan’s, but then when we saw Hannah’s, we knew we had to get them both.  Ethan sometimes drinks his water from his “Ethan cup”.  It will be some time still before Hannah will be able to drink from hers. 🙂

Ain’t it fun being a kid, when you have all these pretty colorful cups to drink from?

Hannah at 8 months

November 10, 2009 in Hannah, Milestones | 1 comment

  Scrap Credits
While Softness QP from Missty Scrap
‘Sweet Baby’ Wordart vol. 2 from Dreams Inspired
Circle Dot Alpha (the number 8) from Laurie’s Scraps

Last weekend, we visited a friend and coincidentally there was also another baby at the house.  I was asked how old Hannah is, and when I said “8 months”, there were gasps all around.  Turns out the other baby is close to a year old, but Hannah looked a wee bit bigger than the baby.

Weight

Did not measure but should be close to 10 kilos now.

Height/Length

Getting taller and taller!

Teeth (yup, she has some growing!)

2 bottom incisors, and 2 more at the top are sprouting, I believe!

Motor Skills

  • Can crawl really well now.
  • Attempting to cruise.
  • Loves to hold on to things for support and stands up, e.g. the couch side, cot side, wooden toy, Ethan’s toy train…you get the idea…
  • Casting (throwing) of objects has started.
  • Getting harder and harder to bathe her because she will want to stand up or crawl out of the bathtub!

Communication and Social Skills

  • She sometimes responds/*talks back* to her brother when he *scolds* her or takes her toys away.
  • More pronounced verbalization of sounds.  I’m hoping she’ll call “Mommy” any day now 🙂
  • Can wave hi and bye.  I’ve also caught her waving to her reflection in the mirror.
  • Can give a high 5, well…more like a low 5.  I offer her my palm and she’ll high/low 5 it! 🙂
  • She is usually independent enough to play on her own, provided there is someone around in sight.  Will cry if she does not see anyone around.
  • Hannah has learnt the art of smiling into the camera when prompted. 🙂

Food and Feeding

She’s on Mommy’s milk 100% and is taking a little bit of solids too.  She has a solid meal once a day in the evenings, but it is more for tasting rather than making her full. She takes a combination of any of the following now:

  • Rice cereal + EBM
  • Pureed pear
  • Pureed apple
  • Pureed carrot
  • Pureed potato
  • A little bit of water.

Her favorite right now is Pureed carrot + rice cereal + EBM.  I normally add some rice cereal and EBM to the fruit/vegetable purees to make it creamier in texture.

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