Bible Verse of the Day

Hannah

All about Hannah

Hannah Reads

February 25, 2014 in Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones, Parenting | No comments

My little girl Hannah is just about embarking on her next beautiful journey: learning to read.  The fact that she cannot read as fluently as her brother Ethan did when he was her age last time does not bother me one bit.

Ethan was a fast reader and could already string words together before he was 3.  Hannah on the other hand is doing a great job sounding the sounds alphabets make, but at one point, she was frustrated because she could not put these sounds together to form words.

I’m not concerned because as long as I know she is healthy and having fun learning stuff, I’m happy too.  But lately I realized that Hannah could pick up reading more easily and readily when she reads a story repetitively, or when the story is read to her repeatedly.

Here, she is reading one of the books she borrowed from the library.  With fun graphics and easy-to-read words, it’s an excellent start to boost her confidence and jumpstart her on the reading bandwagon.

I love her expressive words!


Birds and Bees Question #33

February 20, 2014 in Ethan, Funny Moments, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | No comments

Hannah: Ethan, did Mommy peepee Emma out when she gave birth to her?

(Note: My kids were actually there in the delivery room when I gave birth to Emma)

Ethan: Hahaha…no Hannah.

Mommy (putting on Mommy-the-educator hat): No Hannah, when we peepee, the peepee comes out from the urethra.  But the baby comes out from the vagina.  Those are two different openings.

Hannah: Huh?  Peepee in the winter?

Mommy: Haha…no sweetie.  Not in the winter. Peepee from the urethra, NOT winter.  Baby from the vagina.

Ethan: What?  Baby from China?

Mommy: From the vagina, Ethan.  NOT China.

Laughter all around.

*Another edition of Morning Funnies on our school run*

Welcoming The Year of The Horse – Snippets

February 10, 2014 in Celebrations, Emma, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting | No comments

Now that we have all welcomed in the year of the horse with all the neighs and brays, and the cookies in the jars are dwindling fast, here are some shots taken during our recent Chinese New Year “balik kampung” extravaganza.  From Penang to Taiping to Ipoh and then back to Penang, all in the sweltering heat that is reminiscent of Chinese New Year.

Some photos were taken by photographers on the scene, at times when both my hands were full; usually one holding a 10-month old and the other a cookie or two. 😛  Heaps of gratitude goes out to these kind photographers…you know who you are 🙂

We had a simple tea ceremony when we were back in my hometown in Ipoh.  We served tea to my parents and the kids served tea to their grandparents, whilst getting ang pows at the same time.

Some pictures of Emma…she’s only recently become more camera-friendly.

One of the many Hannah pictures.  She wore this bright yellow summer dress on the 2nd day of Chinese New Year.  It’s hard not to smile when I look at her. 

I wanted to make some cookies this year but could not find the time before Chinese New Year.  So I figured it would still count if I did so during the 15 days, yes?  My kids helped me bake these easy-peasy German cookies…so crumbly, so melt-in-the-mouth, so more-ish….well, actually I HAD to bake these because I almost finished eating the German cookies my Mom gave!

And lastly, as a tradition and also just for laughs, here are our several attempts at obtaining a good family picture. 🙂

Gong Xi Fa Cai to all!  How was your Chinese New Year this year?

Kick a …what???

January 28, 2014 in Ethan, Funny Moments, Hannah | No comments

While waiting for our food to arrive at a restaurant, Ethan was looking at the menu when he suddenly burst out laughing.

Ethan: Mommy…I see that they sell a drink here called Kick..a…..?
Mommy: Oh yeah, that’s Kickapoo, Ethan.
Ethan: Haha…KickaPOO?  Hahaha…Hannah…the drink is called Kick A POO!!
Hannah:  Hahaha…Kick a Poopoooo!!!

O. M. G.

Gratefulness

January 13, 2014 in Christianity, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | No comments

Lately I started to teach Hannah how to pray. I figured it’s about the right time now since Ethan learnt to pray roughly around the same age too.

She asked a lot of questions.

“Where is God?”
“Is God in our hearts all the time?”
“Why don’t we see God?”
“Do bad guys go to heaven?”

I told her that we can talk to God any time we want and wherever we are.  For a start, I suggested a good time would be at bedtime. She could say a simple sentence every night to thank God for something..anything..she could think of.  I told her to think of it as a “conversation with God”.

Initially she didn’t know what to say or how to do it but after some prompting, she started producing ideas of her own….every night, without fail.

“Dear God,” she would start,
“Thank you for my clothes.”
“Thank you for my teachers.”
“Thank you for my meals today.”

She ends each prayer with, “In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

Tonight she said: “Dear God, thank you for the best mommy in the world!”

My heart melted.

And then she said, “I love you, Mommy!”

“I love you too, sweetie!”

I must have done something really good to deserve such a loving and sweet miracle. 🙂

This Post Is Brought To You By The Letter Z

November 18, 2013 in Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | No comments

About a week before the last day of school, Hannah told me that there was going to be a special dress-up party in school on the day before the school holidays were to start.  She learns phonics using Letterland characters, and her teacher had told her class that they each were to choose one of the Letterland characters to dress up as.

The following day, I found out from her teacher that in addition to dressing up, they each had to bring a food item that began with the sound made by that Letterland character.  For example, Clever Cat could bring cupcakes, cheese or carrots.

So after some deliberation and discussion with Hannah, she decided that she wanted to be Zig Zag Zebra.  I even French-braided her hair for her that morning…because that’s the closest we could get to a zebra’s mane!

And when I asked her what on earth I could possibly make that began with Z, she immediately exclaimed, “Zucchini Pie!”

You see, I had made Zucchini Pie a few weeks ago, and had asked Hannah and Ethan to help out then, so I guess that’s why she remembered.

So the night before saw me making this…it’s actually not Zucchini Pie per se, but more like mini Zucchini Pies or Zucchini tots.  Tastes awesome and plus, the kids are getting their greens with this one too! 🙂

 

Hannah also presented cute handmade bookmarks to her teachers as a token of gratitude.  She had picked those flowers during one of our evening walks and we pressed it in a book.  I then laminated them for her.

Goodbye Nursery, we’re looking forward to a splendid and exciting year ahead next year in K1!

Hannah Our Little Artist

November 17, 2013 in Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones | No comments

We’ve noticed that Hannah seems to have a excellent eye for art.  Even at a young age before, she would enjoy looking at pictures, drawing them and then coloring them.  She loves depicting and envisioning images on paper and it is a joy to see Hannah use colors and make them come to life.

This is a recent picture she did.  It’s a birthday cake she drew for Mickey Mouse’s and Minnie Mouse’s birthday:

This one is a combo picture of a smoothie or milkshake, a rainbow, a whirlpool (brown thing at 10 o’clock location), two trees, a green apple and (maybe) a purple monster:

One of the many pictures she draws for me regularly:

A watermelon slice:

She asked me to print out a picture of Ariel because she wanted to color it.  Then she asked me to teach her how to draw a star…that would explain the many stars she drew all over the picture! 🙂

A vegetable garden: see if you can name all the different vegetables!  Gotta love her butterflies and birds too! 😀

She simply LOVES drawing rainbows!  This one was a “Welcome home, Daddy!” gift to greet Daddy after his business trip home from US.

During the minion craze…

And recently, she brought these home from school:

Hannah explained that in this following picture, she was instructed to use only shapes to create pictures.  I was especially impressed when she said she used hearts for the crab pincers and a trapezoid for the roof of the house. 🙂

Visit to the Penang State Museum

November 1, 2013 in Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones | 1 comment

About a month or so ago, Hannah went on a school field trip to the Penang State Museum.  It was her very first school trip since she’d rejoined her class after our return from The States.  Ordinarily, I would have wanted to tag along to take a few pictures for my own keepsake, but since I now had a clingy baby with me, I asked a favor from a friend of mine (whose son was Ethan’s classmate in K2) to help to take some pictures.  (You know who you are, thank you!!)

Here are some of the pictures from the trip… 🙂

Happy Times with Gramps

October 23, 2013 in Emma, Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah | 1 comment

My kids have a truly affectionate bond with my parents, i.e. their maternal grandparents.  Ethan and Hannah especially are very much attached to Ah Ma and Ah Kong from Ipoh.  When Ah Ma comes for a visit on her own, Ethan and Hannah will have to make a most *difficult* decision on who would get to sleep together with Ah Ma.

However, this time around, Ah Ma and Ah Kong both came for a short visit.  Ethan and Hannah were naturally very excited.  They had lots of things to talk and discuss with Ah Ma and Ah Kong, lots of games to play, including question games and spelling games.  Even then, Hannah would sometimes ask if she could take a short nap with Ah Kong in the afternoons.

Yes, such is their fondness for Ah Ma and Ah Kong, whom I’m sure love and adore them to bits too. 🙂

Ethan and Hannah would make interesting remarks like, “Mmmmm….now the room smells like Ah Ma and Ah Kong!  NICE!”

Ethan can even independently follow Ah Kong and Ah Ma around without me being around now.  He loves tagging along when they have their breakfast at the coffee shop and doesn’t even mind taking a walk back home with them.  Of course, Ah Ma tells me that Ethan’s pace is getting a little too fast now!  Haha….

Emma is still very attached to me though, but there are some signs that she would grow fond of Ah Ma and Ah Kong soon too.

Here’s to more happy times ahead with Ah Ma and Ah Kong! 😀

The Layover – Day 3: Saying Goodbye and Heading for Home

August 27, 2013 in Emma, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting, Vacation | 1 comment

Our third (and final) day in Anaheim was supposed to be a short one, because our flight out from LAX to HKG was at about midnight that day.  However, our plan of waking up extra early to get a headstart on all those Fast Passes with our Magic Morning entry went up in smoke when we all slept in.  Fatigue and exhaustion from the previous days and all that jazz.

Nevertheless, we made do with the time we had and since the kids placed priority on the Radiator Springs Racers ride (at California Adventure Park) they had missed the day before, we headed straight for that one.  Unfortunately the Fast Passes for that ride were all taken up and the wait in line (without a Fast Pass) would be about 1.5 hours.

I suggested that they just go for it, since we had no choice anyway.  The queue would definitely get longer and longer as time wore on anyhow.  So Pete, Ethan and Hannah proceeded to wait their turn, while I took Emma for a walk.  Good thing they did too, because the queue became longer and longer as time wore on…in fact, it was more than 2 hours when they were done!

Anyway, my time alone with Emma wasn’t too bad.  There was a very comfortable child care center, complete with nursing room, changing tables, child potties and sinks not too far away.  There was also a similar-styled baby room in Disneyland.

I loved that:

  • Each individual diaper-changing station had a fresh stack of paper liners for the diaper changing table.  Very hygienic!
  • Each diaper-changing station was also padded along all four sides, and the place where baby would be laid down was on a lower level than the edges.  I thought this was a very useful and preventative measure to ensure baby does not roll over and fall over.
  • The room was tastefully decorated in baby prints.
  • There was a sink and soap provided, together with paper towels.
  • They also had little potties for smaller kids.  Definitely cozier than the adult restrooms!  Only Hannah *qualified* to use these little potties though.
The nursing room in Disneyland had at least 5-6 comfortable chairs for nursing, and there were 4 chairs at the center in California Adventure Park.  There were also magazines and reading material, and also a table and power outlet for moms who wanted to use the electrical breast pump.

On hindsight, there should have been a few of these rooms in the park, not just ONE for each of Disneyland and California Adventure.  But I digress.

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