This could be the start of another very very chatty chatterbox in future! 🙂
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What’s behind a name? After I did a whole detailed post on Ethan’s name, it’s now Hannah’s turn.
When we found out we were gonna have a baby girl, we had already pretty much decided on the name Hannah. I have loved the name Hannah since I was a schoolgirl, and it was only apt that I name my daughter as such. We definitely wanted a Biblical name and one that is meaningful both for us and for her. And we also wanted a name that’s not too common. That’s why we chose Hannah, which means Favored (or Favored by God), or Grace. In Biblical context, Hannah was one of the wives of Elkanah, and she was blessed with six children, one of whom was Samuel, the glorious warrior and judge of Israel.
With the Christened name decided, it was time for the harder part: deciding on a Chinese name.
Thanks to the internet, while we were in the US, I contacted a friend of mine in Penang to ask her hubby to help me ascertain a good number of strokes for Hannah’s Chinese name, based on her birth year, surname and also Mommy and Daddy’s birth year. This friend of mine was also the one who helped calculate the number of strokes suitable for Ethan’s Chinese name.
She then came back with the results, which stated that based on Pete’s surname, Chua (蔡Cài), there were 4 stroke combinations that would be a good match for the 2nd and 3rd Chinese character for Hannah’s name:
- 7 + 18
- 18 + 7
- 8 + 17
- 18 + 7
So off to the drawing board we went. Referring to some Chinese name books we had brought along, we wanted a name that had the water radical or water element in it. I used the internet to list out the various combinations that would sound good and mean good, meeting all the criteria we had set out, and then we gave the list to another friend of ours in Santa Clara to help us decide or recommend. After a few tweaks here and there, we arrived at a name that we all thought would be perfect for our baby girl.
We chose the name Xi Ling (Xǐ Ling: 禧泠), which is a combination of 17 + 8 strokes. Xǐ (禧) meant Joy and Ling (泠), which also contained the water radical, carried the meaning “sound of the water flowing“; and together, Xi Ling (Xǐ Ling: 禧泠) means Joy Overflowing, which Hannah is living up to really well, seeing what a happy little baby she is! 🙂
So Hannah’s full name is Hannah Chua Xi Ling (蔡 禧 泠 ~ Cài Xǐ Ling), carrying the meaning of Favored by God and Full of Grace, with Overflowing Joy. Isn’t that a pretty name for a pretty baby? 🙂
Scrap Credits
Happy Everyday QP from Thaliris Design
Funny Bubble Alpha from Loloden designs
Sun Porch alpha (the number 7) from Shabby Princess
Weight
9.1 kilos. This month she only gained 100g, maybe because she was ill a few weeks ago. But her weight is still in the 90-something percentile.
Height/Length
67cm
Motor Skills
- She started with the commando crawl backwards, and now she can crawl slowly by moving first her arms and then lifting (sometimes dragging) her knee. You’ll see Hannah moving all around the floor, and from one end of the cot to the other.
- Hannah can sit unsupported most of the time, and when she does tumble over to the side, she will assume her crawling position.
- Hannah also tries to do *stunts* like balancing herself on one knee and one elbow.
- Very good and deft with her fingers. She is able to hold objects very sturdily, transfering them from one hand to the other and back. She hardly ever drops the objects, unless she is throwing a tantrum.
- Attempting to STAND while being held by her hands. Gave me a shock!
- Hannah can (for the most part) sit independently in the bath tub when I give her her bath. She loves playing with water and will kick and squeal with delight. And she adores playing with the washcloth and a little cup I sometimes give her. At times she will *protest* when I take her out too soon. Note to self: time to introduce some cool bath toys to her! 🙂
Communication and Social Skills
- Saying “Mum-mum-mum” when she wants milk or Mommy.
- Vocalizing many different sounds, “Bababa…”, “ooooh…”, “ahhh…” etc
- Will stop, listen, look at me and smile when I start singing to her. Her favorite songs: the ever popular “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, “The Wheels of the Bus” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It”. The actions totally tickle her. And hey, I have noticed she has also started to try to copy my actions in “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”!
- Absolutely intrigued by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s Hot-Diggity-Dog song. Will stop whatever she is doing, look in the direction of the TV, and smile happily.
- Showing signs of readiness to play with Ethan. She laughs and smiles at him and is always looking at him, as if *learning* how to behave.
Food and Feeding Every ounce of milk she takes is 100% Mommy’s milk. She is back on rice cereal and EBM once a day now. After I stopped her rice cereal for a few weeks, she initially didn’t seem interested in the cereal when I reintroduced it a few days ago. But when I allowed her to hold her spoon and supervised her feeding herself, she got excited! Now Hannah looks forward to every evening when I feed her the rice cereal. I normally will feed her at dinner time (and her brother will want some of his own cereal too!) So rice cereal for Hannah, and a serving of Koko Krunch with fresh milk for Ethan! 😛 (I’m not complainin’!)
“I push myself up like this…”
“There…I’m on all fours. Now what?!”
“Eh? Smile for the camera AGAIN??!!!”
“Lemme try lifting my butt up…”
“I put one knee forward…like this, Mommy?”
“Gonna try to sit up on my own now…”
“That looks interesting…wonder what it tastes like…”
She’s almost there!
When we reached Hannah’s sitter’s house today to pick her up, Ethan exclaimed loudly, “Hi Hannah!” when he saw her. Hannah squealed in delight, lifted her right hand up and waved! 🙂
She is SO the sociable little baby!
Ethan runs up to me and says,
“Mommy, Mommy look! I draw Ethan! Look! E-T-H-A-N, ETHAN!”
By the way, he is SUCH an expert at spelling his own name. And he even knows and can read my name, Pete’s name and of course, Hannah’s.
Two weeks ago, we brought Hannah for her first haircut. Her bangs were getting too long, and I wanted to have the hairdresser do something about the “bald patch” at the back of her head. After a short wait, it was Hannah’s turn, and I held her in my lap as the hairdresser did the trimming. My hairdresser recommended we shave off the back portion of her hair, so that when the hair in the “bald patch” grew out, it would grow together with the bottom section. For her bangs, she trimmed it a little bit shorter in a side parting manner. Hannah’s sideburns were trimmed too.
She sat quietly while she had her haircut. And then she smiled for the camera when the haircut was done!
Ain’t she a darling? 🙂
Oh, just in case you were wondering, it was just the kids getting their hair done that day. So Ethan got the (ahem!) royal treatment too!
Scrap Credits
Film Star QP from retrodiva {designs}™
Boxed words from Chantal
Heart button from Doodle-iscious alphas from A work in progress
Splendid alphas and heart button from Shabby Princess
How time does fly! Without me realizing it, my little bundle of joy is now an adorable, bouncy little baby girl, achieving milestone after milestone before my very eyes!
Weight
9 kilos! Dr Jessica had only one word to say, “Wow!” 😛
Height/Length
If I remembered correctly, it’s 67cm – will check with doc and update later.
Motor Skills
- Can support herself with hands straight and on both her knees, as if preparing to crawl. Then she rocks and pivots her body forward and backward!
- Can also lift up her body so that her butt is high up in the air, and she is on tip toe, something like what her brother did with his downdog.
- Able to sit independently for longer periods of time, her favorite place being the green and yellow playmat. Her sitting position is still more towards the front, where she needs to support her weight with her arms, but she can go a few seconds without using her arms as support too.
- Can crawl backwards, in backward commando or caterpillar fashion. Can also move around by using the same method.
- Can hold and grasp objects very steadily and pass them from one hand to the other.
- Will try to grab hold of everything within her reach: drinking cup, plate of rice, etc.
- Can sometimes extend her arms out to ask to be carried.
- Her “breaststroke kicks” are getting stronger and stronger.
- Loves to bounce up and down on our laps when we carry her holding her under her arms.
- Can arch her back backwards when she is sitting or being held.
- Can hold a toddler sippy cup quite steadily and drink from it!
Communication and Social Skills
- Smiles and responds very well when spoken to.
- Blowing a whole lot of raspberries!
- On occasion, I have heard her saying “Momma” or “Memma” when she either wants milk or Mommy.
- Loves to be carried and held.
- Squeals and giggles.
Food and Feeding
Every ounce of milk she takes is Mommy’s milk. I started her off on rice cereal about 2 weeks ago, but stopped for a while because she had a diaper rash the day after, and then she was a bit unwell, so I am now waiting for a few more days before continuing.
Just several days ago though, she gave me quite a scare because that evening, she totally refused to nurse from the breast, and instead kept biting me! In the end, I had to express my milk and fed her with the sippy cup, and she eagerly finished 6 whole ounces!!! She even cried when we took her cup away after 4 ounces to refill an additional 2 ounces. I was shocked and surprised that she would have weaned herself from the breast automatically like that, and I was worried too that I would then have to express milk by the clock 😛
Pete was all, “Okay what…then you don’t have to resort to using Bonjela!”
But thankfully, that night she was okay with nursing from the breast again, and she’s back to her old self again now. Whew! 🙂
Some people might think I am a fussypot, but my criteria for selecting a daycare for Ethan is really very simple: he has to enjoy himself there. I believe that a kid his age should not be made to do homework, or forced to study, instead all I am looking for is for him to mingle with his peers and have a good time. Only then will he be able to learn in a conducive environment.
So upon our return from the States, we visited some centers and schools in Penang to see which one is suitable. One was too far away, although I actually like the teaching methodology they employed, allowing the kids to learn through play. But a 45-minute drive there and another 45-minute drive back home every day was definitely not acceptable. One center which was nearer to our home gave me the impression that the kids were being forced to read. And another one which was just down the road from our place, I didn’t like it because the principal did not teach the students. Instead it was a daycare franchise. Some of the centers did not have openings available, so we didn’t bother checking them out.
In the end, we enrolled Ethan in a center/school for half a day, for something called a Playgroup (for his age). It would take me about 10-15 minutes to drive there though, which was rather acceptable. The good thing about this school is that they allowed a 2-week orientation period, whereby the parent would accompany the child for 2 hours and then slowly extend the period till he was confident enough to be on his own. I knew that Ethan would be fine on his own for just half a day, but it was the getting used to the new environment, making new friends and all that would maybe be too overwhelming at first.
Before he started school, we prepped him for it by telling him every day, “We’re gonna put Hannah at Ah Poh’s house, okay? Then we’ll leave Daddy in the office, and then we’ll fetch Ethan to school. After that Mommy will go to the market.”
So when we ask him, “Where will Hannah go?” , he’ll say, “Ah Poh’s house!”
And “What about Daddy?” – “Daddy goes to office!”
“And Ethan?” – “Ethan goes to school!”
“Mommy?” – “Mommy goes to market!”
So even though it was only 2 weeks before the one-week school holidays were to start, we started Ethan off on his 2-week orientation. I thought we were good to go with the prepping, but I was so wrong! The first few days, he clung on to me like a leech. He didn’t really want to participate in the activities, preferring instead to sit on my lap or asking me to carry him. On the way to school, he would whine and complain, “I don’t want to go to school, Mommy!!”
But little by little he began to participate and join the other kids. On the 5th day when I took him to school, I asked him if it was okay that he played with his friends in school, while Mommy goes to market and that I would come and fetch him later…he said “Okay.” 🙂
And then the following week, we slowly extended the duration he was in school. First he was on his own for 2.5 hours, then 3. Here are some pictures of Ethan, taken by one of his teachers during the recent Merdeka Day celebration the school had (dunno why Ethan had that serious worried look on his face…)
Nowadays, most of the time, he would happily go to school, and he would be all smiles when I pick him up afterward. Occasionally he would not want to go and would not want me to leave, but I suppose it could be because of the long weekend or holiday.
Just last Monday, he didn’t want me to leave when the teacher greeted him at the door. After a few minutes of persuasion, I realized he was asking me to KNOCK the door first before he could enter! LOL So I knocked the door, the teacher opened it, and he entered the classroom happily…hehehe
One of his teachers commented that Ethan is now more settled and can play with his classmates. She even said that he can speak really well, which left me beaming with pride. When he comes home, he would tell us about his school friends: Annabelle, Nicole, Sharmay … how come all girls huh? 😛
I’m glad I am able to play a major part in this milestone Ethan is experiencing. Never mind the initial screaming, occassional whinings and sometimes tear-filled eyes when I take him to school…all that disappears as soon as I see his face light up when he sees me waiting to pick him up after school. And it makes it all SO worth the while. Sometimes when I leave him feeling sad and unhappy at school, I worry about how he’s doing, but he puts all my worries to rest when he tells me after school, “School’s so very fun, Mommy!” And that’s all I need to know.
So our weekday routine is more or less established now, except sometimes he wakes up quite late. On the way home from school, he will ALWAYS request to go to “O McDonald”, where he wants either “Vanilla ice cream” or “Fries”. Maybe we should be given a frequent diner card at Mc-D’s!
