Bible Verse of the Day

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! 😀

Emma at 7 months

October 22, 2013 in Emma, Milestones | No comments

Scrap Credits
Blessed QP from Dana’s Footprint Digital Design

Weight

Turns out I had been wrong all along.  At about a week past her 6th month mark, we took Emma for her well-child checkup and she was only 7.1 kilos then.  She should be maybe about 7.5 kilos now, I suppose.

Height/Length

About 61 cm at her 6th month checkup, so perhaps about 63 cm now?

Teeth

2 bottom incisors.

Motor Skills

  • Emma can now roll around and move in circles.  She can also inch her way around, and sometimes when she is on her tummy, we can see her lift her butt ever so slightly to move forward.  Sometimes she moves backwards this same way too though.
  • Emma can sit unsupported for a few minutes now.  She still tumbles over and loses her balance though, so she still needs constant supervision.
  • She can hold objects (like a rattle) and loves to suck on them.
  • She loves to “pretend” she can stand when we hold her by the hands.
  • I can “almost” give Emma a bath all by myself now, since she can sit unsupported for longer periods of time.
  • She has a very strong grip and can hold objects very tightly, including our hands, fingers and my hair (and Hannah’s hair).

Communication and Social Skills

  • Says “Mum Mum Mum” and “Ma Ma…” a lot, mostly when she wants Mommy or milk.
  • She loves to smile, even at total strangers.  The catch is that she needs to be held by Mommy.
  • She is very dependent on me and sticks to me like a stamp to a letter.
  • She loves her siblings’ antics and always giggles when she looks at them.
  • She loves Bananas in Pyjamas.
  • Her favorite place in the world is at home!

Others

  • I’ve started using a range of non-steroidal moisturizing creams and balms on Emma, in the fervent hope that her eczema will heal.  I’m also keeping her legs and hands pretty much covered all the time to prevent scratching.  I hope to review this range of products if/when it truly works.
  • I put her to bed on her back, but she inadvertently always rolls over and sleeps in a crouching manner with her butt up.  I wonder if it’s okay…hmmmm…

Food and Feeding

Her diet is mostly 100% on Mommy’s milk, although she has tried several types of food thus far, albeit in small quantities.  She sucks and nibbles on the following:

  • Steamed carrot sticks
  • Soft steamed rice (I’ve only given her red rice so far)
  • Banana (she will hold the banana and nibble on it)
  • Apple slices
  • Pear slices
  • Cucumber chips

She’s still learning to feed herself, and she loves to hold a spoon, even a spoon without any food in it.  I’m still going slow on her solids because she has yet to completely heal from her eczema and I’m afraid introducing too many different types of new food might make her eczema flare up again.

God With Us

October 11, 2013 in Emma, Milestones | 1 comment

Unlike when we had Hannah, we had not come to a firm decision on what we would name our third miracle when we were expecting her.  As soon as we knew it was going to be a girl, there were a few names we were tossing around.

Well, we knew we wanted a name from the Bible, or at least derived from a Biblical context.  However, some of the names, although sounded all right, just didn’t strike the right chord with either Pete or me.  To be honest, the name “Emma” was “not approved” by Pete earlier on for whatever reason, I do not know.  Subsequently, Hannah began naming her soft toys and her bear happened to be named Emma.  So when we started considering “Emma” again, we had to ask Hannah’s “permission” to have her sister share the same name as her bear.  It was a back and forth decision that continued for weeks, and in the end Hannah agreed to change her bear’s name to Olivia if we choose Emma for her sister’s name.  Well, we did…but Hannah’s bear is still Emma to this date. LOL

Anyway, back to Emma. Emma is a name that carries the meaning “Universal, whole or complete”.  It is also considered a Biblical name because it is a name derived from Emmanuel, which means “God With Us”.

Next comes the tricky part of choosing the Chinese name.  Once again, I requested for help from a friend of mine to help in determining the number of strokes which are suitable, and she confirmed that it would be the same as for Hannah the previous time, which meant 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 Emma’s name:

  • 7 + 18
  • 18 + 7
  • 8 + 17
  • 18 + 7

We didn’t really restrict ourselves to having some form of common character for both our girls so our options were wide open.  However, upon doing some research, we limited ourselves to the stroke count above and also to the criteria that Emma’s name had to contain the “grass” radical (艹), given that she would be born in the year of the serpent/snake, according to the Chinese Zodiac.

I gravitated towards the Chinese character Xǐ (禧), from Hannah’s Chinese name because I really liked its meaning: Joy.  Then I stumbled on this character Yún (芸), and since it fits the stroke count and the radical criteria, I enlisted the help of a few friends to help me look up the meaning.  I found several meanings myself so I was a bit confused.  Turns out this character has several meanings on its own, depending on whether it was used traditionally or in its modern form.  One of its meanings is “To see”.

The combination of Yún(芸) and Xǐ (禧) (8 + 17 strokes) therefore meant “To see Joy”. What a beautiful meaningful name for a beautiful baby girl! 🙂

We are also very pleased that both our girls have a common Chinese character in their names but they are also unique names on their own, with the position of the Chinese character Xǐ (禧) switched.

So her full name is thus Emma Chua Yun Xi (蔡 芸 禧 ~ Cài Yún Xǐ), which carries the meaning God with Us, To See Joy.

Additional trivia with regards to our kids’ names: they are all in a way complementing or completing each other, however you want to look at it.

  • Ethan has 5 letters, Hannah has 6 letters and Emma has 4 letters; each one unique and special.
  • Ethan and Emma share the same first name initials.
  • Hannah rhymes with Emma.

More Chomps Ahead!

October 10, 2013 in Emma, Growing Up, Milestones | 1 comment

For the past couple of weeks, sleeping at night has been a whirlwind of inconsistency and disturbance.  Emma would wake up crying and kicking, unable to fall back to sleep even after being breastfed.  I’ve had to carry and rock her and sometimes bring her outside to our living room and eventually she would fall asleep.  By the time I’d realized it, it would be close to dawn and almost time for me to wake up (normally).

Initially I thought it was attributed to her 6th month growth spurt, but just last week, as she was sucking on my finger, I felt a rough edge on her bottom gum.  Upon closer inspection, I realized that…yes, our girl has cut her first teeth!  We can definitely see her 2 bottom incisors peeking out from her gums, and finally that’s when it all made sense!

Here’s a quick photo I took of her today…if you zoom in really closely, you can see the incisors 🙂

I’m excited for my baby girl, but in the same vein…*yawn* I’m yearning for more sleep!

(By the way, October seems to be a favorite month for all my kids to start teething:  Ethan’s first teeth & Hannah’s first teeth)

The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid

September 27, 2013 in Ethan, Growing Up, Parenting | 1 comment

Recently, Ethan has developed a passion (or addiction) for reading books from the Geronimo Stilton series.  I take full credit for starting the ball rolling. 🙂

You see, early this month, while Ethan was having his soccer practice, Hannah and I hung out at the library, and on a whim, I decided to borrow a couple of Geronimo Stilton books for him.  Well, whaddya know?  He LOVES them!

He even asked me to print out a list of all the Geronimo Stilton books so he can check them off as he completed reading each one.  He borrows at least 2-3 Geronimo Stilton books from the library every week and he can finish reading one book in less than an hour now! 🙂

So anyway, as Ethan and I were discussing book reports the other day, I asked him if he would like to write a book report on one of the Geronimo Stilton books he had read and he was up for it.  So here’s his first book report:

Please disregard the ratings at the bottom of the report.  The kids were playing Master Chef and giving the “dishes” their own ratings…

Here’s One for Malaysia Day

September 16, 2013 in Ethan, Growing Up, Parenting | 1 comment

Children are tomorrow’s generation, and who better to carry the mindset of change better than children themselves?  With ever-open minds that absorb knowledge like a sponge, a child’s education is determined by his upbringing and his exposure to events around him.  As parents, we play a pivotal role in ensuring our children get a wholesome education not just for now, but for life.  We are examples for our children through what we do and say.

A couple of months ago, while we were in Six Flags, a lady manning the cash register struck a conversation with Ethan.

Lady: Hey buddy…how are you doing?
Ethan: Good!
Lady: Did you have a great time today?
Ethan: Yes, we had so much fun!
Lady: Where are you guys from?  Are you guys Chinese?
Ethan: No.  We’re Malaysians!

Earlier last week, I was with Ethan and Emma at the bank, to open a savings account for Emma.  While getting the documentation sorted out, Ethan was waiting for me at the side when one of the bank officers/tellers started making small talk with him.

Bank Officer: Is your father an Englishman? (I think she meant Caucasian.  We get that a lot because a lot of people seem to think our kids look mixed…well, anyway…)
Ethan: No he’s not.
Bank Officer: No?
Ethan: Yeah, my Dad is a Malaysian!
Bank Officer: Malaysian? But Malaysian got 3 TYPES wor… Malay, Chinese and Indian.  Which one? (What the..??  Now you see how most Malaysians are still bent on race)
Ethan: Malay!

************

I’m extremely proud of Ethan that without any prompting from us, he can confidently answer that he is a Malaysian, forgoing the need to stress whether it’s Malay, Chinese, Indian or “lain-lain”.  If only more Malaysians can think the same way…

Happy Malaysia Day, everyone!

Emma’s First Solids

September 14, 2013 in Emma, Food & Feeding, Milestones | 3 comments

Two days ago, we gave Emma her first solids.  This time around, I figured I would attempt Baby Led Weaning.  It’s a relatively new concept and the more I’m learning about it, the more it’s making a whole lot of sense.

Basically with Baby Led Weaning, the baby is given “real food”, as in food that is as close as possible to what we as adults would eat (minus the salts and sugars, of course).  With Baby Led Weaning, there will be no food purees and mushy food that is always linked to weaning a baby.  A baby is encouraged to feed herself by holding on to food and chomping or munching as much or as little as she wants.  At the same time, breastfeeding is fully encouraged and baby can drink as much as she wants.

I’ve read that babies who adopt Baby Led Weaning tend to have healthier appetites, are not fussy eaters and become more independent with feeding themselves.  This in turn (hopefully) will result in happier meal times, because the entire family eats together.  Another obvious PLUS is of course that I don’t need to spend time making ground rice, pureeing fruits and vegetables and frozen food cubes! 😀

I’m still learning about Baby Led Weaning as I go along, so if there are any of you out there who has advice or suggestions, please feel free to let me know! 🙂

So I didn’t buy any rice cereal this time.  Instead, for Emma’s first solids, I boiled some soft Bario red rice grains and shaped them into little rice balls.  The boiled Bario red rice looked a little like porridge, soft and palatable.

She grabbed the little rice balls immediately.  But I suppose her hand-to-mouth coordination is not that advanced yet, so she didn’t really know what to do with the rice balls!

She ended up chomping away on the side of the bowl!

When she threatened to fling the bowl over the side of the food tray, I decided to place the food on the tray itself, so she could have easier access to it.

Well, she didn’t eat much of the rice that first time.  I did allow her to hold the bowl again, and she happily licked the bowl a little! 😛

I didn’t expect her to eat much this first time anyway.

Today, I tried again, and she did put a little into her mouth, but she became quite frustrated when she could not eat a lot (we think).  So I used a spoon and fed her small tiny spoons of the red rice porridge.

Guess what?  She grabbed onto the spoon and nibbled at the porridge!  Looks like she likes it!

And she drank some water too after that, with a sippy cup!

Great job, Emma!  Mommy is so proud of you!  Here’s to more healthy eating days ahead!

Emma at 6 Months

September 13, 2013 in Emma, Milestones | No comments

Scrap Credits
Natural Glory QP from My Memories
Boxed words Volume 4-Love & Wedding empty tag from Chantal Taake

Weight

No up to date measurement as yet, I’m guessing probably around 8 kilos, at least.

Height/Length

No up to date measurement yet too.  Will be taking her to the pediatrician for her 6-month well-child checkup, so we’ll get some measurements then.

Motor Skills

  • Emma can now roll over and roll back again.  She’s getting pretty adept at it too!
  • She will roll and move her body around the bed or across the floor.
  • Sometimes when she is on her tummy, she till attempt to lift her butt up.  Couldn’t resist posting this picture of her in deep slumber, with her butt in the air.  Emma sleeps on her back mostly, but that morning, I caught her in this position!

Communication and Social Skills

  • Emma is babbling a lot, and on several occasions (especially when crying), we have caught her saying, “Mom”, “Mum”, “Mama” or “Ma”. *beams*
  • Will reach out her hands or leans towards me when she wants me to carry her.
  • She can recognize my voice, and will let out a cry when she hears me in the vicinity.
  • Smiles when spoken to.

Others

  • Still can’t wait for her eczema to completely heal.  It’s unbearably itchy at times and she scratches if it is not moisturized.  On countless nights, I have woken up just to apply the moisturizer on her skin so she feels better.
  • Her sucking reflex is pretty strong now, and she loves to grab and suck on anything in sight.  It could be a sign of teething though, but only time will tell.

Food and Feeding

She is 100% on Mommy’s milk.  Will attempt to reach for cups, bottles or plates if they are within her reach.  Methinks that is a sure sign of readiness for solids.

Frying an Egg 101

September 3, 2013 in Ethan, Growing Up, Milestones, Parenting | No comments

Ethan expressed an interest to learn how to cook, and today I told him he could fry an egg for me for lunch. 🙂

After all, seven is as good an age as any to learn how to cook, no?

I let him crack the egg into a bowl on his own; choose the egg from the fridge and hit it firmly on the edge of the bowl, then pull the shells apart so the egg slides gently into the bowl (he did it beautifully, with the yolk intact, and no remnants of eggshells floating inside).

Then I turned on the stove and explained that the pan needs to be hot before we poured the oil in.

Then Ethan poured the egg into the pan and waited for it to cook, and then he used a spatula to lift the egg out of the pan and onto my plate.

He was so pleased with himself, and he’s asking me what he will be cooking tomorrow.

Are there any Junior Masterchef classes in Penang? 😀

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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