Bible Verse of the Day

Catechism Classes

January 21, 2015 in Christianity, Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah | No comments

Our two older kids started their 2015 catechism classes two weeks ago.  For Ethan, he would be proceeding into the Std 3 class, whereas for Hannah, it was the beginning of a new experience as she started her class in the Preschool level.

The kids were super excited on that first day because they would be going to class with their best friends. 🙂 Hannah had been looking forward to this day for a long time now.

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What’s important is that they now enjoy their sessions and look forward to it each week.  Ethan and Hannah are aiming for 100% attendance this year. 😀

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What this means for us is that we now have 1.5 hours alone with baby Emma on Saturday afternoons while her siblings are in church. 🙂

Now what can we do with all that time?  Perhaps we can go hang out and have some coffee… 🙂

 

Emma’s First Haircut

January 18, 2015 in Emma, Growing Up, Milestones | No comments

We visited our family hairdresser yesterday for our haircuts, and since Emma was behaving rather well, and also because I thought her hair had grown considerably in the past few weeks (maybe it could be due to the Izumio and S Lutein supplements she has been taking daily!), we decided to let her get her first ever haircut!

Well, not really a haircut, more like a trim here and there.  I held her in my lap and the hairdresser put her in the little cloak to protect her clothes.  Our little princess did so well!  She hardly moved at all, and sat still throughout the entire process.

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No tears, no complaints 🙂  She only turned her head on occasion when her siblings distracted her.

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Her hair is so much neater now! 🙂

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Our First Sunflower Will Bloom Soon!

January 18, 2015 in Emma, Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah | No comments

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After 5 months of planting our first batch of sunflower seeds, and nurturing them with love, water and sunshine, three sunflower plants stand tall, healthily growing each day (Mommy’s and Daddy’s unfortunately didn’t make it.  Not even one!).

One of these three plants will have a pretty sunflower bloom soon, and it’s Ethan’s plant!

We’re eagerly awaiting the happy day, any day now!

Our Holiday Achievement: Swimming!

January 14, 2015 in Ethan, Exercise, Hannah, Milestones | No comments

During the long year-end holidays that just passsed, we decided that Ethan and Hannah should make full use of it to learn a lifelong skill in swimming.  I planned for an “intensive” 10-coaching sessions course for them, and worked hard to ensure they completed it before the craziness of the school term began.

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I’m pleased to say that we completed our ten lessons on the Friday before school began.

Even more so, in just 10 lessons, I’m so proud that Ethan and Hannah can now float and move in the water.  They are no longer afraid of putting their heads underwater and have gained water confidence in leaps and bounds.  Both kids are learning their forward crawl, and also a little bit of backstroke.

With a little bit more practice, we should be able to add the breathing part of the crawl. 🙂

The kids really look forward to each coaching session, and don’t even mind the slight drizzle during some lessons.  It helps that the coach was super cool with kids and he was able to tailor each lesson to each kid as he deemed fit.  For instance, Hannah was initially more comfortable on her back, whereas Ethan was more confident on his front.  So Hannah started learning the backstroke kick first while Ethan did the forward crawl.

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We would have loved to continue with the coaching sessions under this swim coach, but our schedule currently does not permit.  Perhaps when the next holidays come around, we’ll arrange something.

Meanwhile, I hope to take the kids swimming at least once a week or once a fortnight at least, just to ensure they keep practising. 🙂

Her Tooth Pouch

January 9, 2015 in Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones, Parenting | 1 comment

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Hannah will turn 6 this year, and she is expecting her first tooth to drop any time soon.  It could be next year too, but we never know.  No wiggly tooth yet, but it could come at an unexpected time. Anyway just to be prepared, I made her a tooth pouch to bring to school too, just like I did one for Ethan last time….you know, just in case the inevitable happens when she is at school.

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She was so happy to see that Mommy finally finished the project, and she even showed her tooth pouch to her teacher!

“Mommy, I really LOVE the tooth pouch you made for me!” she would gush every now and then.

It was my pleasure, sweetie! ♥

The Mystery of the Lost and Found Sweater

January 6, 2015 in Ethan, Parenting | No comments

About five weeks ago, before the school holidays began, Ethan misplaced his sweater in school.  All the kids have the same type of sweater because it’s made as part of the uniform…something like that. So when he looked around for it and could not find it, he deduced that someone must have accidentally taken his.

We waited and looked for 3-4 days but nothing came up, not even in the Lost & Found.

Concluding that it was lost forever, Ethan took it as a lesson well learned.

However, just last night when I looked in his bag while getting it ready for school, I was SHOCKED to find his sweater tucked inside.  It is definitely his because he has his initials printed on the collar tag.  Ethan says he has no recollections of putting it in his bag, and he doesn’t remember anyone giving it to him on the last day of school too.

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The only explanation is that the *borrowers* took it.  Dum-dum-DUUUMMMMMMMM!!!!!  Who can solve this mystery?

Back to School for the New Year

January 5, 2015 in Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones | No comments

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My little snowflake Hannah starts Kindergarten 2 (K2) today.  Her school is not observing the one-week delay in school start date due to the floods in the East Coast.

How did time fly by so fast?  I could still remember the first day I took her to her Playgroup class 3 years ago… and now she’s all independent and grown-up.

*insert music for reminiscing here*

Anyway, she was very excited and got up on her own at 6:30a.m. today, washed up and got herself ready.  She chose her entire outfit and was pleased as punch that they matched from head to toe.  She wore the hairband I made for her today, so in a way, she took a piece of Mommy along.

Well okay…I’ll stop being so emotional.

Have a splendid year ahead, snowflake! 🙂

Swim Lessons

December 22, 2014 in Emma, Ethan, Exercise, Growing Up, Hannah, Milestones | No comments

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Okay, we’ve tried.  On several occasions.  In different pools, different circumstances.

But we have not been successful in teaching the kids how to swim.

Now how can we be swimmers and our kids don’t swim?!  That’s totally unheard of.

The furthest we got (so far) was teaching Ethan how to blow bubbles and Hannah how to move with arm floats.

Sigh.  Epic fail.

Then some friends were saying that kids would learn much better and faster with a swim coach.  Refusing to believe this but also curious to give it a shot, I contacted this well-recommended swim coach and arranged for some lessons for Ethan and Hannah.  After all, they were on holiday now so swimming lessons seemed like the perfect thing to do.

We decided on combined lessons at first despite their age gap, and also because I figured it would be more conducive for me, taking the kids by myself to the pool with a baby in tow.

So first lesson started off okay.  The kids were kicking happily and then the coach moved to teaching them how to blow bubbles underwater.  Hannah had some water enter her nose and she shut out completely.  Didn’t want to continue and said she didn’t want to learn how to swim anymore. 🙁

Ethan, on the other hand, continued with the lesson and at the end of the 45 minutes, he could already float.  In his own words, Ethan said, “Mommy, floating in the water is like MAGIC!”

As for Hannah, after we came home and had a short chat with her, she said she would prefer individual lessons, so from the 2nd lesson onwards, the kids were on individual lessons.

And what a transformation that was.

After the second lesson, with some 1:1 coaching, our little Hannah was able to float and kick and move!  She even says, “I’ve changed my mind now, Mommy.  I LOVE swimming lessons!”

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Well, that’s certainly half the battle won!

They have completed 4 lessons thus far, with 6 more to go each.  So far, they can both move while kicking in the water, and Ethan can do the wall push too.  Both Ethan and Hannah are also more confident in the water and they can open their eyes underwater now.  They are also perfecting their “float on the back” technique : something I like to call “facing your fear”.

Ethan can kick and move quite far in the water now…very proud of both of them!

Before they began their coaching sessions, the coach did not promise me that the kids would learn how to swim like a fish at the end of the 10 sessions, but he did say that the kids would be taught water confidence and would be able to float.  Based on their progress thus far, I could not be happier..!

After he started to float and move in the water, Ethan asked, “Mommy, why didn’t YOU teach me how to float and blow bubbles??”

“But I did!  I tried but no one would listen!” I said.  Duh.

And just in case your were wondering, yes, I take all three kids out on my own for the swim lessons. 🙂  Emma loves playing with sand, when she’s not busy drinking milk or munching on dried cranberries.

Well, if I am adventurous this coming week, I might change Emma into her bathing suit and let her paddle in the water a little.  We’ll see. 🙂

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Our Christmas Wish(es)

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

Yesterday, the kids wanted to take some time to write down their Christmas wishes, or wish list for Santa.  When they were done, they each hung it on the Christmas tree.  I found their wishes to be…. ummm…amusing! 🙂

Here’s what Hannah wrote:

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See how detailed and specific she can get? 🙂

And I have no idea where she got that image of an Audrey Hepburn dress!

Here’s what Ethan wrote:

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Check out wish no. 3!! LOL

Of course, then came the questions:

“Mommy, will Santa Claus be able to come in to our house since we don’t have a chimney?”

“Where do we send our wishes?”

“What if Santa Claus cannot find the stuff in our wish list?”

At one point, Ethan remarked, “Ha, maaaybe….the adults are tricking us!  There’s no Santa Claus and the adults will pretend to be Santa Claus and put the presents under the tree!  And the same thing happens with the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, and all that…haha!”

Mommy replied, “If that’s the case, then how will the adults get their presents?”

Hannah said, “But the adults don’t WANT presents, right?  If they do, then the adults should make a list too!”

Emma at 21 Months

December 19, 2014 in Emma, Milestones | No comments

Emma-21monthsScrap Credits
Nostalgia QP freebie from Delicious Scraps

Weight

7.8 kilos.

Height/Length

Not measured.

Teeth

15 teeth: 7 bottom teeth (3 incisors, 2 canines, 2 molars) and  (maybe) 8 upper teeth (4 incisors, 2 canines and 2 molars).  She wouldn’t open her mouth wide enough for me to check her upper teeth, so I’m just guessing the 2 molars have erupted based on her recent sleepless nights.  I happened to catch a glimpse of her 2 lower molars though, and I suspect a couple more are on the way.

Motor Skills

  • Emma loves walking everywhere now and I have seen her attempting to jump, tiptoeing a little.
  • She loves to climb the stairs on both feet, with us assisting her on her arms.
  • She can gingerly go down one step on her own.

Communication and Social Skills

  • Emma says “ma ma” quite consistently now.
  • Other words: “ball”, “woh” (when she hears a dog barking), “koh” (for “cow”)
  • Loves playing with her siblings.
  • Nodding and shaking her head to show us what she wants and is more consistently done too.

Food and Feeding

Emma loves food and trying new food.  She will walk towards anyone who is eating a snack or fruit and ask for some.

Some new foods she has tried this month:

  • Persimmon
  • Fried banana (“pisang goreng”)
  • Banana kuih (“kuih kodok”)
  • homemade pancakes – just a couple of bites

Others

Emma is currently on some health supplements (carotenoid capsules and hydrogen-infused water) to help heal her eczema from within.  I’m pleased that she is taking well to the supplements and her skin condition is seeing much improvement.

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