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Little Miracles · Our Blessings from God…
Bible Verse of the Day

Pete’s workplace recently organized a carnival event at Gurney Plaza.  It was basically a family day kinda event, where the employees were allowed to invite up to 5 family members and friends for a fun-filled day.  Ah Kong and Ah Ma from Ipoh also came to Penang to join us for a day out.

Ethan and Hannah, as usual, were really looking forward to the carnival.  Ethan, especially was all geared up for the coloring contest, which I told him about.

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There were coupons for kiddy rides for Ethan and Hannah, but unfortunately there were only two coupons (i.e. 2 rides).

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There was also a booth for us to take a family photo, and a couple of coupons for a 3-minute back massage (Ah Ma and Ah Kong enjoyed their 3 minutes of pampering there!) 

We also wanted to get ourselves a footrub and manicure, but too bad, all the appointment slots for those were taken up for the day.

There were clowns giving out balloons and there was also a magic show for the kids.

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But what Ethan was really waiting for was the coloring contest.  It was his first one ever, and he kept asking me when the contest would be starting.  His set of color pencils was getting worn out, so just for this coloring contest, I specially got him 2 new boxes.  There were 3 categories for the coloring contest, and Ethan was registered into the Age 4-6 Category, where they were each given a picture of the sun to color.  Time limit was 1 HOUR!!!

…and he eagerly got down to work…

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Check out our little artist at work…Ethan’s coloring skills have improved tremendously!! 

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Hannah wanted to join in the fun too, but she was underaged for the contest, so I had to get her a random piece of paper from my bag, just so she could do some coloring of her own.

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Meanwhile, Ethan’s coloring was taking shape…

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He had to make the sun colorful, because nobody remembered to bring a pencil sharpener…and when the colors he was using ran out, he had to use other colors…hahaha…

And here’s Ethan with his mentor…looking on, as Ethan puts his finishing touch…

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Ta-daaaaa!!!!

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And now, we’ll just have to wait for the results…

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Here’s how pleased Ethan looked, after the magician gave him a sheet of Thomas & Friends stickers…

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The results for the coloring contest was announced after the magic show.  Ethan was in the category with the most number of participants, and the names of the consolation prizes were announced first, followed by the 2nd runner-up, 1st runner-up and the winner…and you know what?  We were all pleasantly surprised and proudly beaming when Ethan’s name was called up as the WINNER!  Woohooo!!!

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Look at that look of surprise on his face!

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Ethan got himself a medal, a set of color pencils, a crystal paperweight and a recorder. 

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 Picture of all the winners…looks like Ethan is the smallest-sized of all.. LOL!

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Congratulations Ethan!  We are so very proud of you…You must have inherited those “coloring contest winning” genes from Mommy, huh? *wink*

We also did some sand art before we left the carnival.  It was a first time for all of us too.

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Here’s Ethan with his masterpiece…

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He had wanted to do another one, but the person-in-charge told us that one child was only entitled to one piece of sand art.

So Hannah had one done too…with the help of Ah Ma!  Hannah chose the colors she wanted and Ah Ma did the “sand-arting”:

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It was a very exciting day for all, and Ethan and Hannah really enjoyed themselves to the brim!  Although the grown-ups were all tired out after the long day of events, the kids still had the energy to go on and on and on!

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There’s just something about Lego that gets to kids.  Ethan loves creating masterpieces with the Lego blocks and Hannah has also found something she can do with them: STACK

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See how high her tower is?

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Look at the level of intense concentration…

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I’m always amazed at how long she can just sit there and quietly build the tower… 🙂

Maybe I’ll ask her to build one that is taller than she is!

A week and a half ago, we finally took the kids for a fun trip to the Penang Butterfly Farm.  I use the word “finally” because all this time, we’ve been reading countless accounts about fellow bloggers and friends taking their kids there, but we had yet to make the trip.  Ethan was really looking forward to this trip and he was certainly very excited about it.

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We reached the farm at around 3:00p.m.  The weather was simply beautiful, not too hot and not too cold either.  Although it did rain a few drops, our experience at the Butterfly Farm was not fazed.

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Amid all the “Wow!”s and the running around, we managed to get some pretty shots of some butterflies too…

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The area was not very big, and we found ourselves making round after round and round.  The kids had a lot of fun, chasing the butterflies and also each other.  And when they were tired, they made a pit-stop at the exhibition room.  Ethan exclaimed, “Wow…it’s so cool in here, Mommy!”

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This was what he told us he wanted to do at the Butterfly Farm, and I’m glad he had the opportunity to do so…

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After our Butterfly Farm visit, we headed on to Rasa Sayang Hotel with our hungry tummies, and had a splendid seafood buffet dinner at the Spice Market Cafe.  It was our first visit there, and the food was simply amazing!

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It was a daunting task to take pictures of all the glorious food while looking after our hyperactive kids, and there were so many other dishes I left out.  For dessert, I adored the cheese cake, tiramisu, and the small bowls of crème brûlée.  Sorry, no time to take individual pics of these, but just a faraway shot…

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See how much Hannah enjoyed the food too?

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Ethan didn’t want to take a photo because he was too busy eating! LOL

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“Daddy…may we come back again, please?”

It’s hard to believe that a whole school year has already passed.  It feels like it was just yesterday when I took Ethan to his school on the first day of the school year in January, as he started his year in Nursery.  And now it’s the end of the year, and he is anxiously waiting for the coming year when he would be in K1.

Yes, my boy loves going to school.  And yes, he tells me that. All the time 🙂

I’m so thankful that with Ethan I don’t have to deal with tantrums and tears on why he doesn’t want to go to school, because he genuinely LOVES school.

He has made so many friends in school, and he has grown in leaps and bounds in all aspects: physically, emotionally, spiritually and socially.  He started school as quite a shy guy but now his teacher tells me he is quite *noisy* in school and will volunteer information and answers quite readily.  His confidence, too, has skyrocketed and he has mastered many useful skills.

In fact, I am not surprised that he looks forward to school.  During the final week of the school term alone, Ethan was out on a school field trip to Sushi King, where they learnt how to make sushi, ate the sushi they made and had plain clean fun.  On that day, his teacher had asked them to arrive at school before 9:00a.m. and although I was afraid we might not be able to make it on time, Ethan wasted no time in getting ready and we arrived at 15 minutes to 9:00a.m.!

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And then on the last day of school, there was a school party, with water play, food and games for everyone.

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How could Ethan not love school?

Well, much as he loves school, he is also enjoying his school holidays very much now.  During the 1st week of the school holidays, Ethan attended a Circus School Holiday program and next week, he’s looking forward to a Science Holiday Program.  Whatever it is, we’re trying to keep him occupied as much as we can, because we know he has tons of energy to expend!  Besides, we all know that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, yes?

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We use the “naughty stool/chair” method as a form of discipline for our kids.  So whenever one of them misbehaves, he/she will get sent to the naughty chair and “sit out” his/her time.  For Ethan, he needs to sit for 4 minutes and for Hannah, it’s 1 minute; the number of minutes spent on the naughty chair is equivalent to the child’s age.

After their “time done” we’ll explain to them what they did wrong, and the child concerned will then promise to not do it again.  He/she will apologize and give each one of us a hug.

There was once when Hannah did something wrong.  I think she hit me with a toy or book, so she sat in the naughty chair.  When she was ready to say sorry, she came over and gave me a hug. 

Ethan said, “Daddy, come here.  I want to hug you too.  But I didn’t do anything wrong.  I just want to hug you because I love you…”

Awww…..

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Ethan has been picking up a few foreign language terms lately.  He learns a little bit of Chinese (Mandarin) in school and he has been asking me how to count in French (thank goodness I paid attention in class), how to say simple phrases like hello, goodbye, etc.  Other than French, he picked up how to say “hello” in Spanish.

Ethan: Hola!
Me: Hola!  Yes, Ethan..that’s Hello in Spanish…just like Handy Manny, right?
Ethan: What, Mommy?
Me: You know, Handy Manny?  He says, “Hola!  Handy Manny’s Repair Shop!  You break it…?”
Ethan (without missing a beat): YOU FIX IT!

Well…that’s how Ethan would run his “repair shop” 🙂

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Ethan: Mommy, your makeup today is beautiful.  I like it!
Mommy: But Ethan, Mommy’s not wearing any makeup today.
Ethan: Really?
Mommy: So do I still look nice?
Ethan: Yes of course Mommy! 🙂

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As the eldest among all his cousins, Ethan’s role as an influencer is reinforced each time he meets up with them.  Of course, it goes without saying that he gets daily practice by being a role model for little Hannah. 

Hannah adores and admires her brother.  She follows his actions and his words and looks up to him like any girl would look up to her big brother.  He is her idol, and Ethan…well, he basks in all that admiration.

Ethan’s influence does not end just there.  When his younger cousins are around him, they tend to gravitate towards him and follow his every move too.  Not long ago, I witnessed his cousin Jonathan, learn how to jump, just by watching Ethan.  His cousin Collin also followed exactly what Ethan did when he last visited us a few weeks back.

Big brother.  Role model.  And superstar to his sister and all his cousins.  Ethan has really come a long way from being Mr Bulat. 🙂

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hannah_20months Scrap Credits
Delicate QP from Fly Pixel Studio
Sugar n Spice Alphas from Scrappy Bug

Weight

Around 11.5 kilos

Height/Length

Around 82 cm

Teeth

8 incisors (4 top and 4 bottom), with 2 pramolars appearing on the right side (top and bottom), also 2 canines starting to appear at the top jaw.

Motor Skills

  • Hannah can eat by herself and finish her food quite fast too.
  • She loves to try new things, especially in the playground.  She loves the slides, but must still be supervised.
  • She likes to draw and scribble and paint.  She’ll play with the doodle pad and color pencils and paint (sometimes).  I might introduce her to finger painting soon!
  • Hannah loves to climb stairs, but we need to watch out when she is going down the stairs though.
  • She can bounce, whether on the couch or the floor; this is the first step towards learning how to jump.
  • Hannah can take a DVD, press the EJECT button on the player, insert the DVD, and press the CLOSE button on the player.
  • Basically, she will try to follow whatever her brother is doing.

Communication and Social Skills

  • Most of the time, we can understand what Hannah wants to convey, be it from her words or from her actions.  Sometimes if we do not understand what she is trying to say, Hannah will lead us by the hand and point to whatever it is she wants or do.
  • Her vocabulary is increasing every single day, so much so that I have really lost count of all the words she knows.  I’ll try to list as many as I can:
    • More” – actually she could already say this word a few months ago, and she uses it when she wants to ask for more food.
    • She knows her animals too, and she can say: Duck, Cat, Dog, Turtle, Cow, Pig, Bird, Bear
    • Three syllable words and phrases: “Mommy Come!”, “Mommy Card!”, “Baby BOP!”, “Chuggington!” and “Bar-wee!!” for “Barney”
    • Last syllable of some two-syllable and three-syllable words: “mote” for “remote”, “Mau” for “Mickey Mouse”, “Lo” for “Hello”, “puh” for “Apple”, “per” for “diaper”, “More..” while making the sign on both her hands for “No More!”,
    • Round
    • Yoyo
    • Wear (she’ll say “wear!” and point to her sandals, asking me to help her wear them)
    • Colors: “Lello” for “Yellow”, Red, “Boo” for “blue”, Green, Black, White
    • “Dai” for “dry”
    • Walk
    • “kau” for “couch”
    • Night – she says this when she wants to say “Goodnight”
    • Numbers she can say: Two, three, four, “fai”, eight, “nai”, ten
    • Ma (for “Ah Ma”), “Kurng” (for “Ah Kong”), “Poh”, “Pek”, “Koko”, “Kor Kor”, “Koo”, “Kim”, “Nah!” for “Hannah”
    • “Barbeee!” for “barbecued pork” i.e. char siew
    • Door
    • Baby
    • “Ka-kai”
    • “Tight” if she wants to tell me something she is wearing is too tight, and “tights” to refer to her tights.
    • “Wet” – she’ll tell me if her clothes are wet, or if she needs be changed (if her diaper is wet)
    • Body parts: Hair, eyes, nose, “mau” for mouth, fingers (she will show us her fingers), toes, leg, knees.
    • “Poo poo” and “Pee pee” 🙂
    • …but she still calls “Deh-deh” for “Daddy”
  • She can complete the ends of some favorite songs:
    • Mommy: Twinkle twinkle little..
      Hannah: TAR!!! … How I…
      Mommy: … wonder what you…
      Hannah: ARE!!
    • Radio: I got a feeling…that tonight’s gonna be a good..
      Hannah: NIGHT!
      Radio: That tonight’s gonna be a good..
      Hannah: NIGHT!
    • Radio: Every time I close my…
      Hannah: EYES
      Radio: I see my name in shining…
      Hannah: LIGHTS!
    • Mommy: London bridge is falling…
      Hannah: DOWN!
      Mommy: Falling…
      Hannah: DOWN!
      Mommy: Falling…
      Hannah: DOWN!

Food and Feeding

Still going very strong with her food intake, I’m pleased to note that Hannah is very adventurous in trying all kinds of food, even the salad that I make!  However, she loves to eat off my plate!  She also finds joy in feeding herself, either with a spoon or with her fingers.

In addition to drinking fresh milk and chocolate milk, I’ve also recently just supplemented her milk intake with GainPlus formula milk.  She will only drink the milk if it is mixed and cooked with oats though, and she takes about 1 or 2 helpings a day.  

Hannah is still breastfed and she still asks for “milk” especially at night. 

Hannah is also very receptive to the Amway chewable multivitamins I give her, and she can easily consume one tablet herself, just by chewing.

I can’t deny that my kids LOVE being in Toys ‘R’ Us.  For some magical reason, it unleashes surprise after surprise in the form of entertaining toys and delightful collectibles, some even enthralling to adults!  For Hannah, one of the attractions in this toystore is the children’s schoolbags.  She would head for the bag section and pull out girly pink bags, bags which are too big for her, but she would be contented just pulling and dragging it along.  Recently, she found this adorable Chuggington backpack in the store, and without fail, she would ask me to help her put it on, and she would then parade around the store.

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It’s just the right size for her, and she looks absolutely darling wearing it!

Granted, she’s too young to start school yet, but she probably got the idea from observing her brother carry his bag to school every day.

In any case, we decided it was time for her to experience the parent-toddler program run by the school Ethan goes to.  When Ethan was 2 years old, he attended the same program and benefited a great deal from it, so since Hannah is showing signs of readiness, we made an appointment for her to go for a trial class.

The parent-toddler program is a 1.5 hour program held once a week, and the child would be accompanied by a parent throughout the session.  This helps to further reinforce the parent-child relationship as well as promote social awareness as the child learns to mingle with kids their age.

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When we arrived at the school on the day of the trial class, Hannah was all too eager to get down from the car.  She happily said, “Buh Bye!!!” to her Daddy and Ethan as she followed me to the class.  Oh by the way, Daddy and Ethan were off for their *football practice* 🙂

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Hannah was quiet at first, but she was not TOO clingy.  She willingly played with all the toys in the playroom, and interacted with me, naming the animals and numbers and so on.

We then proceeded to do some arts and crafts, where she got to play with paint, sand and water.  She was provided with a mini kid apron, but she would not wear it, so I had to be careful not to get her shirt dirty.

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Probably intrigued by all of the different things to do, Hannah was a little quiet but she was certainly very participative.

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When it was time to go and play in the outdoor playground, we finally saw some giggles and smiles…

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She loved the rocking horse, the slides, the little house…and it almost seemed like she was too reluctant to leave.

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After the playground, the kids were treated to some light snacks in the pantry and then it was circle time in the hall.  Hannah was very attentive to the teacher and even when all the other kids had lost their interest and were running around, Hannah was very interested in the story the teacher was telling.

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Of course she was quickly distracted when she caught sight of Ethan, who had come back from football practice, and was waiting for Hannah’s class to finish. 

After the parent-toddler class, the teacher gave Hannah two stickers.  She loves stickers and was only too eager to show them off to us.  Hannah left the class looking very happy, but not before she gave the teacher a nice hug. 🙂

Certainly looks like she’s ready for the class, huh?

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