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’!)
…or is it a form of (healthy) competition?
When Hannah was on medication a couple of weeks back, we asked Ethan to *witness* her taking the medicine using the syringe. By the way, if you are not already aware, it is virtually IMPOSSIBLE to feed Ethan medicine. He would kick and scream till the cows come home.
Anyway, Ethan was very intrigued watching us feed Hannah. Hannah, on the other hand, was initially receptive of the medicine, but after a few rounds, she knew how to turn her head away when she saw the syringe. Only Daddy knew how to administer the medicine in one swift motion 🙂
A few days later, Ethan started sneezing. So I asked him, “Ethan, are you sneezing?” He said, “Yes”. I said, “Do you want to take some medicine? You’ll feel better after taking it, and then when you are all better, Mommy will take you swimming.” He paused and kept quiet. I continued, “I’ll ask Daddy to shoot the medicine into your mouth like Hannah, okay?” He said, “Okay.”
And I almost fainted.
I asked Daddy to get the medicine ready, and MIRACULOUSLY Ethan allowed his Daddy to give him the medicine without any fuss. After that he downed it all with some Milo.
Therefore, do not underestimate what Hannah can do or influence at her young and tender age. 🙂
Thanks to Ethan Koko who very generously allowed me to ride his favorite toy vehicle, the choo-choo train! 🙂 Hannah’s feet cannot yet touch the floor though, but she has a really firm grip on the steering wheel!
As a SAHM, I try very hard to think of activities that would be interesting and stimulating enough for both Ethan and me to enjoy together. After all, he is in school for half a day, and the rest of the time, he needs something to while away his time (other than watching TV 😛 ).
So last week, I asked Ethan if he would like to help me make some cookies. He was excited and said YES. Ethan’s favorite cookies are chocolate chip cookies, and I figured it would definitely be a healthier option to eat homemade ones rather than commercially purchased ones.
For the recipe, I again turned to Happy Home Baking for her Chocolate Chip Cookies (Drop Cookies, as she calls it), and made sure I had all the ingredients. After all, I had achieved good results with the Horlicks Doggie Cookies recipe before, so I trusted the track record there 🙂
I taught Ethan how to stir the egg and vanila into the mixture, and then I showed him how to fold the flour into the cookie dough. And fold he did…never mind that some of the flour fell on the table, chair and floor… hehe. Then Ethan helped to bring me the chocolate chips and poured them into the mixture (I think that was his favorite part). And he watched as I scooped tablespoon after tablespoon of cookie mixture on the cookie sheet to bake in the oven. Okay, he couldn’t resist *testing* a bit of the mixture though…
He then excitedly watched the cookie bake in the oven and exclaimed “WOW” when I took them out to cool on the rack.
I told him we had to wait for a while for it to cool first, because he was impatient to eat them. He counted the cookies on the rack while waiting.
The verdict? The cookies tasted not-too-sweet and had a crumbly texture. Ethan LOVED it! And when Daddy came home, he told Daddy, “I made cookies!” 🙂
There are no more cookies now. Should we bake some more next week, or should I devise a new project instead?
“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!
Easy! Get his help making Orange Juice popsicles!
Even better…Ethan had his popsicle served in a YELLOW popsicle holder, his all-time favorite color!
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!
Last Saturday evening, we popped by the Promenade by the E&O Sales Gallery for the Lights of Teng-Lang celebration. The weather was scorching hot although it was already 5:30p.m., so we hung around the air-conditioned sales gallery for a while.
When we got bored, we checked out the stalls that were set up. The first one we visited had mooncake-making lessons. Since Ethan didn’t want to try making one, I volunteered!
I told him it was just like playing with Playdoh, but he only laughed..
Put it in the oven to bake and walked around the other attractions while waiting.
The highlight of the event was the completion of the Giant Lantern by the sea. See how big it is?
Everyone was invited to participate in painting part of the bottom of the lantern, just so we could say that we had a hand in making it. And of course, Ethan was VERY eager to show off his artistic ability.
What’s more, he even got to put his name on the signature board!
And then he had so much fun playing in the playground that he didn’t even wanna leave. Can you see how ROSY his cheeks were? By the way, Hannah fell asleep amidst all this excitement! LOL
And how did my self-made mooncake turn out?
Not too bad, I would say…I put only lotus paste for the filling, because I know that’s what Ethan loves… and Ethan finished it all! 🙂
Ah yes…that was a great way to spend some family time together. And the next morning, Ethan beamed and proudly told me, “I painted the giant lantern BROWN, Mommy!”
That was when I knew we made his day too! 🙂
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.