UCEC The Best Story Ever Told

Ethan and his friends at UCEC celebrated Christmas last Thursday (Dec 10th, 2009). They performed "The Best Story Ever Told". It was the story of Jesus' birthday. The performance began at 7:00pm and lasted for about 1 1/2 hours. It started with a testimony & principal's greeting for about 15-20 minutes total and it was show time.

Ethan's classroom (8 students) were dressed little stars as they symbolized the brightest star on the sky the night Jesus was born. They sang: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. As Ethan walked up the stairs to the stage with his friends, he looked a bit confused, seeing so many audiences sitting below the stage. I think he was also looking for his mommy among those audiences. Then he started singing and danced. They sang another song at the end together with the whole UCEC students.

Ethan did wonderful tonight. We are so very proud of him. May God uses Ethan since he's a little kid to become blessings for others.

To God be the Glory.

Thanksgiving Retreat 2009

This year, we spent our Thanksgiving with our church's friends at the Retreat, Rancho Capistrano. Last year, Ethan and I were in Indonesia. 1 year has gone by, time flies so fast. Ethan enjoyed his retreat very very much. He participated in his Sunday School class, singing, following teacher's instructions, playing, snacking, krafting and at the end of the retreat, he and his classmates performed 1 song for the Indonesian and English Congregations. The song was: God is Big. Papi and Mami are very much proud of him and his accomplishments. Ethan just loves to sing.

Ethan's 1st Thanksgiving Lunch at Preschool

Ethan celebrated his 1st Thanksgiving lunch with his friends and teacher at school yesterday. It was a potluck lunch. The parents brought the side dishes while the school cooked the Turkey. We had fried rice, mac and cheese, chicken/salmon nugget, fried dumpling, turkey, grape juice and fruits (grapes, orange and apple). It was delicious. The kids were full that afternoon. Ethan was very happy to see mommy at school. But when it's time for mommy to go back to work, he cried.

But before the parents went home, the kids did a little singing performance. Check it out at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dayplace/4116731118/
(thank you to Eric's mom who share this video with us).

Enjoy.

More words

When we turn off the light, now Ethan says: Gelap
When he eats and looks into his bowl/plate, now he says: Banyak
When we drive home, now he says: almost there
When papi/mommy drives the car, now he says: be careful
When Ethan wants something, now he says: pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee....pleaseeeeeeeeeeee
When he bumps into someone, now he says: sorry...excuse me
When we eat out in a restaurant & his glass is empty, now he says: more water please to the waiter
When we eat out and gets our dishes on the table, now he says: thank you to the waiter
When we say "i love you" to Ethan, now he says: i love you
When Ethan's playing with his doll friends at home and the dolls fall down, he says: are you okay?
When he eats food that he like, now he says: enak, nyummy

We just love watching Ethan learns more vocabularies and the way he says them.

Mommy just found out that Ethan likes Macaronni and Cheese. He didn't like this before. Now, he does. Mommy is happy. A simple food and yet healthy. That makes my life so much easier.

Eek...Poo Poo

I have been meaning to post this but have been forgeting to do so.

One night, before going to bed, Ethan told me that he wanted to Eek (Poo Poo). He was wearing diaper at that time since we were just about to go to sleep. Ethan jongkok and he started to ngeden. His face started to get red and he said:

Ethan: "Mommy, big eek"
Mommy: "Oya? big yah, Ethan?"
Ethan: "Keras"
Mommy: "Oya, keras? ngeden lagi"
Ethan: "Mommy, stuck."
Mommy: "Hah, eek stuck?"
Ethan: (Ngeden lagi)..."There you are", said Ethan happily
Mommy: "Are you done now? "
Ethan: "Ya, i'm done"

I was laughing thru all of this.

2nd week of Preschool

Ethan is progressing well at school. He is more independent nowadays, do not cry anymore when Papi drops him off in the morning (this started yesterday). He gets excited in the morning, wakes up, eats breakfast, gets dress and rushes Papi to take him to school by knocking on the bathroom door while Papi is still taking a shower...hihihi....

We are so very proud of him.

His vocabulary is expanding more and more, in English of course. His teacher told me that Ethan's doing well at the Christmas performance practice. His teacher also told me that she's working on keeping Ethan to sit on his chair since he sometimes like to stand on his chair instead of sitting on it. We're working on that now. He naps well at school and does not use his pacifier at all. But once i pick him up, he starts to ask for his Paopei again. Oh well....

The other day when the school wass off because of Veteran Day, he felt lonely at home, just him and Nai2. Before he took his nap that day, Nai2 asked him if Ethan wanted to sleep with Nai2 or Teacher and he answered: "Teacher". I guess he missed his friends and teacher that day.

Good job, Ethan. Keep up your good work! Thank you Lord for helping Ethan to enjoy school more everyday.

Papi and Ethan (11/07/09)

Ethan and Mommy (11/07/09)

I love you, Ethan.

Ethan at 30 months old (2 1/2 years old)

New vocabulary after preschool

We noticed Ethan learned new vocabulary after 1 week of preschool:

He usually says: "Ya". Now, he says, "Yes" instead.

He usually says: "What's that?". Now, he says, "What is this?" instead.

And one day, Ethan walked into Nai2's room. Nai2's was shredding old docs by hand. Ethan made a real mess by throwing and kicking the shredded papers all over the carpet. Nai2 got a bit angry. Ethan got a bit upset and come running to me, crying a bit. Then, he went back to Nai2 and say this: "Don't cry, Nai2". I guess he learned this at school as his teacher tries to calm him down when he has to say bye2 to Papi in the morning ... "Don't cry, Ethan".

And Ethan can drink from a cup nice and easy, without spilling the water. Yippeee!!!

Sunday School

We've been training Ethan to be independent in his Sunday School Class. We had a success of 1 month, followed by 3 weeks of Ethan being dependent to us again. Last Sunday, as he started his preschool for 1 week, Ethan was able to be independent in his Sunday school class again. One of the kids' parent (Katherine) told me that as Ethan realized that Mommy has left the classroom, he started to call my name and look for me. When Mommy didn't show up, he was sad and quiet for a bit. But he didn't cry. Then he joined his other friends in the classroom. This behavior shows that he understands that Mommy is gone for now but she will come back and pick up Ethan when class is done. And that's what we keep telling Ethan when he goes to school. This surely helps Ethan understand that Mommy and Papi will come back.

5th day of Preschool

Today, we are going to have Ethan do a full day at school, meaning he's going to nap at school.

Papi dropped him off at school in the morning as usual and I picked him up from work. I arrived there around 4:15pm. Noone was in the classroom. I asked the teacher and the kids were practicing for Christmas performance at the Chapel. I never went to the chapel, so Ms. Staci (The Acting Director) showed me the short cut to the Chapel. I was just standing by the front door of the chapel and i saw Ethan at the very front part of the Chappel (near the stage), i thought he didn't see me, but he did. He ran, cried a bit and hugged me. Then he showed me around the chapel and talked what he's been doing. Then we went back to his classroom for snacktime. The teacher asked me if Ethan wanted to eat his snack then go home, or go home right away. I told her to let Ethan have his snack first. He ate 1 slice of cantaloupe and 2 cookies.

Then, when i told him to go home, he didn't want to. He still wanted to stay in his classroom with me being with him. I thank God for his reaction, meaning that he began to enjoy his preschool. His teacher also told me that Ethan napped well, considering this was his 1st time napping at school. Then we said goodbye to his teacher and friends.

Thank you Lord for helping us on Ethan's 1st week of preschool. Ethan did good and we're so proud of him that he can adjust quite easily.

4th Day of Preschool

Papi dropped off Ethan at school this morning and he forgot to give Ethan’s paopei to teacher. He cried as Papi left him in the morning.

Papi was running a bit late picking up Ethan from school. Ethan was already napping in his teacher’s arm that afternoon. When Ethan heard Papi’s voice, he jumped out of his bed and cried as Nai2 held and carried him immediately out of school, since the other kids started to wake up when they heard Ethan cried. Teacher told Papi that Ethan did well today, only cried in the morning.

Ethan fell asleep in the car on the way home. Mommy taught perhaps we could try Ethan napping at school tomorrow.

3rd Day at Preschool

Ethan was late getting to school today. When he arrived at school, the kids already lined up to enter their classroom. Ethan usually arrives at school during playground time. Since he was late this morning, he missed that playtime. He cried as Papi said goodbye.

I was concerned how Ethan would do at school since he came in late and missed his playtime. And not to mentioned that he woke up early again this morning.

To my suprise, when i picked him up at school, he didn't cry when he saw me. He said: "Mommy coming". and started to talk about his day at school. His teacher told me that Ethan did not cry at all in the classroom, he finished his lunch (for the 1st time, he had chicken noodle soup today) and he didn't even look for his pacifier.

Ohh, i was so happy and i thank God for helping us to go thru the 3rd day at preschool.

Everynight before we go to bed, we read Elmo's book which titled: Schooltime. The book tells us about Elmo's experience going to school. The book really describes what Ethan is doing at his preschool (playing blocks and cars, learning ABC, singing, reading books, snack time and time to go home). It really helps Ethan to adapt of his new routine of going to school everyday.

2nd Day of Preschool

Papi dropped off Ethan this morning. On the way to school, Ethan was cheerful and talked a lot with Papi. Papi brought Ethan's Pooh and Robot doll to accompany Ethan in the car. When they arrived at school, Ethan said bye2 to his friends: "Bye2 Pooh, Bye2 Robot". We are sometimes amazed by how friendly Ethan is to everybody, even his doll toys.

Papi stayed with him a bit and it was time to say bye2, Ethan cried. But his teacher hold him and comforted him.

In the meantime, i called the school from the office around 9.30 and the vice principal said that Ethan was crying on and off when Papi left him.

I picked him up around 12:30PM today and his teacher (Miss Carol) told me that Ethan did better today. He didn't cry at all while they're in the classroom. I really thank God for this. He helped Ethan managed his 2nd day at school. He cried when he saw me, but not like yesterday. Only a few seconds and he started to tell what's going in his classroom.

Thank you God for helping us on Ethan's 2nd day at preschool.

1st Day of Preschool

Date: November 2, 2009

Ethan woke up around 6:15am this morning. We had the daylight saving time on the weekend. That's why Ethan woke up so early that morning. He ate his breakfast (bread and milk) and got ready to go to school. He was excited to go to school. I took Ethan to school for the 1st day, since I had to prepare and hand over lots of Ethan stuffs to teacher and also pay the tuition fee.

Ethan arrived at school at 7:30am. The school was still quiet. There's only 1 teacher and 2 kids. It was too early. The teacher told me usually the kids starts coming in close to 8:30am. Ethan played and ate breakfast with his friends. When breakfast almost done, i told the teacher that i'd go (sneaked out, i couldn't say goodbye to Ethan, he would not let me since he's very attached to me).

On the way to work, I called the school and asked how Ethan's doing. He cried a bit after I left but he's playing now, that's what the teacher told me.

The vice principal asked me to pick up ethan during his lunch hour, around 12:30 for his 1st week. We'd like to make this adjustment gradually, so Ethan won't be too shock into going preschool and adjusting with his new routine. If things are improving, next week we will try napping at school.

I left the office at 12:00, arrived at school around 12:20pm, I saw the vice principal before entering Ethan's classroom. She told me that Ethan was just crying. I told her that Ethan might be tired since he woke at 6 this morning and it's been more tham 6 hours that he's awaken. I tried to peek Ethan by the classroom window, but he already saw me and cried instantly when he saw me. He cried hard. It was like: oh mommy still loves me and come back again for me. It was like he was saying that to me through his tears. I carried and comforted him. The teacher told me that Ethan only cried when i left this morning and during lunch hour. He only ate a few spoons of his lunch today. He's not yet familiar with the school food and eating by himself.

I drove him home and tried to get him to take his nap, but he didn't want to. I needed to go back to the office again. I sneaked out on him again. He cried when he found out i was gone again. Nai2 comforted him and put him to sleep close to 2pm.

Thank you God for helping us to get thru the 1st day.

Getting ready for Preschool

Ethan will go to his Preschool starting from November 2nd. This will be Ethan's 1st time going to school and being apart from Mami and Papi for quite a long time. We are very nervous about this, especially me being the mom. I think about how he'll do on the 1st day and how he'll survive 1st and 2nd week, his adaptation process all the time, will he like the school food, will he be able to take his nap, and etc. Gosh...i'm more nervous than Ethan. It's so hard for me to let him go and to be independent and having someone else take care of him for at least 6 hours everyday. It's going to be tough for me. I have so much worries in my mind and heart. Please pray for this transition process so everything will go smoothly. Please pray that Ethan will love going to school and that his teacher, helper and friends will like him. Please pray also for us so that we will learn to trust Him that He will always be with him even when we are not around him all the time. God is Immanuel.

Learning to be Independent

Ethan did very well at Sunday School this last Sunday. He was again able to go to his class without Mommy or Papi by his side. Last Sunday was the 3rd week in a row that Ethan became independent in his Sunday School class. We are very proud of him. We tried 2 times before we didn’t have to accompany Ethan in his Sunday School class We hope that he stays that way. Thank you to Ethan’s teachers and helpers who also helped a lot and for caring for Ethan. May God bless your ministry.

Cool Cuts for Kids

Ethan got his first hair cut at a salon this last Saturday (09/26/09). I usually cut his hair from birth until last August (the last time i cut his hair). Since my mom and mother in law ask me to have a different hair style for Ethan, I'd figure to take him to a salon. I booked Ethan at 10:00AM. We had to make an appointment, or otherwise, the waiting would be quite long. Ethan's name was called up. We sat him on this car chair with TV on in front of him. The hair stylist came and forced to buckle the seat belt, Ethan started crying and struggled. Then the hair stylist forced to button the cloth cover and Ethan struggled and cried even more. We didn't force him any further. We let Ethan go and I tried to calm him down. Cool Cuts is specially designed for kids. The salon is designed with car and train chairs for the kids to sit on while they have their hair cut. They have TV in front of the each chair. They also have TV/game sets and Thomas The Train table set on the waiting area.

Anyway, then another hair stylist came and approached me, she’s much nicer than the 1st one. I told her that Ethan needed to see someone else got his or her hair cut 1st since this was Ethan’s 1st hair cut at the salon. She agreed to let Ethan watch other kids got their hair cut. After a while, I decided to try Ethan again and called the nicer hair stylist. I told her that I think Ethan would be more comfortable to sit on my lap rather than having a hard of time trying to sit Ethan down and buckle him. Ethan does not like to be forced and buckled up. So i sat on the chair and had Ethan on my lap and it worked! It took probably about 10 minutes to cut his hair and we did it. I was so very happy and delighted with the result. Ethan also understands that he got a new hair cut and he looks handsome.

Very good job Ethan. Way to go!

Give Thanks

We give thanks to the Lord for He is good and faithful. We thank Him everday for all of his blessings and protections in our life. We thank God everynight for blessing us with a wonderful son. We ask for God's wisdom in teaching and taking care of Ethan so he will someday be a man of God who loves and obeys Him. We pray that God will prepare Ethan to go to preschool next year, to be independent, to have good friends and teachers that will love him, to cheer Ethan up when he misses us at school, to listen to his teacher and to love going to school from day 1 until he finishes his education in the future. We pray also that God will help us in teaching Ethan to be independent by going to school and have a piece of mind when he's at school.

God is IMMANUEL.

2 years and almost 4 months old (1 week short)

Ethan has been into counting these last couple of weeks. Mommy would ask him how many butterflies, elephants, ants, turtles, etc in his reading books, and he would count them one by one correctly, up to 5. If the page has more than 5 pieces of elephants for example, he would then count them: one, two, one, two..one, two...he gets impatient if there's too many of them in 1 page. Ethan upgrades his puzzle skill to 12 puzzles. I used to wonder when Ethan could settle down to do 1 activity that requires focus and patient, since he's a very active boy. However, as he grows older, he's more focused and have more patient in doing 1 activity. He can concentrate more. He also loves us reading stories before going to bed. Believe or not, he loves mommy to read "Monsters Inc" before going to bed everynight. He remembers Monsters Inc character's name, Sully, Mike, Boo and Randall. He can help mommy tell the stories. Mommy usualy read the stories and stop so that Ethan can fill in the blank.

Example:
Mommy: "Mike is having a dinner with his girlfriend named..."
Ethan: "Celia".
Mommy: "It was her..."
Ethan: "birthday party"
Mommy: "And Mike wanted to make it..."
Ethan: "special"
Mommy: "but Mike had a tons of reports to hand in to....."
Ethan: "Roz"
Mommy: "to lady collector of..."
Ethan: "paperwork"

Ethan still loves ball. He's getting better with playing basketball. Oftenly, he would shoot the ball and score. He also can differentiate slow and fast movement. Singing fast and slow, walking fast and slow.

Ethan enjoys music very much. He would sing better with music on (papi playing the piano), meaning that he would sing his ABC's from start to finish with piano on.

2 years, 3 1/2 months old

Mommy is super happy. Since last weekend, Ethan was able to sleep thru the night without asking for his milk. Yeaaahhhh! We substituted milk with water and Ethan is okay with it. We've been trying to let go of his milk during night time since he was 1 1/2 years but no success until last week. I guess as Ethan grows older, his own body realizes that he can tolerate no more milk during night time. Way to go, Ethan.

As far as potty training, it's still in the work. Now, Mommy tried potty train Ethan during night time, it did work 1 night, but Mommy was not able to get good sleep since she was so nervous that Ethan would have accident. Mommy woke Ethan up twice that night to go pee and he peed on his potty with his eyes closed. Anyway, Mommy decided to train Ethan during weekend nights only since Mommy's afraid not getting enough sleep at nightime and would feel sleepy at the office. Mommy would also like to try potty train when we go out as well this weekend. Potty train has been fun, challenging and also tiring. We just have to be constant at it.

Funny time at Dining Table

Last night (08/25/09), Nai-Nai made Noddle. We sat in our dining table and we shared about how our day went. Ethan did not want to be left behind, he also joined our conversation, even with louder voice. This always happens, Ethan joining into our conversation. But last night, he served us food to us, for the 1st time. We kept on eating until there's no more noddle in the big bowl. Eventhough we were already full, everytime Ethan saw an empty plate, he would get up from his chair and spooned out the noddle into our eating plate. Funny Ethan.

Ethan at Tiffany's 3rd Birthday Party

Date: August 22, 2009
Location: Buena Park




Ethan was very happy to be able to swim and bathed after that. He was so happy!

I am 2 years and 3 months old

We thank God for His protection and love to Ethan everyday. He's getting bigger and taller. He can speak more clearly and understandable. He can make 3 sentences and finish 5 - 6 puzzles. He's also learning to control emotion. We punish him by Time-Out when he does something that we forbid him to do. We all struggle with Time-Out, but it's done for Ethan's best interest. Potty train is still on-going. We have dry and wet days. Ethan loves singing even more lately. He just loves music.

Yesterday, when he turned 2 years and 3 months old, this happened:
Nai-Nai was looking for her swimsuit as Ethan just finished taking a bath. Ethan approached Nai-Nai and Nai-Nai told him that she's looking for her swimsuit. Then Ethan responded: "Think...Think...Think" (FYI, Ethan loves watching The Super Sleuth Winnie the Pooh. Everytime Pooh and Friends try to solve a problem, they'd sing their theme song, which is Think..Think...Think).

Ethan poses for the camera (Part 4)

Ethan poses for the camera (Part 3)

Ethan poses for the camera (Part 2)

Ethan poses for the camera (Part 1)

And ACTION....

Pictures at San Mateo, Seafood buffet lunch with Ei's Family

Pictures at Pier 39, San Francisco (Part 2)

Pictures at Pier 39, San Francisco (Part 1)

Pictures at Carmel Aquarium (Part 2)