Ethan's Bible Verse Memorization (May 2010)

I am always with you (Matthew 28:20)
If you shall ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:14)
Casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7)

Ethan's Bible Verse Memorization (April 2010)

Honor your father and your mother (Matthew 19:19)
Be kind to one another (Ephesian 4:32)
Even a young child is known by his doing (Proverbs 20:11)

Ethan memorized all these 3 verses for April.

Mommy, happy?

Lately, Ethan has been asking this question a lot:

"Mommy, Happy?"
"No wet on the pants, mommy"
"Yes, Ethan, Mommy happy if Ethan no wet on the pants"

And now, everytime he poops, he would get his blue or white potty, do his business and after he finishes, he would lay down on his back and get his two legs up on the air for me to wipe his bottom. Then he would ask me again: "Mommy, happy?", then i answer, "Of course, you did very good, mommy happy"

During night time, i always wake him up in the middle of the night for him to pee. With his eyes closed, he would ask me again, "Mommy, happy?".

Nowadays, if he does something that he knows that would make me mad (like, being messy when eating), he would right away ask me, "Mommy, happy?". If i tell him that mommy is sad since Ethan is being messy on the dinner table, he would response, "Mommy, happy please". Then i would smile to him and he smiles back at me. How could you stay mad if your son does that to you?

I love you Ethan. Thank you for making mommy happy and sad every day.

Bible Verse Memorization

Ethan learned a new Bible verse this week.
He says: Be Kind to One Another (Ephesian 4:32)

He still remembers last week Bible verse lesson.
He says: Honor Your Father and Your Mother (Matthew 19:19)

Way to go, son!

We hope you will learn, memorize and do it in your daily life.

What did you learn at school today?

As usual, everytime i pick up Ethan from school, i would ask him what he learned at school. It was on this last Monday (04/12/10) that he answered this:
"Honor your father and mother", 19:19.

WOW.....i was suprised to hear his answer since he usually answered : "ABC" (he learned ABC at school).

Later on that night, we figured out from our friend who came by to our house that the bible verse was taken from Mathew 19:19 "Honor your father and your mother".

Now, everytime we ask Ethan what he learned at school, he would repeat that bible verse over and over again.

This would be Ethan's 1st Bible verse that he remembers. Way to go, Ethan! We hope you will learn many more Bible verse, remember them, keep them in your heart and do it in your daily life as you grow.

The Beginner's Bible

Mommy purchased a book called "The Beginner's Bible" and we received the book last night. Ethan was so excited to open the box. Everytime he saw a box in front of our house, he would think that inside that box was a birthday present (we sometimes buy his toys online). That's why he thinks that way.

We opened the box and he was so happy that mommy bought him a Bible. He grabbed the book and browsed thru the pages. Not only that, he read the Bible. In his own version, by seeing the pictures on the book, he read the Bible to us.

One particular story that he loves so much is the story about Jonah and The Big Fish. He asks me over and over again, "where's the story about Jonah, mommy?" I'd then say, "it's on page 257. Look for page 257." Before going to bed, i told Ethan to bring the Bible to our bedroom. He asks me to read the Bible over and over again. It'd be a priviledge for us to read the Bible to him every night. Ethan won't be satisfied with 1 story only, he would ask for more and more and more :)

It's so joyful for us seeing Ethan's big interest in reading Bible Story. We hope that he would treasure His words since he was little until the rest of his life and always looking forward to hearing His words.

Our son is growing up

Tick Tock Shark

Everytime, Ethan takes a nap at our store, he would ask me to read "Tick Tock Shark". One day, I've been trying to put Ethan to bed for 2 times but he hadn't fallen asleep yet. When i tried to put him to bed for the 3rd time, the store was busy but he told me that he wanted to sleep. So i read the book fast from the beginning to the end. He complained: Slow, mommy.

The next week we came to the store and it was Ethan's nap time. As we walked to his bedroom, he told me this: No fast, mommy. Slow, okay?! I laughed, he remembered what happened last week and reminded me to read his "Tick Tock Shark" book slowly.

Deep and Wide Sunday School Song

As Mommy and Ethan were driving home from school, he was listening to Deep and Wide Song. Ethan responded: Papi piano (meaning, papi plays this song on his piano). Then i asked him, "what about, mommy?". Ethan answered: "Mommy, in the kitchen. hot, hot..cooking food, no touching ok?!" I replied: Mommy cook for who, Ethan? Ethan: "For me, nyummy nyummy for my tummy".

Visiting Neighbor

Last Friday, Ethan and I visited our neighbor who gave birth to her 2nd child. Ethan was playing with her older son, he was about 3 months older than him. But the playtime didn't go smoothly as 2 of preschoolers trying to learn to play together, sharing, and play nicely. Ethan asked me to go home instead. I told Papi what happened and he responded: "Koko hurt me, Koko no share". I hope the next visit will be better.

Don't Be Afraid

Ethan has been learning about Bible at school. I would review the lessons at home from time to time. A few of the story that we reviewed was about Daniel & the Lion and David & Goliath. What happened to them and why Daniel survived in the lion cage and why David won over the Giant Goliath. We learned that they have Jesus in their hearts. I would then keep on reminding Ethan if he's afraid of something, don't be afraid since we have Jesus in our heart.

One afternoon, as the days were getting hotter last week, i took him for a walk around our neighborhood. We have many neighbors that have dogs in their houses. As we walked, i told him to turn right instead of left, since the houses on our left hand side have many dogs. But he insisted of turning left instead. I told him that mommy is scared of dogs. He would then responsed: No mommy, don't be afraid. You have Jesus in heart". I smiled when i heard him say that, meaning that he remembered what i told him about not being afraid. We walked and walked and suddenly we heard a dog barking. Ethan stopped and turned the other way and said: "I'm scared, mommy". hahahahaha....we then walked the other way. Of course, this would be different if Nai-Nai or Papi accompany us in our afternoon walk. Well, with Nai-Nai, she's not afraid of dogs. With Papi, he would speed our way passing thru the houses with the dogs :)

Mommy and Me Day at UCEC

Date: March 12, 2010 The school invited the mothers to come and celebrate 1 afternoon of Mommy and Me. We had hotdogs for snack. Next month, it'll be Daddy and Me. It was fun and Ethan was very happy to see Mommy at school. We had story, singing, craft and snack

Chinese New Year 2010

Here are some pictures that we took when Ethan celebrated Chinese New Year at his preschool and Sunday School at the church.

At Preschool, they celebrated Chinese New Year by inviting the parents to have potluck lunch with their children and teacher. Papi went to school and be with Ethan since Mommy couldn't make it. We dressed Ethan with his Chinese Custom that Yeye gave him last year. Ethan was excited to see Papi at school.

At Sunday School, we also celebrated Chinese New Year. The children sang : Jesus Loves the Little Ones like me, me, me (in Chinese: wo, wo, wo). 2nd verse: Jesus Loves the Little Ones like you, you, you (in Chinese: ni, ni, ni).

A Trip down to Memory Lane (San Diego Sea World)

Mommy forgot to put our 1st trip to San Diego Sea World with Ethan on this blog. We went there last October 2009.

Ethan was scared to see the shows (Sea Lions, Shamu). He was always been like this if we go to a theme park. He does not like watching the show, he would rather go sightseeing. So rather than pushing him to sit still and force him to enjoy the show attractions, we went sightseeing for most of the time we were in the Sea World.

BIBLE (Preparing for Easter)

Ethan has been learning about Easter at school and from his Easter bible at home. He likes it very much when mommy reads the Bible. Since we read it almost every night, he remembers most of the stories. He would then tell some parts of the Bible stories by himself to mommy and papi.

Questions that i ask Ethan about Easter and he answers:

Who died on the cross? Jesus
Was the people surround him sad? they were crying
Did Jesus stay die? No
When did Jesus wake up? third day
Where did Jesus was buried? in tomb
Then, what happened? empty tomb.
Then? an angel came and said: Jesus is alive again.

He also likes when mommy reads about Peter denying Jesus for 3 times. He would pretend to be Peter, saying No, No and No.

Mommy: Hey, you're with Jesus
Ethan: No
Mommy: Yes you are
Ethan: No
Ethan: I don't know Him. He ran and cried.

It is a difficult concept to understand about Jesus died on the cross to save us for young children. We hope that Ethan will understand this concept as he grows older and accept Jesus as His savior one day.

As of now, we are thankful and happy that Ethan likes Bible stories.

Being Funny...

About 2 weeks ago, Rev. Edward Shyu and family came to town and visited our church. Ethan met Shyu family in the nursery. Funny thing happened as they exited the church, wanting to go home. They were walking thru the hall in front of the church kitchen. Ethan was standing in front and saw them walking towards him. Then he said this:

"Another one, another one, another one...."

I laughed when i heard him say that since Shyu family has 5 children and Ethan's comment describes them perfectly.

I reported this to Papi and Ethan always gets excited when i report good things that happen to him to Papi. He would then describe what happened to us over and over, again and again. However, if i report bad things that happen to him, meaning he was being naughty, he would ignore and stay away from us, as if he does not want to listen.

B.I.B.L.E

Ethan can sing "The Bible" song from start to finish really well.
The BIBLE, that's the book for me.
I stand alone on the Word of God, the BIBLE.
He asks me to read the BIBLE when we go to sleep at nightime and he would sing the song 1st before reading the BIBLE.

2 nights ago, he said this:
Ethan: "mommy, bible is holiwut"
Mommy: "hah?", what, ethan?"
Ethan: "bible is holiwut"
Mommy: "hah?", bible is hollywood?"
Ethan: "no, bible is holiwut"
Mommy: thinking and trying to understand what he said, then i realized what he was saying was: "bible is holy word"
Mommy: "bible is holy word?"
Ethan: "yes", nodding his head and smile. Yeah, mommy understands what i said.

I'm sure he learned this from school and i was right. I asked him who taught him that, he said: Ms. Carol, Ms. Esther, his preschool teachers.

Come out and Play

I was waiting Ethan finish playing at his preschool playground yesterday afternoon. He was having so much fun at the playground since it's been a while since he was able to play in the playground again since he was sick. 1 week after he got back to school after he recovered, Papi drove him to school not too early that he would skip playing in the playground, since we do not want Ethan to be in cold wheather. Not to mention, the raining that we've been having, so the kids were off from playground for a while. I also too pick up Ethan right after i got off from work and just in time before his playground time.

But yesterday, he wanted me to wait for him until he finished playing at the playground. One thing happened that I won't forget is Ethan suddenly said this to me: "baby S (calling his little sister in mommy's tummy, please come out and play with me". Wowwww....i was very suprised. We've been telling Ethan about baby S and we are happy that he starts to understand and respons in good ways.

Papi and Mommy pray that you and baby S will be good brother and sister who care for one another, get a long and help each other out.

Bedtime routine

Every night before going to bed, we always prepare the things that we bring upstairs to our bedroom, which are: glass of water for papi and mami, bottle of water for Ethan and a bottle of milk to give Ethan when he needs his milk around 4-5AM in the morning. Oh, and Ethan's paopei. He still needs his paopei to fall asleep at home, but not in school.

Anyway, sometimes, Mommy remind papi what to bring, don't forget this and don't forget that. One night, Ethan was already upstairs and he saw Papi was still downstairs. He then said this: "Papi, give me 1 susu please. Big bottle". I was changing clothes in the bedroom when i heeard him say that to Papi. He copies my way to remind Papi not to forget to bring his milk bottle when he goes upstairs.

Boy, Girl, and Angel

One night, as i was wiping his bottom and penis, getting him ready for bed, i was having a conversation with him as followed:

Mommy: "Ethan punya burung, soalnya Ethan is a boy. Papi juga ada burung, karena papi is a boy"
Ethan: "Yes, burung"
Mommy: "Kalo mami, engga ada burung, karena mami is a girl"
Ethan: "No, mommy is an angel"

Papi was brushing his teeth and giggled when he heard Ethan's comment to my conversation with him.

Last Christmas, we put an "angel" on top of our christmas tree. And Ethan's 1st response seeing that "angel" was calling it "Mommy".

John Mayer Fans

Mommy and Ethan love John Mayer. Yes, it's true!

Mommy has John Mayer playing "Waiting on the world to change" on her BB. Ethan loves listening and watching John Mayer play his guitar and sing that song. He would then copy his style and dance around. He would play this song over and over again on Mommy's BB.

It's so funny to see him dance, pretending that he's John Mayer. Ethan has been very into music ever since he was a baby.

We hope that music continues to be a part of Ethan's life so that he would play music instruments someday and praise the Lord with his voice and music talent. That's one of the reason we love teaching about songs, music instruments to Ethan. So that he will glorify His name in his life through music when he grows up.

A melody, to make this life more beautiful.

A trip to Toys R Us and Music Store

Yesterday, after picking up Ethan from school, i decided to bring to Toys R Us just for fun, no plan in buying toys for him. He was excited when he realized that I made a turn to that complex parking lot. Ethan recognizes directions. He immediately said: drum, mommy. Yes, the drum store is in the same plaza at as the Toys R us. But we're going to Toys R us 1st, then Music store.

At Toys R Us, Ethan was hooked up playing Thomas the train table set. Then we walked around the store, the next thing that interested him was ball. I told him that we're going to see balls, and he told me : "No kicking, okay?!". He somewhat reminded him self not to kick the balls inside the store. And indeed, he didn't kick any balls. He was just browsing around the ball sections. He saw basketball, football, baseball. I explained to him that Ethan has already had all those toys at home. He nodded his head. Then we went to cars rack where they have all these automobiles (fire trucks, garbage truck and etc making sounds and movement when we play them). Ethan was a bit afraid to hear the sound that's coming up from the trucks. He would then hold my hands. Then i told him, it's time to go. He walked to the front door and left the store.

One thing that Papi and Mami like about Ethan is he does not whine, wanting to buy toys if we go to target, walmart and toys R us. He would say to us: I want that one, I want this and that. But, that would be just it. We hope that he would continue to listen to us on the things that we say no and yes to.

After that we went to the music store. He would directly go to the drum section and looked for the drum sticks. He sat and played the mini drum. He tried different drum sets and played them. I videod him on my BB. Ethan was having fun playing drum for about half an hour. And then, he told me: "i'm done, no more". Then i said to him, let's go home. He walked to the front door and exited himself, again with no whining, eventhough i know how much he loves playing drum at that store. His behavior teaches me that if Ethan has enough playing with a toy or doing something, that means that he's done and ready to move on. It's better and easier that way rather than pulling Ethan from something that he was playing with and telling him to go home, we would then struggle with him since we wanted him to stop but he was not ready to stop yet.

Thank you Ethan for being good on our field trip today. For sure, it makes us want to take him to those places again seeing his good behavior.

Things Ethan learns from Preschool

We noticed Ethan learns the following from school:

1. Table manner (eating slowly, holding his snacks with 2 hands & bite them 1 by 1)
2. Pulling up and down his pants when he needs to go potty
3. More vocabularies everyday (he mostly speaks in English but understands Indonesian when we speak Indonesian to him)
4. Telling his friends "Stop it" when they push or hurt him or take something that belongs to him.
5. Tells Papi and Mommy what happens at school.
6. Tell his teacher if his friend pushes him.
7. Hold scissor and cut
8. Focus on doing 1 thing for a longer period of time
9. Concentrating and finishing puzzle
10. Standing in line
11. Sings more songs
12. Tell story about Jonah and the whale
13. Fall asleep at school without his pacifier (still with paopei at home)
14. Open his shoes
15. Tell Papi and Mommy which teacher who "time-out" Ethan when he makes a mistake
16. Remembers his classmate's and teachers' names (Carol, Ester, Jennifer, Stephanie, Ting-Yui)
17. Ethan would tell us what happens at school when he remembers them over and over again.
18. Ethan has better hand coordination in doing craft (dealing with scissors and glue).
19. Ethan learns to be independent and to be on his own while Papi and Mommy is not around him.
20. Ethan learns to follow instructions and rules at school.

Ethan's allergy

Ethan is sensitive to cold wheather. We found out about his allergy when he was about 1 1/2 years, back in Indonesia. When he gets cold, his muscus would blog his breathing airway and makes him throw up since he can not get his muscus out from his mouth yet since he's still little. He would throw up especially when we give him milk. He needs medicine to help him get rid of the muscus and the good thing is not difficult to ask Ethan to drink his medicine. Thank God also, Ethan likes wearing warm clothes, socks and put on minyak telon, minyak kayu putih and vicks vaporub. He enjoys this. I guess his body feel better also after we give him all those stuffs above. But he also enjoys ice cubes and ice creams which we need to limit for him especially during winter time.

Recently, it happened on January 22, friday night when he was sleeping on his bed that we felt hot on his forehead. We temped him and he was 102 degree. We were suprised. We gave him tylenol and his fever came down. But over the weekend, his fever was still on and off. It was off after we gave him tylenol but it was on again after 4 hours. We needed to get him to a doctor since there must be an infection that causing the fever.

We went to the doctor on Monday morning, the doctor told us that his muscus was already on his lungs and he needed to do breathing treatment to help Ethan breath. The doctor gave us antibiotic and medicine to help him breath easier. Ethan was not able to go to school from Monday to Thursday. He was sick for 1 week and he lost some weight. He refused to drink milk since milk is sticky and it's hard for him to swallow due to his muscus.

On the other hand, he enjoyed his time at home with Mommy. And when it was time to get back to school again, he needed to adjust to his routinity again. That was harder than we expected. When papi drives him to school, he would say: No. He cried again when papi dropped him off. When i pick him up from school, he says: go home, mommy. But he's back to school and starts to enjoy school again now, after 3 - 4 days of adjustment. And he enjoys drinking milk again. His appetite is back to normal. We thank God.