Laugh Trip

Hendrik had a number of sessions again with the Photo Booth; only this time he was using the video. He was very curious about the different effects and tried many of them, but his favorite is the mirror image effect. He would do a lot of actions (tumbling ad turning, jumping, and a number of acrobats), recite the 13^th Article of Faith and then record it.

I just checked the Photo Booth, and found out that Hendrik recorded forty-three (43) videos of him using the mirror image effect! I didn’t expect that he has recorded this much in a span of three (3) days only.

After recording, he would normally check and view the video. What amazes me most and what make me and Joseph laugh is Hendrik’s reaction when he watches his videos. He’s like having the time of his life. See the following video of his laugh trip. Enjoy!

~~~ end ~~~

Long Hair – Boy Cut – Skin Head

As the title obviously implies, this entry is about Hendrik’s hair chronicles. While it is conventional for parents to shave and / or cut their child’s hair during infancy in order for the child to have healthy and glowing hair as the baby grows up, ours is not. We belong to the few families (with the exception of the Sikhs who are prohibited to cut their hairs) who grow their kid’s hair long.

Well, my Mom was fully responsible for this idea as she objected to cut Hendrik’s hair while it was getting longer as the days, months and years passed. She said that a child, more so a boy, with a long hair is nice and cool. I, trying to be an obedient daughter abide by her request. Joseph was also trying to be an obedient son-in-law, so we both acceded to my Mom’s appeal =).

We would always receive compliments like, “What a cute girl!” or “You have a lovely girl!” from strangers we see from our building lift, inside the MRT, buses, and in the streets.

We were of course delighted to receive such compliments but would always respond to them with “Thank you, but the baby is a he”, to which they would be more surprised and then a little conversation would occur between me and / or Joseph and the strangers.

We not only received surprised reactions from strangers, but also acquaintances and even friends. They were amazed of Hendrik’s long curls and mentioned that my boy doesn’t have very rough facial features, which made it a bit tricky and made them confused; leading them asking us, “… a boy or girl?” =)

 

Hendrik’s tresses had not been handled by the scissors for 2 years since he was born. The time came that we really made the decision to cut them as he was getting uncomfortable (I think) and he was scratching his head all the time. His hair would also be soaked with sweat when he was playing really hard which made it a bit stinky afterwards. 

27 July 2010 was the date when Hendrik went to the salon for the first time to have his hair cut. We had my Mom’s blessing at that time so it was fine and there was no guilt-feeling. As it was his first time to be in a salon, he wouldn’t let go of my hand. But, he was brave and behaved while having his hair cut. We had my iPhone to entertain him and keep him distracted with what’s going on. He didn’t cry, he didn’t run away, but just held my hand real tight. As I’ve said, he was brave and behaved.

 

After the long hair and boy cut hair days, we unintentionally made the hairdresser shaved Hendrik’s mane in the salon one day while he was having his regular hair cut. 

The skin head style was unplanned. It was just a spur of the moment thing, and we were curious what would Hendrik looked like in a skin head. 

Well, it was only once and may never be repeated again (at least not in a long while). My brother Jared also mentioned to my Mom that a skin head hair style doesn't suit Hendrik. He prefers the clean cut type. We couldn’t agree more with him. Thus, Hendrik is keeping a clean-boy-cut style now.

~~~ end ~~~

The Articles of Faith

Last Sunday, 14 August 2011 was the day when the whole family did a “family presentation” during our sacrament meeting in the Church. Joseph and I delivered our respective talks while Hendrik shared what he knows best – reciting the Articles of Faith. 

Middle of May this year, Sis Aubrey Ng, one of the members of the church gave Hendrik the Articles of Faith magnetic word strips. This gave me an idea to incorporate it in our Family Home Evening or FHE – Monday nights where the whole family gather together to have a night of fun, communication, coordination and learning.  In our FHE program for the past three months, Hendrik had been learning and memorizing the Articles of Faith. We would normally give him one week to memorize one article of faith before changing to the next one. He would try his very best to memorize within the given time frame; or rather it was an easy and effortless task for him as he is blessed with super sharp memory and was able to memorize them in no time. 

First Sunday of June, three weeks after we started including the Articles of Faith in our FHE program, Hendrik shared with the church members by reciting the first three articles of faith that he had memorized during the Fast and Testimony meeting. We received heart-warming comments from the members of the church. 

When I learned from Joseph a few weeks ago that we were assigned to give talks and / or “family presentation” scheduled last Sunday, Joseph and I thought that it would be the best time to let Hendrik finish what he has started. After all, church members were asking us for updates about Hendrik’s progress with the Articles of Faith. So, without further ado here’s a sample video of Hendrik reciting the Articles of Faith:

 

  

Articles of Faith*

1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Joseph Smith

* Thirteen statements describing the fundamental beliefs of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

~~~ end ~~~