Monday 26 July 2010

Swim Classes

Most kids enjoy the great fun of splashing around in pools but when I saw the sparkle in Talia's eyes when we brought her swimming, I just knew she was a natural water baby! Here she is splashing around in Goo Ma's nice pool......

So we signed her up for Swimming classes at Jane Marsden's Swim School and she's really taken to it very well. In fact, the lessons are the highlight of her week and she loves going swimming every Monday! I was quite amazed she was hardly fussed about getting her face wet or even going "under" the water. (although we had to remind her to close her mouth!) Even her swim teacher is quite amazed at how fearless she is with water and its really a joy to see her in the water. Here she is happily "lying down" on the water (which is not easy to get most kids to do!)

I'm really glad we brought her for these lessons..... will have to work out some time to do the same for Ethan soon. He enjoys the water but is a tad more cautious about water than his sister!

Sunday 18 July 2010

Sausages and Rosti

We had a surprisingly nice evening out recently when Ethan accompanied me to the office in the evening. We visited a friend in the evening and I asked him whether he wanted sausages for dinner. "Yeah sausages!" came the enthusiastically affirmative reply. So off we headed to a small stall in Woodlands that serves great sausages and rosti. We had french fries for an appertizer and a great father-son time for both of us!

Sunday 4 July 2010

First Time at the Dentist

It has been quite some time since we've been to the dentist...about one year overdue. It was also due to the fact that we were looking to change our dentist as our previous one wasn't very child friendly and we wanted Ethan to have a good visit. At just the right time, we found out about one of Renata's church members so off we went...

Mister Dentist was really good! First, he met Ethan in the waiting room where the little fella was playing with all the cool toys. There Mr. Dentist "counted" his teeth using the familiar 1 to 10 that toddlers know so well. Of course he wasn't really counting, but making Ethan feel comfortable with something familiar. After this was done, he brought Ethan and sat him in the dental chair. It was a fascinating world for Ethan with the myriad of gadgets, lights and various computer screens around. He was allowed to press the buttons to lower the chair and down he went into the lying down position. Ethan got kids sunglasses to protect his eyes. "Hands up," Mr. Dentist said. Ethan stretched his hands above his head which were promptly held and used to pull him up to the right position. He looked so funny in that big chair we were stifling our laughter.


The firm yet sensitive-to-toddler instructions continued and we were amazed at how readily Ethan opened his mouth and let Mr. Dentist examine all his teeth. When it came time to polishing, he let Ethan press the button so that he could "control" the sound and not let it frighten him. He allowed Ethan to choose which toothpaste he would use. "Cars" was the final selection after which Mr. Dentist used it to polish Ethan's fingernail so he could feel what it was like before it went into this mouth. "Taste it now" he said, and Ethan did. "Does it taste good?" A quick nod was sufficient affirmation and the dental visit continued!

So it was a superb visit overall and so much better than we imagined! We can certainly recommend this dentist for your kids. He was gentle yet also firm at times so there was no nonsense from Ethan throughout! Ethan even left with a toy. "That really was fun Ethan!" I said. "Do you want to come back again?" A grin and a nod signified that was indeed an unqualified success!