Daddy in East Timor

Ethan missed his daddy this week cos he was away in East Timor with a team of 4 people from church. Here are two of us with two other Timorese guys. We had a really rowdy jam session in their home the night before so we were good buddies by this time! Now daddy is on the way home using free WiFi in Bali and can't wait to hug Ethan....and mummy too of course! :)

Handphone Conversations

Ethan just loves to chat on the phone. He sometimes also chats using the remote control or the alarm clock, but he usually gets it right and is on the phone. It's a great way to get him to verbalize all that cute baby-speak, and he even intersperses it with a few SMS's!

Out For A Stroll

Look who is so grown up! Ethan was going out with his favourite Dad and it looks like he could take on the world in those sporty sneakers. But going out has its dangers too. Ethan recently got his first elbow scrape when he fell down on the concrete. A few days later and he scratched the scabs off ... all without any crying. What a toughie is our little son!

Chloe or Talia?

She will turn Ethan's World upside down... and probably move it a new domain name too! We thought her name would be Chloe but now we also like Talia, and here's her ultrasound. In the beginning you can see her spine then after a few seconds look out for her head. You can make out her eyes and face and even her hand and individual fingers!

Walk with Daddy

We went to the park today - just the two boys and Ethan had a great time exercising and playing with his daddy! This is also the first mobile blog from dad's new handphone-pda. We're getting ready to mobile blog for the coming of Ethan's little sister - yes, it is confirmed that she will be a girl!

Computer Lessons

Busy, busy, busy! Ethan is touching up his own website...

Mummy says this that is exactly what Daddy looks like...both in earnest concentration and when something/someone disturbs that focussed time on the PC.

But Ethan is extra happy with what he accomplished today. You see, Daddy watches Ethan use the computer and though he tries to teach the little bub a thing or two, Ethan has started teaching Daddy some things too. We knew the time would come, but didn't think it would be so soon.

You see, Ethan will rattle away and often finds some shortcut that Daddy didn't know about. Today he somehow brought up Computer Management directly from the desktop! It's a fairly advanced and esoteric part of Windows that most people don't know about it. I usually go to Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management to get at it and still don't know how Ethan managed to pull it up directly.

I looked away and when I glanced back, the web-page Ethan was fiddling with suddenly looked all tiny. Upon closer inspection it was zoomed at 40% which even my lasiked 20-20 eyes couldn't read. Further examination uncovered this shortcut that Ethan taught me! In Internet Explorer click Ctrl then scroll the mouse wheel up/down and this will zoom the page in/out. I only knew Ctrl-Shift + or - to zoom in/out. This mouse wheel one is better! Thanks Ethan...

Singapore Flyer

We took a trip on the world's largest observation wheel - the Singapore Flyer! It was Barker Rd Methodist Church's staff & family day so Ethan and Ivan tagged along with everyone else. It was a great outing.

Ethan was wide-eyed with wonder at the sights, and we were suitably impressed with how well the whole Singapore Flyer experience was done. They had nice restaurants, good staff, spanking new facilities BUT no diaper change tables! Shock and horror... how can a world-class tourist attraction have no diaper change tables? One staff said "Sorry, don't have" so we proceeded to change Ethan on a bench in the foyer whereby another staff came and said, "You can use the first-aid room!" First-aid room!!?! Knock off the red-cross and slap on some white diapers I say...

At the base of the Flyer is lovely garden. Singapore seems to be very good at doing this man-made stuff which, though a little sterile, was still pleasing and fun. Ethan enjoyed it!

In the Flyer itself, I am pleased to say that the airconditioning worked very well despite the heat of the early afternoon. Ethan was the smallest of the kids there. You can see that he wants to start playing with others but doesn't quite have the physical development just yet!

Children's Garden...Again!

It was so fun that went to the Jacob Ballas' Childrens Garden again! This time we stopped along the way to get some Adam Road nasi lemak for breakfast. Ethan and Daddy had a fun time sharing this breakfast! Ethan tends to like whatever Daddy likes and he loved his first nasi lemak ... without chilli and fried chicken of course!


Just look at that happy boy face! Ethan really likes doing things that Daddy does and eating is no exception. The day was turning out great with lovely weather and Ethan looking sporty in his new swimgear. He has outgrown his previous one and this entire set cost all of $7 at an Aussie discount shop we were at earlier this year.


A walk around the Children's Garden uncovered many treasures.  One was this cute suspension bridge.  The netting on the sides makes it safe for kids and Ethan loved the challenge of walking on the bridge. Doesn't he and Daddy look sporty!?


Of course we played at the water fountain. This time Ethan had lots of sun protection with his special sun-protecting hat so we stayed a looong time.


After all that play, Ethan changed into dryer clothes and we shared a peppermint ice-cream.  Daddy and Ethan's trick is to be fed using your mouth instead of your hands.  Coordinated aren't we?

Birthday Party

No, it's not Ethan's birthday but Kelly's, Ethan's cousin (actually their daddys are cousins). This was Ethan's first kiddies party, so he was younger than most of the kids but being there was great for him cos he watched all the others and learned valuable lessons on how to play!

A little magic show entertained the kiddies, and Ethan clapped and raised his hands on cue following all the other kids! He hasn't figured it all out yet but he sure knows it's fun!

Slave Baby

This cute baby was found cleaning windows, boxes, and balcony railings... and wearing only a loincloth too!

Henderson Bridge Walk

We took Ethan on the Henderson Waves bridge walk recently. It was a public holiday and half of Singapore was there. Squeezing into a parking lot that wasn't really a parking lot at Telok Blangah we made our way up the steep path to the beginning of the Henderson Waves bridge.

It was rather hot but a beautiful day so we made our way down towards the cable car towers. The bridge really is lovely with its organic flowing lines and wooden deck. It's a great place for the kids to explore and enjoy too. Mummy did superbly well and was able to keep a good healthy pace now being 4.5 months pregnant.

We finally made it to the cable car towers, enjoyed 2 cokes and more nice views but we didn't take any pictures there. We let Ethan walk a little on the way back and he loved the scenery. He and Daddy looked great together in their matching hats!

Little Chef

Someone has a tendency to clamour to watch the action when Mummy or Daddy are cooking in the kitchen. We often try to buy some time & space by giving Ethan his own utensils to play with but his favourite so far seems to be our South African Salad Bowl which looks a lot like the wok Mummy was frying up dinner in! We hope he learns to savour the joy and art of combining various ingredients and making them zing with his imagination and lots of love like his Mummy, Daddy & Grandma do!

Children's Garden at Botanics

We had a really good outing at the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden at the Botanic Gardens recently. Actually, we only made it as far as the water play station. There was plenty more but that was more than enough for us. It is really a fantastic place and we were the only the Asians there... all the other families were Caucasians!

Daddy got wet together with Ethan who got really wet. His big Ethan Cap worked really well cos not only did it protect his face from the harsh sun, it also protected his eyes from too much water splashing in.

Ethan played with the water cans and a little bit with the other kids but he was more engrossed with the water. We realized that this is actually more fun for him than the swimming pool cos he can move aorund a lot more here. Our little boy really enjoyed himself!

Latte Lover

Ethan has been a regular fan of Daddy's barista aspirations. He runs to the kitchen and stares whenever he hears the grinder going and stays to watch the final milk pour. I've been giving him bits of frothed milk previously, so this morning I decided to make him his own! Of course, it's not a cappucino but a coacacino - Ethan's very own mini cocoa latte!

Left to Right: Daddy's Cappucino, Ethan's Cocoacino

So how did Ethan like it? We took a few videos, selected the two best and stitched them together. Absolutely a must-see! Look for the wiggles of delight and turn on your sound to hear a toddler's appreciate aaaahhh!. This is one of our favourites of our fine food loving son!

A Happy Pair

Ethan just loves the view of the world on top of Daddy's shoulders... especially when we're dressed like a pair! We had just finished a lovely lunch at Pepper Lunch in Suntec City on our day off and we took a family stroll around. Now that Ethan is stronger, Daddy can get by just holding his ankles whereas before Ethan had to be held around the waist. This way entails more freedom and more fun!