Another Holiday

It is day 2 of our local holiday and we're off to a good start. It's an absolutely beautiful and wonderfully cool morning, Talia is sleeping in the breezy outdoors and Ethan is playing water games with about 144,000 toddlers in Jacob Ballas Childrens Garden. It's the most crowded we've ever seen the place but not too much to detract from the fun!

In Vivo

We mosied over to Vivo City after Hort Park and had a real fun day of hamburgers and Pacific Coffee. Ethan needed a nap so we found a couch on the outdoor veranda of Pacific Coffee overlooking the sea and he slept there for an hour while we sipped iced coffees! After that it was water fun in the play area upstairs which Ethan always loves!

Hort Holiday

Today is our virtual holiday where we stay in Singapore but take leave, go out and have lots of fun. This morning is a visit to Hort Park and daddy and daughter are having a nice rest in the shade...

Baby Love

Ethan's initial bemusement with his new sister seems to be growing into genuine affection and intrest. Last week at his Toddler's Sunday School class when the teacher was explaining the story of how Baby Jesus was born on Christmas Day, Ethan inexplicably took a deep interest in the 'baby' and couldn't let go of it for the rest of the class despite gentle cajoling from teachers, our helper, Mary & myself! It was actually quite sweet to see how gentle he was in carrying the baby and even knew how to hold it in the right position! Here he is with Daddy long after Sunday School was over, still 'clinging to Jesus'!

A (Rare) Quiet Night

Talia has started getting a little difficult to settle at nights this last week and we have had to walk and rock her for most of the evening as she goes into intermittent sleep often waking the moment we lay her on the bed! We recall something similar with Ethan sometime in his second month as well but as we were so sleep deprived neither of us has any clear memory of it....

I am now slowly able to 'decode' our little girl's internal logic and I think its probably a case of being overtired in the night after not being able to get a long sleep earlier in the evening. With two kids in the house now, evenings tend to be "all hands on deck" time as Ethan sometimes chucks tantrums in order to get a reprieve from bedtime or Mummy's 100% attention. Unfortunately both kids tend to bounce off each other's crying and Talia ends up getting woken, while Ethan's cries of protest intensify with the additional crying!

So I am enjoying the RARE event tonight when BOTH of them settled peacefully followed by what looks like a good sleep (fingers crossed!) Let's hope this happens more often in the weeks ahead!!

"Hold Talia!"

We we initially a little concerned about how Ethan would take to his new sister but thank God our little tyke has surprised us by being a very caring and gentle big brother to Talia so far! He often asks to "Hold Talia!" and seems to enjoy the novelty of having someone who is smaller than him around.

He's also surprisingly gentle when he kisses and pats her. Here he is trying to calm his sister with a soothing touch...

It's so heartwarming to see the kids getting along so well (for now!) and enjoying each other's company. Talia's been really blessed to have such a good and caring big brother. We're sure they will grow up to be good mates in the years ahead!

Ethan's 2nd Birthday at Relish

It's a month and half gone past, but Goo Ma did this cute cartoon storyboard of this special day and I still wanted to share it with you!

Airport Architect

We got another set of super cool boys toys from Jared Khoo! More classic wooden stuff which in this case was a mini city with roads, trees, cars and buildings. The pièce de résistance of the whole set is this airport! It has an elevator, check-in counter, parking, and even a luggage belt Ethan was fascinated and it is really wonderful to see him creatively involved when he is playing. I showed him how to operate the lift and here he is planting a tree inside! Daddy and Ethan will have many fun hours with this together. Thank you SK, Erny and Jared!

Four Years and Father of Two

Life has changed so much these past few years! Just four years ago I was still single, and now I am a father of two! Of course, it seems a lot longer than four years... especially when Renata and I recount memories of holidays, time spent together, milestones, and of course children! We often say, "It seems so much longer than four years hasn't it?" So we're very thankful for these years that God has given us the energy to serve Him, start a family of our own, and feel His hand of blessing and assurance upon our lives. What will the next four years hold? Many things I'm sure - Renata and I said to each other that we would live them with an open hand trusting God for whatever faith steps come our way.

Family Portrait

Yes, it's our first family portrait! Taken at Talia's moon yuet with Ethan dressed up to receive as much attention as possible since he now has to compete with his younger sister. He is a good Gor Gor though - look at him blessing his new sibling!

The Laughing Bumble Bee

This was taken at Talia's Moon Yuet - her one month celebration party. We haven't sorted out all the pictures yet but here is one of big brother who was such a good boy that day. After a swim we dressed him up in his Bumble Bee outfit from Goo Ma who took this picture of him having a good chortle!

Scaling Heights

Ethan climbed this ladder in the playground all by himself today! It took a few times of coaching with demos and encouragement from Daddy but he did it by himself a few times after that. He's a fast learner - just very cautious!

Sibling Success!

Our efforts and planning seem to be bearing some fruit!  The two siblings get on quite well together so far.  Ethan asks permission to play with Talia’s toys (she’s been getting lots), and Talia always says yes!  And every so often during the day it is “hugs” time and Ethan will give Talia a supervised cuddle.

Proud Grandparents

Over these last few weeks, we've been very blessed to have the love and support of our parents who have brought nutritious and yummy food for us each week..... ......taken time to have fun with Ethan and help keep the kids entertained.......
......showered their love and attention on the little ones.......
......and been there to share our joy as we discover new things about and grow with Ethan & Talia each day! It's been great to see Ethan and Talia (soon) grow to love their Grandparents and share many happy memories with them -- its a very special blessing that we are sure they will treasure for the years to come.

Daddy's Lap

She fell asleep while I was burping her and did so in this cutest pose! Talia has this super-contented expression after a milk feed.