We have a new home! After months of dreaming, talking, planning and hard work we are finally settled into our very own special place! Ethan had been looking forward to having his very own ceiling fan in his room and he proudly shows it to everyone he gets to show to his room. The kids also now enjoy their very own little table where they love to do their 'cooking', colouring and snacking. Its really cute to see them entertain their own buddies in their own corner having little tea and dinner parties there too!
It's hard work being a pre-schooler these days so Daddy has lovingly set up their own little computer corner (yes -- that's their own recycled computer complete with Skype capabilities!) right next to Mummy's. Here they are engaged in a computer puzzle that is keeping them very busy!
But their favourite place is probably their new bedroom which they now share and seem to have quite a happy co-existence in. Here is Ethan in a rare moment of affectionate passion with new roommate Talia, who is similarly thrilled with the new bedtime company...... Although there are challenges with having two young 'uns trying to settle into a restful state in the same room, there have also been sweet moments like one evening when Talia suddenly started crying after a loud & nasty motorcycle went by. I wasn't sure what she was disturbed about but her perceptive brother gently informed me that "Mummy, Talia cried because the motorcycle was noisy". They now love their Story Times together and the routine seems to calm them. This is followed by a race to be the first to climb into their own beds, a soothing milk drink served in a cute dog cup and the happy 'tuck tuck tuck' into their blankets.
They say moving house is a very stressful experience but we are thankful that the kids seem to have adjusted well and are loving their new home......
Some time ago we found this cute little car dumped by the side of the road ready for the garbage collector. It wasn't working but it was still clean so we salvaged it as we thought that just sitting in it, the kids would have fun. That they did, but with a recycled battery and some loving fixing, Daddy got it working again! "Grandma, we fixed the car!" Ethan proudly claimed. He had such great fun driving it around. It was most fun to see him driving Talia around in the little car.
Around that time, I came back from my long 7 week overseas study trip. Mummy and Ethan had made this fantastic "Welcome Home Daddy!" poster. It got me thinking...
Why not have a father-son project together? If Mummy and Ethan had such a wonderful time hand painting (and Daddy doesn't like arts and crafts) then Daddy and Ethan can have a father-son project. And what better project than fixing up a car? Sure, Ethan's car was moving but we could spruce it up a little....
Some of the electrical work was done without a 3 year old toddler pulling at everything, but we did other stuff together. Ethan loves fiddling with tools while Daddy fixes things. It really is doing things together and he is always careful to say later that, "Daddy and I did it!" We don't have enough pictures to cover everything, but in the end the whole body was dismantled and repainted so we had lovely black and silver convertible!
Photos of Ethan and Talia were printed and cut to fit on the steering wheel and the rear boot. It was their very own car and they loved!
Below is the picture that is on the steering wheel, though on the steering wheel it also has the caption "Ethan and Talia's Car." When Ethan first saw it he yelled, "Talia it's yooouuuuu!" And when Talia was a passenger for the first time she kept pointing at it saying, "Ethan... Ethan!"
The project was completed during the school holidays so for about 2 weeks after that, Ethan would drive the car every opportunity he got. In fact, he would often jump out of bed and run to the car. The corridors outside our apartment were totally safe at that time, so we would often awake to happy sound of the whirring electric engine and squeals of happiness going up and down the corridor. He very quickly became an excellent driver with only one hand and very good spatial judgment, managing to maneuver his car through doors and into elevators and go very close and fast but just miss doors and walls! Needless to say, he made his Daddy very proud!
It gave us an extra kick when we saw the same car selling brand new in the shop for $230. Of course, our black and silver custom model was priceless as were all the memories that have been tucked away with it.
"Neck!" squealed Talia as she pointed at the stuffed giraffe. Then she tipped her head forward and pointed to the back of her own cute little neck! She just loves animals, even furry fake ones in shopping malls. As Ethan is now 3.5 years old and Talia enjoys animals so much we are thinking about getting a family zoo pass to go there with the kids!
At bedtime last night, Ethan asked in the sweetest most earmest voice :"Mummy, can you be my best friend?.......I want you to be my best friend..."
I was totally disarmed by such cuteness lovingly directed toward me and just had to cuddle this cute and loving creature......sigh....! Of course I could be his 'best friend', and was almost driven to tears that he had asked me......even though I knew that he probably didn't know what a 'best friend' really meant! But hearing that from Ethan after coming out of a hectic few weeks with a number of things weighing on my mind, it was like finding a jewel in the most unexpected places.....
The best things in life are often the most simple & childlike ones. Its a wonderful thing to be able to see this world through the eyes of our kids. I love you son, much much!
Talia is getting much more regular in her sleeping patterns as she crossed the 1 year mark, and has now been sleeping well through the night and longer at nap times. This is such a relief because everyone else can also sleep better too! (You will notice how few sleeping photos we have of Talia -- its because she is such a light sleeper and often wakes when we go in to take pictures!) In recent weeks we have even been able to leave her in her room while she is still awake to "fly to the moon on her own"!! This has been our elusive dream for the last 13 months......
We were even able to put her to sleep in the same room as Ethan with some success for some time. Unfortunately this seemed to fall apart after we went to KL for a short holiday and they have since had to sleep seperately........ Meanwhile we are hoping they will get better and be able to share a room sometime soon.
A. Mei took us to the Gallop Stables at Pasir Ris park with the kids. We had planned for a nice brunch but unfortunately the cafe was closed on New Years Day! We did see the horses and ponies though. Ethan liked them... for about 60 seconds, after which he was bored... but Talia was totally fascinated with the animals. The trip was worth it to see her eagerness and longing look at the gorgeous horses, without any fear at all.
Daddy's back from his studies and the kids were thrilled to see him again! I think they were missing him but not fully able to verbalise their emotions. For Ethan I think it manifested in extra tantrums and 'neediness', as well as quite a number of night wakings.... Talia would look at Daddy's pictures and call for him but was quite happy with myself and Auntie Mary -- till she saw Daddy and made a beeline for him, calling "Daddy, Daddy" and nestling in his arms for a looooong time......
Here is a happy clip of the 2 of them lounging with their favourite Daddy on our comfy sofa.
With her newfound mobility, Talia is now able to follow her brother when he decides to do fun things out in the corridor where life always seems much more happening! Here she is having a screaming good time wanting in on the action of her exciting Big Brother as he ventures Outside......
We're going on a trip In our little "rocket ship" Ethan and Daddy, Ethan and Daddy
We're gonna have so much fun Father and son Ethan and Daddy, Ethan and Daddy
So goes the theme song of Ethan's favourite TV show, the very musical "Little Einstein" but these are of course our own words... This is our first Father and Son trip! I have been thinking about an overnight trip with just Ethan and me for a long time, and finally thought it was doable when Ethan just turned 3. He is easier to manage and put to bed, well behaved with Daddy, and of course loves spending time with his favourite Dad as well as anything to do with little black Subaru R1.
So I planned it, booked one night at nearby Thistle Hotel, Johor Bahru and started getting Ethan excited about this special trip with Daddy. "It's only us boys going!" I told him with great fanfare. He got the picture, "No Talia!" he roared with pleasure that temporarily overshadowed his love for baby sis.
After stuffing him with as much lunch as I could manage without being accused of treating him like foie gras, I bundled him in the car and prayed fervently that he would go to sleep. As you can see, he gets a fantastic view of the road even in the back seat of the R1 cos the front seat folds all the way down and acts as his foot rest and table! It's business class all the way if you're a toddler in a Subaru R1!
Finally, sleep happened after 15 minutes of crawling along the highway, and I took some detours to make sure he slept some more before we hit the causeway. True enough, he woke up at immigration but he was happy enough and we made it through after a long traffic jam on the Malaysian side.
The hotel is very near the causeway and we were there in a jiffy. They upgraded us for free to the seav/pool view room which is really quite nice. You can see our fantastic view of the pool from the 10th floor and the lovely bathroom with a huge window into the bedroom area.
After a quick rest and admiring our room, we got changed and packed our things for a swim. It's amazing how many things there are to pack for little 3 year old! We had a great time at the poolside where fluffy towels, brand new deck chairs and umbrellas awaited us.
After a roaring good time, replete with squeals, yells of laughter, insistence on "I swim alone Daddy," yelps of "I'm scared Daddy," and precious "Daddy's so much fun, I love you Daddy," we ordered some food and dried off. Great little chicken fillets coated with sesame seeds on a stick were served with various sauces on a beautifully presented tray. The fresh-cut-off-the-potato french fries were the best and all in was reasonably priced and a great hit! It was mid-afternoon, the sun was disappearing behind clouds and it was getting cold. So went back to the room, showered off, watched TV and played with the best toy... the room itself. Yes, when Ethan is in a new place he loves to check out every switch, hinge, and fiddly thing he can find. His favourite was the walk-in closet cos it had automatic lights that turned on when you opened the doors and it had 4 doors and you could go in one and out the other.
I thought all was dandy and I could laze until dinner until the dreaded words came, "Daddy, I want to go home!" Yikes!! I bundled him up with promises of going out and having more fun. We scouted the hotel for more activies, but the only thing for kids is the pool. Since Ethan wanted to drive we loaded up the car with GPS and went driving. After Ethan "drove" for 5 minutes (on Daddy's lap in stationary car of course) we went for a car wash!
Ethan loves washing the car with me. In fact he wanted to wash it this time too. I tried to explain that we were actually paying someone to wash it for us this time. I don't think the weird concept got through to him. After all, why would you pay someone to wash and vacuum your car (even if only costs 8 RM) when it is the most fun thing in the world to do with your daddy?
I don't have pictures of what happened after that cos it was too stressful! Dinner was a total failure and almost derailed the whole trip! Being totally unfamiliar with Johor, I was heading towards "Claypot Chicken Rice" on my Garmin GPS but it was nowhere to be found. So rather than heading back to the hotel for pizza, I picked a simple place. Unfortunately we sat down and they ran out of this and that, and what we ordered was really not to his liking. He's normally not a fussy eater but he's used to good tasty food of many varieties and none of these fit the bill. You could see the dissatisfaction written on his face as he nibbled on the noodles and only had a few mouthfuls of soup. Then it came again, "Daddy I want to go home!" I may be a grown man, but I got a bit terrified...
We quickly finished what we could and I distracted him more activities as we walked around somemore and I hoped to find something tasty around the corner for him. Hooray! A bakery saved the day and we got a hot dog bun and sugar roll which made him happy. Once the carbs and sugar got in him he was a happy camper again.
As we drove off he very helpfully repeated all the GPS voice prompts and gave me clear instructions. "Daddy, your phone says turn left. Can you turn left okay?" We neared the hotel and I pointed it out to him. "Ethan that's our hotel. A hotel is our new home for just 1 night and tonight is boys only." A grin spread on his face, "Can I sleep with you in the hotel daddy? Can I sleep with you in your bed?" Hooray, the day was on its way to being saved... Here is Ethan relaxing and enjoying himself after we got back to the room, finished off our bread and enjoyed music and a fun bath time with Daddy. After this came milk and story time and we were settling down to the difficult task of bedtime. I read one of his favourites, "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and then the most dreaded question of all erupted. "Daddy, where's Mummy?" What could I say? I tried explained that we're on holiday and Malaysia is far away and that they already charged my credit card for the room but he still wanted "home and Mummy!" We were only a few minutes away from tears which is the point of no return... I don't know what happened next exactly. It was a combination of more stories, insistence of boys only fun, prayer for HEEEELPP from God, and he calmed down. After lots of restfulness demanding all the different N! permutations of lights to be on/off (where N is the number of lights in your hotel room), he finally settled when I turned off all the lights and drew the curtains so it was pitch black.
He fingered around for my hands, head, and mouth and managed to stick his fingers up my nose but we laughed and quietened down. 10 minutes passed he was fast asleep, after which he turned over and wrapped his arms around me. We stayed like that for a long time while I thought of all the things I could write about today.
Night time went okay, and apart from being a little cold and coughs happening we made it through to morning and the long awaited breakfast. It was actually quite a nice breakfast but hard to enjoy when there's only one adult taking care of one toddler. Here he is enjoying sausages and chocolate milk!
After breakfast we went for another round of swimming which brought us to 10.40am. Since breakfast was just closing we managed to sneak in another round of prata and juice for free! One clean up and a big bubble bath later, we were happy and ready to go home...
This is our final picture taken in room just as we were all packed to go back in our little black "rocket ship". Thank you God, for helping me when it was really scary at times ! And thanks for giving us this special FIRST FATHER AND SON trip together!
After we arrived back home in Singapore later that night, Mummy put Ethan to bed. He told her, "I love my Daddy..." That makes it all worth it huh?
Ethan's surprised us by being quite generous to Talia. Recently, he decided to share his favourite bib with Talia and even lovingly put it on for her....Unfortunately in his exuberence he put it wrong side up and back to front for her!
Ever the good natured sister, Tali (as she is affectionately known at home) hardly minded the slight oversight and after getting used to the new bib, decided she quite liked the new Superhero look! Here is SuperTali looking quite indestructible in the play corner......
......and here is the Architect of Chaos looking very pleased with himself (despite a very runny nose)!
It's lovely to see Talia's personality emerging day by day and like her brother, we can see that she's got a sweet and tender heart. Her affection is most often displayed on the soft toys that she likes to cuddle and play with, but she is also very affectionate to the special people in her life too. She often comes around to "pat pat" us and I am often pleasantly surprised by a little hug from behind me when I am sitting on the floor! We managed to capture this tender moment with Talia while Ethan was busy playing with his musical toy......
Ethan & Talia turned 3 & 1 ! Their birthdays are just 2 weeks apart so we had a combined birthday party for them on Children's Day. The kids loved the cake that was lovingly baked by Ah Mah, and Ethan helpfully blew Talia's candle out for her!
We had a simple Ice Cream party and with help from Aunty Sharon & Aunty Cheryl, it was quite a bit of fun for the kids.
The Birthday Boy certainly had a great time at his own party. Aunty Sharon lent him her camera and he had a great time snapping away!
But the highlight of the party was probably when all their friends came along bringing their favourite bikes, cars and scooters and the ensuing excitement of running, driving, chasing and screaming that followed!
Even little Talia got her fair share of happy driving before retiring for her morning nap....
Daddy's party-blowers were quite a hit too! The kids loved them and discovered the new skill of multi-tasking -- cycling while blowing them and using them to flick passing kids!
It was quite hilarious to watch the kids having a crazy time with each other and thanks to Aunty Sharon who captured these moments on her camera. Although it was exhausting preparing for the party it was also very heartwarming seeing the kids having such a memorable time together. I'm really grateful for the warm support of our families and feel very blessed for the friendships that we and our kids have here.
Happy Birthday Ethan & Talia! May you always be surrounded in the warm knowledge that you are deeply loved!
Mom: Ethan and Talia are enjoying their playtimes together much more with Talia becoming more mobile, expressive and capable of playing with her brother, whom she really looks up to with expressions of rapt admiration!
Dad: Really is nice to see them get along so well. Talia will allow Ethan to play with her toys and he will (usually) teach her how to use them rather than take them away to a corner. "Talia, this is blocks Talia!"
Mom: Her generous big brother has taught her how to appreciate blocks, balls......
Mom: ...and of course his treasured car!! I must say he has been very good in sharing with her (and others) and clearly enjoys taking her on rides and even trying to teach her how to drive!
Mom: His lessons on the joys of sharing have only just begun, but we are quite proud to see our two kids get along so well and even passers by have to break into smiles when they see these two cackling with delight!
Dad: See his protective arm around his sister. Look in the video and see how he grabs her hand and places it on the steering wheel to teach her.... then laughs in delight! We sure hope they continue to appreciate one another as they get older!
Ethan's just got his first chopsticks from Por Por and has been eager to try them out! Here he is trying them out on his donut peach at lunch. Its a surprisingly simple and easy idea -- 3 simple rings for toddlers to slip their fingers through and learn how to use chopsticks in under 5 minutes! (2 mins if you are a gadgety guy like Ethan!)
Of course, after tiring of the donut peach (and after it has disappeared into his tummy), Ethan decides to try picking up his little sister with his newfound gadget....
We have a new home! After months of dreaming, talking, planning and hard work we are finally settled into our very own special place! Ethan had been looking forward to having his very own ceiling fan in his room and he proudly shows it to everyone he gets to show to his room. The kids also now enjoy their very own little table where they love to do their 'cooking', colouring and snacking. Its really cute to see them entertain their own buddies in their own corner having little tea and dinner parties there too!
It's hard work being a pre-schooler these days so Daddy has lovingly set up their own little computer corner (yes -- that's their own recycled computer complete with Skype capabilities!) right next to Mummy's. Here they are engaged in a computer puzzle that is keeping them very busy!
But their favourite place is probably their new bedroom which they now share and seem to have quite a happy co-existence in. Here is Ethan in a rare moment of affectionate passion with new roommate Talia, who is similarly thrilled with the new bedtime company...... Although there are challenges with having two young 'uns trying to settle into a restful state in the same room, there have also been sweet moments like one evening when Talia suddenly started crying after a loud & nasty motorcycle went by. I wasn't sure what she was disturbed about but her perceptive brother gently informed me that "Mummy, Talia cried because the motorcycle was noisy". 
They now love their Story Times together and the routine seems to calm them. This is followed by a race to be the first to climb into their own beds, a soothing milk drink served in a cute dog cup and the happy 'tuck tuck tuck' into their blankets.
They say moving house is a very stressful experience but we are thankful that the kids seem to have adjusted well and are loving their new home......
