We decided to celebrate both their birthdays together as they are only 2 weeks apart, and share mostly the same friends at this stage. Here is the birthday Boy & Girl looking very focused on their birthday cake lovingly and freshly baked by Ah Mah (it was still warm when it came!) It's in the shape of a horseshoe so both got their own corners to blow out their own candles!
אֵיתָן (ee-thuhn) solid, enduring (1 Ki 4:31, Ps 89) & טליה (tal-yuh) dew of heaven (God's kindness)
Friday 1 October 2010
Kid's Birthdays
We decided to celebrate both their birthdays together as they are only 2 weeks apart, and share mostly the same friends at this stage. Here is the birthday Boy & Girl looking very focused on their birthday cake lovingly and freshly baked by Ah Mah (it was still warm when it came!) It's in the shape of a horseshoe so both got their own corners to blow out their own candles!
Friday 27 August 2010
Discovering Our Backyard
We didn't think we would be living this close to such iconic symbols of Singapore!
Talia's a little more appreciative of the scenery than her brother is. He looked quite unimpressed -- until we found some amazing automatic doors in the underpass that open & close once you step into the range of its sensor...... You should have seen the glee on their faces when they realised the power they now unleashed on the auto doors! Best backyard in the World!
Thursday 26 August 2010
Little Tiger
Tigers have been quite popular among our critters of late. They had a great time watching the tigers at the zoo some weeks ago and Talia 'chatted' with them by roaring cheerfully back at them! She seemed to be amazed with how big the real ones were and said "Big!" with outstreched arms to emphasize her point!
We also took Tiger Airways for our recent family trip to Phuket and the kids were thrilled to be in an airplane with a tiger on it! Now every plane they see is "Tiger Aeroplane!".......They probably think that Tiger is the best airline in the world!!!
Monday 26 July 2010
Swim Classes
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
Sunday 4 July 2010
First Time at the Dentist
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!
Tuesday 29 June 2010
Friends of the Zoo
There's nothing like getting up close to the animals and here they are happily watching the turtles swimming in the tank......
Thursday 24 June 2010
Father & Sons of the Zoo
Just before i took this picture of us he was sitting in my lap, turned to look up at me and said, "I like daddy time with me." it was so sweet and solicited that I asked him to repeat it just to make sure I wasn't imagining things!
Sunday 13 June 2010
Lots of Learning
We sometimes don't really know what Ethan does at school (he's still in nursery class) and often wonder what he actually gets out of spending so much time there as he can't really tell us what he is learning and we only get to meet his teachers & see his work much later in the term. Sometime, though, we do get clues into some significant progress in his learning progress -- here is a funny clip of Ethan breaking out exuberantly into a recent Chinese song he learnt from school......
While he was in the mood, he also discussed some of the recent Mathematical skills he had accomplished. Quite entertaining.......maybe we can get him to tutor his sister too!
Sunday 23 May 2010
Our New Home!
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.
Thursday 20 May 2010
The Little Black Car
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...
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.
Monday 5 April 2010
Furry Animals
Monday 22 February 2010
Best Friends
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!