playground time

Some photos of the boys having a ball in the playground at the foot of our block.

These photos were taken at night, around 8pm - a little tactic to get them tired so they sleep a little earlier! Aiden had previously gone to bed at 11pm the night before, but he slept at 10pm after the playground sessions.

Grandpa Ian and I had a hard time keeping up with them!

Elliot was delighted climbing EVERYWHERE and he knows no fear, partly because there's always someone there to catch him.

The photo of Elliot on the ladder is just the beginning of his mountaineering skills - he managed to make his way up on his own. I did have my hands around his torso to make sure he didn't fall, but he managed to climbed all the way up on his own.

Aiden worked up a sweat going on the slides but he also had a little pretend play where he set up shop under the slide and sold Grandpa some Philips DVD players.

Before long, Grandpa and I called it a night, even though the boys were still up for more climbing action. The adults were wiped!

speak easy (more tod than mob)

Elliot was very focused this morning. Usually when he wakes and no one is around, he'll let out a loud shout/cry (sans tears - it's the "hey, where's everybody?? come get me!" cry)

But this morning after he woke, he didn't cry at all. Instead, he walked out of the bedroom to look for me, grabbed my hand and led me back into the bedroom.

He walked to bedside table, still pulling my hand, pointed at his empty milk bottle (from the night before) and declared, "Du du!" (Elliot's approximation of the malay word for milk).

More words that he's saying that I've yet to blog:

1. Anuh-tha
"Another" - used when he see more than 1 of something, like anuh-tha cat.

2. E-I-E-Ooooooh
Ok, fine, this isn't a real word, but I thought it was cute that he sings along at that part in "Old MacDonald had a farm..."

3. Mum-mum
Generic word for "food" used across Singapore.

4. Teed / Teesh
"Teeth", used daily, when we brush our teeth in the morning. To be fair, it's more chewing the toothbrush, than actual brushing.

5. Gamma

Grandma!

6. Tho
"Toe", which he says with glee when his socks and shoes are removed.

7. Bow wow
The 5th member of our family.

8. Car!
It's always announced like it's a surprise, like "hey, presto!"

9. Doooor
Synonym for the main door/gate at home.

10. Light
He loves looking up at lights and pointing them out. Sometimes he leans back so much while pointing he actually falls backwards (but there's always someone there to catch him, which explains why he keeps doing it).

aiden sings rainbow connection - with back-up

In the background playing is the Dixie Chicks' cover of Rainbow Connection - Aiden sings along, with an adoring Elliot singing back-up.

aiden practising for singapore's national day

I'm posting this more for Andy, since he's away.
Thought you might like to see some video of Aiden.

Aiden has been spelling "Singapore" - I'm guessing it's because National Day is coming up and it's part of his segment in school. At the end, he says "whoaa, SINGAPORE" with a lot of gusto.

andy is away

It's Day 2 of Andy having gone back to NZ.

Thankfully, Aiden & Elliot are still managing ok. I am, however, disappointed that the boys & I didn't go to NZ too, but after learning that the trip from Singapore to Invercargill took over 30hours, it was probably for the best for us and the boys that we didn't go.

Aiden has been mentioning occassionally that "Daddy is in New Zeeeeeealand" but doesn't seem too upset (yet). I think it's because I'm very matter-of-fact when I tell him that Andy's away, so the calm attitude is reassuring for him.

Elliot is still a little to young to know what's going on, but definitely know's Andy's voice - I put Andy on the phone earlier today and Elliot announced "Daddy...Daddy...Daddeeeeee!"

To distract the boys from noticing the usual Saturday routine was different i.e. without Andy, Grandpa Ian and I took the boys swimming. And we met Kim & Kate after that for lunch and a leisurely stroll along the quay to the Esplanade.

Some shots of today (it's a little dark, because it's an indoor swimming pool in what resembles the Batcave):

"this is a lead break!"

How many 2-year-olds (almost 3) can identify a lead break?

Thanks to Andy, Aiden is really good at pointing out lead breaks in songs.

Here's a photo of him on his bed - he's holding one of his favourite CDs "Mary Had a Little Amp", a fun compilation of pop/rock versions of childhood songs.

we love things that go vrooom

Aiden and Elliot going for a drive on those kiddy rides. They were pretty good sharing the wheel.

Elliot has been pretty good manoeuvering Aiden’s tricycle. In fact, Elliot has been getting a lot more use out of Aiden’s trike and - despite needing to go on his tippy toes - is now a pro at mounting and dismounting the trike.

the naylor boys having fun

Nope, not Aiden and Elliot, but Andy & Paul - caught head-bouncing balloons at Kate's birthday party. It's clear from the photo which kids were having more fun.

And below - a photo of Aiden vicariously lapping up Kate's birthday cake.

big smiles

Elliot always has a ready smile and is easily tickled by funny noises, funny faces, and sometimes, rather innocuous inanimate objects, like lights and fans.

Here he is, all smiley and giggly when I whipped out the camera.

He's starting to say a few words, and doesn't have as wide a vocabulary as Aiden when he was 15mths old, but his pointing and saying "There!" or "Daddy!" has been pretty effective. We speculate that "Daddy" is a good synonym for a toy/object of interest (when coupled with pointing).

Some words Elliot has been saying:

1. There! (accompanied by pointing)

2. Daddee! (accompanied by pointing with the value-add of a very interested Daddy)

3. Buh-tuh (button)

4. CD (thanks to Aiden)

5. No (that sounds rather like "noh", i.e. the French "non")

6. Du-du (supposed to be "Su-su", Malay for "milk").

7. Mao (this is for cat, and most animals)

8. Uck (duck)

9. Tar! (star)

10. Nose (he loves poking our noses and announcing "Nose")

full-day session for Aiden

Aiden's begun full-day sessions at his playschool Little Village on the Grange.

The principal has been texting Mae occassional updates as we've been a little concerned that he may not be ready for full-day. He started full-day last Thursday and has settled in fine.

Here's one of the smses from the principal:
Aiden learnt about the human body at Science today. He told me so. However, his teachers told me he resonated the entire low ceilinged lab with non-stop vociferous Mandarin renditions of "Head and shoulders, knees and toes"...:) He is now stuffing his face with pancakes..."

happy belated birthday to the twins!

We celebrated Bradley & Erica's birthday on Sunday at Prego's - the buffet was indulgent, to say the least (Ian & Mason had the champagne buffet). A wonderful perk was that it had a kid's play area decked with toys.

It was great seeing Bradley and Erica play with Aiden & Elliot. Aiden was a little shy but Elliot was fine, if a little wriggly. He's in his walking phase now and doesn't like keeping still. A little girl tried to make friends with Aiden, but he was oblivious (or maybe he ignored her - we're still trying to figure him out).

Aiden had ice-cream, which doesn't sound like a big deal, but he doesn't get ice-cream very often (wait till he reads Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Elliot, on the other hand, was busy being charming and had a wonderful giggle fest with his Aunt Anita.

It was more shopping for the house after lunch, and despite our post-lunch comatose state, we got a lot done! 2-3 weeks to go!

happy birthday kate!

Happy Birthday, sweet Kate!

And what better way to celebrate than with a win at the Today's Parents magazine contest for Father & Child (voted by the discerning judges).

our 5 mins of fame. 10 to go.

We were in the papers on Saturday!

It was a feature on the government's policies to increase the country's dwindling birth rates; they had interviewed us, among with a few families, so we didn't expect that we'd have over half a page on us. Half the page was the photo itself!

It was a great photo - pity that we were misquoted on quite a few things.

Since the national paper is very unlikely to print a retraction, we'd like to right some inaccuracies:

1. We don't leave work at 6pm.
6-ish and closer to 7pm would be more accurate. Clients always call at 5:50pm for something "really urgent".

2. We said our Nokomai team is like family to us - and not, as they put it "Work is our third child". Sigh.

3. We're happy with 2 kids - for now.

The article made it seem like we don't plan to have more kids even though we're still undecided. We like the idea of having more kids, but time is a big factor to consider - we just don't want to shortchange our kids by not being able to spend enough time with them. We're still learning to cope with 2 kids, so there aren't any plans to have more kids - for now.

4. Mae's parents don't stay with us.

5. The friend who had 3 kids and had discouraged us to have more than 2 did not / has not influenced our decision on how many kids to have.

Mae was simpy recounting an incident where an acquaintance complained on the inconvenience of having 3 kids - and in fact, we were dismayed with her 'advice'. Having kids is a blessing!

It was a pity that they ended the article with that mention, as it was the last "take away" of us, and it wasn't a true reflection of our thoughts.

Here's a photo of the spread:

the company trip

We spent a few days Tokyo with the Nokomai team in the last week of June.

It wasn't easy leaving the boys for so long (6 days), but it was great to spend time with the team - they're like a second family and it was a wonderful way to reward everyone and bond with them.

Tokyo is amazing - it's the cool, kitchy, buzzing metropolis as how we imagined. And we knew that it wasn't easy getting around without some basic knowledge of Japanese, so we were very grateful that Siew, our Senior Designer knew Japanese and helped us out of critical situations (like ordering that perfect meal. That's pretty critical!) But seriously, thankfully no big dramas happened on the trip, only occassions where we were pointed in the wrong direction (sometimes the helpful Japanese would rather hazard a guess than tell you that they can't help you).

Some highlights for the trip for us:
1. The Ghibli Museum
We love the animations from Studio Ghibli, and the Museum gave us a sneak peek into their creative process.

2. Guitar shopping in Shibuya. We came home with a Fender Jaguar. Bliss.

Photo courtesy of Cindy

3. Discovering hole-in-wall cafes/eateries
We loved stumbling across tiny eateries and each one was superb. One particular discovery was a cafe that was inspired by 'Alice in Wonderland', with porcelain rabbits, Mad Hatters, Cheshire Cats, dodos and other familiar characters adorning the walls. The owner had an impressive collection of teacups and matching saucers that would have served the Mad Hatter's tea party well.

Photo courtesy of Cindy

Particularly amusing was an ashtray in the shape of a house, and if you placed the cigarette at the mouth of the door, the smoke would rise through the chimney. So aptly Japanese (big smokers + kitchy).

4. Live music
We managed to catch a Beatles tribute band - The Silver Beats - where they had memorised the nuances of the Beatles' songs to a T. They were uncanny to the point where the Japanese version of John resembled John Lennon in his younger days, sounded like John, AND could play both the guitar and the piano as well as John. (We speculated that he was probably dating someone called Yoko, which wouldn't be too difficult to imagine.)
And our in-house indie fan, Cindy, helped to line us up for an indie gig that had 3 bands playing (thanks, Cindy!) We enjoyed one of the bands so much that we got the CD - the 4 Bonjours Parties (experimental English is very Japanese, too).

There's so much more of the place, which I could write on and on for hours. Suffice to say that we'll definitely be back.

Elliot the toddler

Elliot has been taking baby steps for a couple of months, but now he's walking unassisted for about 10-15 steps.



He's no longer a baby and officially a toddling toddler!