As 2008 Comes To A Close and 2009 Begins

I sit in silent contemplation, reflecting on the past year’s ups and downs.

It certainly has been an eventful year, and I’m not just thinking about Tristan’s arrival.

Who could forget the terrible Mumbai attacks in November where so many innocent people lost their lives to a bunch of people no older than my intern.

Or the earthquake in Sichuan, China, that claimed at least 69, 000 lives in August.

Not to mention the crazy economy that saw double digit rises and falls, and still continues to stir the financial turmoil around the world. Job cuts aplenty everywhere and my company hasn’t been spared, either.

Flipside, there’s always the chance that the new U.S. president, Barack Obama, will do some good when he takes office in the weeks ahead.

On a lighter note, back to my little terror, he has certainly taught me the meaning of patience, endurance, pain management and sleep deprivation. In the past 8 months, Synn and I have cleaned up more shit and vomit than we ever had in our entire lives put together.

And while Synn and I have entertained thoughts of throwing him out the window or leaving him by the bulky waste disposal area for someone else to pick up (he comes with a free stroller and a tin of milk powder, by the way, if anyone’s interested), he has brought us much joy and laughter to an already bleak world that we live in.

It is true that our children inherit the world, but it falls to the parents that our children are taught the right values and that the world can definitely be a better place if we could all just learn to live together in peace.

So there it is, my continued hope for the future, Peace, Happiness and Health to everyone.

Happy New Year, my friends.

Soft Omelet From Sun Moulin

Synn and I discovered, quite by accident, the yumminess of this cake from Sun Moulin at Isetan Scotts down at the basement. You know, the one near the Mos Burger.

It Was Long And Thick

The sponge cake portion of it was nice and sweet, and oh-so-fluffy. Very light stuff.

The generous fresh cream filling with the banana running the entire length of the roll didn’t fill me up (and make me queasy) as much as I thought it would, unlike a lot of lower quality cakes.

With White Stuff Within

Also comes in Strawberry and Mango flavours for $4.35 a roll.

Good stuff, highly recommended.

: )~~~~~~

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

From all of us here, have a very Merry Christmas!

Where's My Pressie?!?!

Happy Holidays!

Project MiniMe: Entry 0047

Ten more lessons my (almost) eight month old son has taught me:

1. The world is his teething ring.

2. Rubber duckies are immensely entertaining in the bath.

3. Penises are apparently even more so. (Yes, he has recently discovered his.)

4. Bananas are gag inducing.

5. But bubbles in the bath can be eaten.

6. Pulling at Daddy’s hair is great stress therapy.

7. Pulling at Mommy’s hair is even greater stress therapy.

8. Wet wipes are your friend.

9. You can never finish cleaning up vomit.

10. The same goes for shit.

First ten lessons here.

Project MiniMe: Entry 0046

It is immensely entertaining to watch the tyke fall asleep during bumpy car rides.

Droopy eyes, nodding head, bump, open eyes, look around, droopy eyes, nodding head…

You get the drift.

While we couldn’t get the entire thing on video, Synn did manage a couple of shots to capture the process:

Strapped In And Ready For Takeoff

T-Minus 10 Seconds And Counting

5...4...

3...2...1...Liftoff...Houston, We Have Liftoff

Phoenix 1 To Houston, Shuttle Has Left Earth's Orbit

And there you have it, a blow by blow account of the very amusing launch sequence.

Project MiniMe: Entry 0045

These were taken some time back, but I had to post them since it was the first time he’d discovered socks on his feet.

OMG! WORMS ARE EATING MY FEET!!!!!!

So cartoon.

HOW?!!??!!??!

The Dark Knight Rawks!

I.

Was.

Completely.

Blown.

Away.

Fwah.

Yeah, so Synn and I chucked the tyke in his room late Sunday night and prayed for his deep, uninterrupted slumber while we turned out the lights in the living room and watched the long anticipated The Dark Knight on DVD.

Those who know us, will know by now we haven’t gone to the movies since getting our home cinema complete with projector and 5.1 audio.

What can I say. The Dark Knight is easily the best movie I’ve watched this year. Being a long time Bat-fan, I feel vindicated that Chris Nolan and all the actors in the movie took it seriously and finally made the reinvigorated Batman franchise how it was meant to be: A seriously dark, twisted and smart epic.

Kudos to the late Heath Ledger on his outstanding portrayal of the Joker. He really nailed the voice, and all the other nuances that make the Joker in the comics and animated series so horrifyingly psychotic yet brilliant. But the movie isn’t carried on Heath’s back alone and the rest of cast weren’t slouches, either. Brilliant performances by Christian Bale, Michael Cain, Morgan Freeman and Maggie Gyllenhal were also very deeply appreciated.

I’d also like to commend the scriptwriters for the fantastic lines in the movie as well.

All in all, Synn and I TOTALLY enjoyed the movie. I cannot say this enough. Heath Ledger as the Joker was brilliant, and I cannot think of how another actor could possibly top it, and I have to say, I can’t think of how anyone else will do at this point in time.

5/5 for this one.

The Stuff Of Nightmares

There have been many moments where the tranquility of our home has been broken by a single desparate cry, followed by a deep, long inhale, and finally a long, desparate wail for help. I call that his ‘Sky-Fall-Down’ cry.

Synn finds it apt.

I find it balls-shrink inducing.

Rushing out, I will normally him find wailing and quivering away with his eyes still closed and deep in slumber, and Synn and I will wisely conclude it must have been a bad dream or nightmare. But what could he possibly be having nightmares about??

So Synn and I came up with a list of plausibles:

1. Not enough milk.

2. Too much milk.

3. Crawling after a toy, but never, ever reaches it. It somehow always just stays out of reach.

4. Being forced to sleep. (The irony!)

5. A never ending stomachache.

6. Can’t find his favourite toy.

7. Being caged up.

All said, I don’t think we’ll ever truly know what goes on in that head of his until he can communicate clearly. Still, it certainly is amusing to speculate.

Just Part Of The Furniture

Our little man looking inconspicuous by trying to blend into the background.

It Was THIS BIG!!!

The poor guy doesn’t seem to realise he needs facepaint to complete the camo effect. *facepalm*

Terminator Salvation

The new trailer for the first of the next trilogy of Terminator movies starring Christain Bale has been released!

Watch it here:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/terminatorsalvation/large.html

Good lord, it looks solid!