Let The Good Times Roll

Little Darling

2009-07-13T20:30:00.004+08:00

Some recent pictures and video clip of Arthur

15 May 2009

2009-05-15T21:31:00.004+08:00

Today is Arthur's 2nd birthday and he has his 2nd cake for his birthday with his school friends and teachers.

Arthur's 2nd Birthday

2009-05-10T06:43:00.004+08:00

We celebrated Arthur's 2nd birthday on 9 May 2009, invited 30+ guests to a tea party which we only arranged 3 days ago. It was considered a successful tea party despite the rush arrangement and some hiccups we had in pumping the ballons for the guests' kids.

Arthur's birthday cake with his favorite toy-- car

Sing birthday song, make a wish and "bye bye candles"

Final photo shoot with the cake before we "destroy" it.

Arthur and his birthday presents

First Artwork

2009-02-28T08:07:00.003+08:00

Grandma showed me this hand print artwork the moment I stepped into the house from work yesterday evening. The teacher passed this "master piece" to Grandma when she picked up Arthur from nursery.

This will be the most memorable and precious artwork as it is Arthur's first artwork :)

Say My Name

2009-02-17T08:35:00.007+08:00

17 February 2009 is a special day, at the age of 21month, Arthur finally said his name for the first time. We have been telling him his name for months and out of the blue, he said his name on the way to nursery. Since then, when we ask :"What is your name", he will answer"Arthur".

The day before he said his name, he said "Phlea" for the first time, he wanted to say "Please" but omitted the "s". Today, he managed to say "Please" properly.

I cannot describe my feeling when I first heard Arthur said his name, I was not only very excited but proud of my boy :)

KK Trip

2009-01-11T10:54:00.005+08:00

Time sure flies! Anita and Douglas went back to Auckland today after their 3-weeks break from work. Arthur was quite upset when he saw them walking further and further away from him. Luckily 外公 was there to comfort him, otherwise it is going to be a long fuss.

We have a good time with Anita and Douglas around and Arthur loves the company of his Aunt Anita and uncle Douglas. The next time we meet, it will be this coming October in Auckland for Anita and Douglas' wedding :)

Short Trip to HK

2009-01-06T21:08:00.004+08:00

I have never travelled alone with Arthur before and I was worried before our trip to HK as I didn't know whether I could handle Arthur plus the luggages all by myself. Luckily it ended up better than I imagined :)

We really enjoyed our short trip to HK and Arthur was happy to see his baba and grandparents.

Grandma:"Arthur, do you want to rest for a while? Grandma is tired"

Kids' Playground

2009-01-06T20:15:00.005+08:00

Here are some pictures and clips of Arthur playing in the kids' playgrounds in Hong Kong during our visit between 31/12/08-4/1/09.

Busy playing with granddad's cellphone

Finally a picture of Arthur smiling at the camera :)

Arthur's first experience with slides. He was reluctant at first but after Ronald slided with him, he couldn't resist the temptation of the slides :)

Christmas 2008

2008-12-30T22:02:00.006+08:00

This year's Christmas is a special Christmas for Arthur as he gets to spend his 2nd Christmas with 外公 & 外婆 and also Aunt Anita and Uncle Douglas whom arrived KK on Christmas Day itself.

Anita and Douglas gave Arthur a perfect Christmas gift, that is a "tricycle", and Arthur absolutely loves it!!

Enyojing his ride with Aunt Anita

Random Pictures

2008-11-22T21:36:00.005+08:00

This is what Arthur does when we dine out. He always keeps himself occupied with whatever is available on the table.

Just some random pictures taken for Arthur @ 18mths

An Afternoon At Home

2008-11-22T10:37:00.004+08:00

This is what Arthur does when he doesn't have to go to day care.

Fun Afternoon

2008-10-16T20:18:00.005+08:00

It was another tiring afternoon for me but fun afternoon for Arthur.

Arthur's "Playmate"

2008-10-15T20:56:00.006+08:00

This is a clip of what Arthur likes to do in the evening :)

Arthur:"What are you looking at, Siao Pai"

Longtime Friends & Babies

2008-10-15T16:57:00.007+08:00

It was an exhausted afternoon for me today. I took Arthur to meet up with a few longtime friends and their kids at one of the friend's place. There were only 4 of the little ones and I have to say, it's not easy... Well, at least Arthur has some fun time there.

The little ones from left to right: Chloe, Royston, Janelle and Arthur

Pool Day

2008-10-09T10:12:00.006+08:00

We took Arthur to golf club last weekend and he has his first "swimming" experience. We were worried that he might not like the feel of swimming pool and refuse to stay there, we were wrong apparently. He loves it!!

New swimsuit bought online from Beijing

Ronald and Arthur have fun in the pool :)
The clip shows how much Arthur likes staying in the pool :)

Family Album Part 1

2008-09-21T12:07:00.002+08:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

Arthur's Memories

2008-09-18T07:18:00.003+08:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

Scrapbook

2008-09-18T07:18:00.001+08:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A Day in the Park

2008-09-14T20:15:00.008+08:00

Arthur has a new "admirer", a korean jie jie. She likes to cuddle and play with Arthur whenever she sees him in the park.

Lately, Arthur seems to know what he has to do in front of the camera. He is willing to stay put and let us take pictures of him without hiding away or grabbing the camera from us.

"Let's go, it's time for dinner"

Spinning Around

2008-08-14T08:55:00.004+08:00

I'm spinning around, move out of my way...

This is Arthur's latest dancing move.

We were about to go out and noticed that Arthur was dancing with the music from the TV and this time it seems like he has more moves then previous.

Evening Walk

2008-08-09T21:02:00.006+08:00

It's late in the afternoon, weather: cloudy yet Extremely Hot!! I planned to sit in the aircon room, drink my Coke Zero and enjoy the 1st day Live Olympic Games. However, none of the afternoon games caught my interest. Hence, we decided to take little Arthur out for a walk in the park.

It was quiet in the park, as if the park was reserved just for my family. Few minutes after we enjoyed our family moment, along came a laughter down the pathway. A toddler slightly younger than Arthur walked towards us with his mum and aunt. This is the 1st time Arthur meets someone about his age and they seems to click well...

"Why can't we go out there?"

"Go China, Go!!"

"It's time to go home now"

Bubble Train

2008-08-08T23:34:00.003+08:00

We have a bubble train toy kept in our storeroom for quite sometime and thought it might be a good time to dig it out and let Arthur play with it. Lately, whenever Arthur sees kids playing with bubbles, he is excited yet he is scared to touch them. In order to conquer his fear of bubbles, we gave him the bubble train to play with. Look at the clip and you will see how he reacts to bubbles.

"Playground"

2008-07-31T21:05:00.004+08:00

This is a clip of what Arthur does when he is in his cot. His cot serves 2 purposes, a place to sleep in and his "playground".

It's yummy, try it...

2008-07-25T11:18:00.005+08:00

Arthur likes to feed us his food when he is done with it, either by hand or spoon. This morning, he fed baba his teething biscuit and he seems to enjoy being an "adult" :)

I'm Tired...

2008-07-13T09:24:00.005+08:00

We can easily tell if Arthur is ready for a nap...

... He wants Baba to carry him

The Ideal of Give and Take

2008-07-12T15:49:00.006+08:00

Arthur: "When it comes to sharing, and yet I don't really want to share, this is how my philisophy of give and take fits just right in~~"

The secret of getting what you want...

2008-07-12T15:31:00.006+08:00

Just a clip to show that Arthur won't simply give in for anything we give them. He will keep on crying until he gets what he wants

Little Helper?

2008-06-23T21:15:00.002+08:00

As usual, this morning our part-time clearner came in to do the cleaning work. The only difference is that little Arthur volunteered to help out... well... a liiiiitle help...Look at the clips and you will understand how much Arthur has helped out

Three Little Pigs (三只小猪)

2008-06-22T21:05:00.006+08:00

Like other toddlers, Arthur has a favourite toy and he is very attached to it. It is the piglet ( we named it 猪猪) from Winnie the Pooh, 猪猪 beat tigger and became Arthur's favourite.

We limit his attachment to nap time and bed time as we don't want him to drag 猪猪 everywhere he goes. He often tries to drag 猪猪 out from his cot and show us his "victory" but always ended up having 猪猪 back to his cot.

We got him duplicate 猪猪 but it seems like he hasn't accepted them yet. He can identify which one is his favourite by just looking at it. Hence, when we wash 猪猪, we have to tell Arthur that 猪猪 is having bath and won't be back until his bed time. It seems like Arthur understands this and has his naps without 猪猪 for the day.

"猪猪 travels with us"

From left to right: Given by grandparents and us.

Middle: Given by Aunt Irene&Uncle Eugene (Arthur's favourite)

The first thing Arthur looks for when he is put into his cot is his 猪猪. He plays with it, baby talks to it, bites its ears or nose and cuddles it.

Singapore Trip

2008-06-17T11:37:00.013+08:00

We went to Singapore for a week from 8 June 2008 to 15 June 2008. It was a tiring but fruitful trip as we got to meet up with dad&mum, Irene, Eugene and most important of all, Arthur's new cousin, Wesley. Also, it is the month of "Great Singapore Sale" so we were "forced" to shop till we dropped :)

It takes lots of patience and luck to take good picture nowadays :)" Wesley Di di, I'm Arthur Ge ge"
Arthur was happily entertained by some Japanese tourists
A day trip at the Underwater World
With grandparents in the tunnel of Underwater World
Arthur loves piggy back rideArthur "sayang" Aibby Jie jie

I'm sure all travelling parents will agree that this is the best moment in the flight. Too bad the best is always short

The First Birthday

2008-05-15T21:41:00.005+08:00

Time flies without a trace, Arthur has been with us for the past 366 days, and many more years to come. Today Arthur has his very own 1st birthday, there is no fancy birthday party, just a nice and warm celebration with us and 外公&外婆. For his birthday treats, we give Arthur his first taste of cake and he absolutely LOVES it. Thank you Uncle Albert&Aunt Anita for the cake!

We wish Arthur all the happiness life can bring! Happy Birthday to our wonderful son!!

"Bird's Nest" (鳥巢)

2008-05-13T21:23:00.002+08:00

Today we went to see the famous "Bird's Nest" in Beijing, aka the Beijing National Stadium which will host the main track and field competitions for the 2008 Summer Olympics, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. I'm not very fancy about buildings and stuctures, but for this, I have to say that the architect of this Bird's Nest is truely genious. The stadium is very well designed. Unfortunately, we cannot get close to the Bird's Nest as there is a rehersal function going on and its surrounding is still under construction. Next to the Bird's Nest is another landmark buildings of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the Beijing National Aquatics Centre, also known as the Water Cube (水立方). It's a shame that we didn't get a peek at the building as we went to the different direction.

Welcome Little Wesley

2008-05-05T21:07:00.006+08:00

Here is to our another new family member, Wesley, who is born on 30 April 2008. Wesley is 3 weeks earlier than he is expected to, guess he just can't wait to see the wonderful world :)

Congratulations and welcome to the parenthood, Irene and Eugene! God bless the mother and child.

Dancing Baby

2008-04-27T07:01:00.004+08:00

We first discovered that Arthur likes to wave his hands when he listens to music. Then lately we discovered that he not only waves his hands, he now dances, in his own baby way :)

Sometimes, he claps his hands too

The 11th Month

2008-04-24T09:18:00.004+08:00

Arthur is now 11month-2weeks old, we realised the greatest development for him this month is that he now responds to a one-step command without gestures, i.e. Give "ring ring" to mama; Go get "fish fish", Don't touch, mama "da da", Don't throw your plate (though he still throws it when my eyes are not on him)

Arthur's 1st birthday is coming soon and we are glad that his "外公&外婆" will be in Beijing to celebrate his 1st b'day with us. What we need now is to get him a nice birthday cake for his 1st birthday :)

The 10th Month

2008-04-05T18:41:00.007+08:00

Let's see what Arthur has achieved in his 10th month:

he now can walk (without any support) for a short period of time.

he has 6 teeth now, 2 at the bottom and 4 on top

he says "mama, baba, dada and nana"

he knows how to position his legs so we cannot put him down into his stroller. This only happens when Ronald is around as Arthur knows baba will definately suggest that he carries him

he objects loudly when we take something away from him, the objection lasts longer when Ronald is around (again!!)

when mama says "No, Don't Touch", his first reaction is to show his innocent face, then reach his hands out again. When another firm "No" is said, he gives his "fake pity cry" hoping he can get what he wants. He always ended up turning his head and crawls/walks away

he has a new hair cut. We shaved his head and hope his new grown hair is thicker than before. It took Ronald more than an hour and lots of kitchen utensils in order to get the job done.

The 9th Month

2008-03-06T18:28:00.008+08:00

The following is what Arthur has achieved in his 9th month:

says "dada" indiscriminately

plays "hide&seek", he looks for us following our voices

understand "no" but not always obey it, and blinks his eyes with he hears "no"

objects "loudly" if we take something away from him

has 2 more teeth, now he has 2 on top and 2 at the bottom.

loves solid food too much until he refuses to drink his formula. So we have to be very careful on what we are feeding him now in case he doesn't drink his formula again.

walks holding his wagon/furnitures

stand alone for few seconds

New Toy

2008-02-23T20:30:00.006+08:00

' Arthur waited patiently while Baba fixing his new toy'
'Arthur riding on his new toy'

We figured out since Arthur is practising cruising on the furniture, we might as well get him a walking wagon so he can practise his walking skill with it. But it seems like he doesn't really appreciate his new toy and keeps on crawling away from it rather than cruising with it. Sigh..Baba is working really hard to get Arthur to play with his new toy

New Family Member

2008-02-23T19:35:00.004+08:00

Congratulations to brother Allan and sister in law Phyllis on their newborn baby boy, Preston Zhao Xuan. Preston is born at 9:36am on 21 February 2008 following 8 hours of labour. He is the 3rd baby as well as the 3rd boy of our next generation :)

The 8th Month

2008-02-03T04:30:00.003+08:00

Arthur was so happy when he got the chance to ride on his cousin, Jayden's BMW.

Some people say it is important for a guy to have at least 5 Cs before thinking about marriage.. well.. other than having his own car, Arthur already owned his 4 Cs:

Charming - one thing for sure that MAS stewardess were so attracted to him, he managed to get special desserts for us.

Crawling - he is the master of crawler, crawling across the room, hallway, under the table, on the bed, even on our body.

Cruising - he started on cruising since last week and is learning fast! he can cruise from one end of the table to other end in just less than 10 sec.

Crying - yup, no doubt his loves to cry! especially feeding time, feeding him is still a nightmare...

Grandfather & Arthur

2008-01-02T13:49:00.000+08:00

Arthur knows that grandparents are here and they will try their best to fulfill his "requests", i.e. carrying him around. Arthur seized his chance and "requested" to be carried around and objected immediately once grandpa sat down. In order to reduce grandpa's burden, we took out a baby carrier bought by granddad and grandma from the USA and used it the house.
The result-everyone is happy!!

Hair Cut

2008-01-02T13:28:00.001+08:00

Happy 2008!! In order to welcome a brand new year for Arthur, we decided the best thing to do on the last day of 2007 is to give him a new hair cut :) Otherwise he'll look like a jungle man..
Who's the hair stylist? Ronald is very confident in doing this and he was really serious in the whole process. Well, at least he is happy with the outcome, or, we are happy with the outcome :)

Arthur:"I'll sit quietly and let baba do his thing, provided I have Barney to watch :)"
"Before"

Arthur:"Do I look like a jungle man?"

"After"
Arthur:"I think I look good, don't you think so?!"

The Seventh Month

2007-12-25T20:45:00.001+08:00

Arthur:"Aunt Anita, I can fit my beannie better than last time :)"

At 7 month-week 2, Arthur is able to do the following:

feed himself cracker but can never finish it.
creep fast and stop when he is tired by sitting half way
pull up to sitting position from stomach
practise on how to pull himself up to standing position from sitting. He is able to pull himself up by holding on to his crib
when he is bored, he squawks fretfully or squeals just to get our attentions
when he is in front of a mirror and we suddenly appear behind his image, he turns and looks for us instead of believing that we are in the mirror
still refuse to hold milk bottle
drink from a sippy cup but refuse to hold it
objects when we feed him porridge by trying to grab the spoon away

First Christmas

2007-12-25T10:28:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas to all!!
It is Arthur's first Christmas! It is just a simple Christmas for Arthur, no Christmas decor, no Christmas tree, just daddy&mummy and also grandpa& grandma :) Oh, and a Christmas hat for him too..

Happy Baby

2007-12-24T10:42:00.000+08:00

Look at how happy Arthur was in the clip :)

Gandma is in the town

2007-12-04T11:36:00.000+08:00

Grandma is finally here in Beijing. She has not seen Arthur since his fullmoon and is now playing with Arthur whenever he's awake. Little Arthur is smart enough to know that grandma will fulfill what he wants, so he always crawls towards grandma halfway practising crawling and "hints" that he needs a break, on grandma's lap. Maybe Arthur knows that baba and mama won't "get" his hint so he never does that to us :)

Arthur:"I love my new toys, thank you Aunt Irene & Uncle Eugene"

First Taste of Finger Food

2007-12-01T20:15:00.000+08:00

Daddy&Mummy:"What a mess, Darling!?"
Arthur:"Heehee..I'm doing what baby does"
Arthur:"Opps..there goes my new snack. Have fun cleaning up Daddy&Mummy."

We gave Arthur his first taste on finger food, a vegetable teething rusk, and never thought it's going to be that messy as it's totally different from what it is shown on the package. However we quite enjoy the process as he seems to like his new snack :)

The Sixth Month

2007-11-15T10:14:00.000+08:00

What Arthur can do now:

he can bear some weight on his legs when held upright and stand holding on to us.
he can sit without support (for a short while) before tumble forward
he rolls from one end of the bed to the other end -
he objects if we take his toys away-
he is determined to work his way to get a toy that is out of reach
he can pick up tiny objects with his thumb and fingers and put everything he grasps into his mouth
he babbles, between ba-ba and ma-ma, we heard him babbling ba-ba first. I wonder why as I have been saying ma ma to him everyday..
he smiles at anyone(except when he is tired), even at strangers
he enjoys us tickling him and laughs out loud
he still needs him dummy & mummy to fall asleep. He always waits for his daddy to come home from work before he has his good night sleep
he holds his water bottle but not milk bottle

Good Morning

2007-11-15T09:14:00.000+08:00

Arthur:"I better play for a while before baba&mama get up"
Arthur:"What did I do that made Gloworm sings??"
Arthur:"Finally...Good Morning"

Little Arthur is really a morning baby, no matter what time he goes to bed at night(normally between 7pm-8pm), he always gets up around 6am somethin g in the next day. What he does every morning is to roll over on his tummy and turn to the other end of his cot and play with his toys. He'll let us know when it's about time for us to greet him morning by making lots of noises :)

Hmmm....how to reset his internal clock so we can buy more sleep in the morning??

One Step Closer to "Independence"...

2007-11-05T13:25:00.000+08:00

Arthur:"I can sit without baba & mama's help"
Arthur:"I was wrong, help me"

By end of 5th month, Arthur is able to manage unassisted sitting when propped up his hands, but most of the time he ends up tumble forward from this position and needs our help, or else he will fuss and cry very loud..

Trick or Treats

2007-11-01T18:08:00.000+08:00

To us, Halloween is just another day, but with Arthur's presence, we think we should give him something to remember since it is his first Halloween.
This tiger costume is a gift from Ronald's relatives who visited us in Beijing from Perth and we think it's the perfect Halloween costume for Arthur. Look at how happy Arthur was in the costume!!

First Taste of Solid Food

2007-10-20T18:29:00.000+08:00

Together let us witness how Arthur experienced his first taste of rice cereal.

First Try

2007-10-20T10:10:00.000+08:00

Arthur:"I'm ready for my rice cereal"

Arthur:"Give Daddy some expressions"

Today is finally the day that we came to a consensus on starting Arthur on solid food.
He doesn't seem to reject his 1st taste of rice cereal, though we ended up throwing most of the cereal coz after few bites he fussed and refused to eat more.

Video coming soon...

Dinner at "Cheap" Restaurant

2007-10-18T22:28:00.000+08:00

Dinner with Ron's aunt and family from Perth

Don't get us wrong, the restaurant is not cheap. It is a direct translation from the Chinese word of the restaurant, 便宜坊, which is famous for its Beijing duck.

Mood:Happy

2007-10-18T22:07:00.000+08:00

Just want to share this picture with everyone. Arthur looks very happy in it.

Just in Time

2007-10-18T12:25:00.000+08:00

I'm really glad that Arthur managed to meet his mum's best friend before we leave KK. Elaine is working in UK and went home for a short break early Oct. Luckily the timing is right, Elaine get to see Arthur in person for the first time, if not I wander when and where is the next time we see each other again??

First Week in Beijing

2007-10-18T10:38:00.000+08:00

"Playing on his playmat "
"Wrapped in his baby blanket"
"Just finished his hot bath"

We finally arrived in Beijing on 8 Oct 2007 after 3 months separation from Ronald. The flight was long and tiring , but we are really glad because Arhur was a sweet darling during the whole journey. We saw lots of parents cuddling their babies walking around, luckily we didn't have to do that as Arthur was sleeping once we were on board.

Hope Arthur can adapt to the new environment. I know it's going to take him a while to get used to the time without grandpa & grandma by his side, just like I do. We miss grandpa and grandma.

They're Engaged

2007-10-18T10:19:00.000+08:00

With the perfect ring and the right timing, Douglas proposed to Anita on her 25th birthday with a knee down in front of their friends, Anita "shyly" said yes.
Looking forward to your big day!!
Hee..Arthur and Ruby can be your flower boy and girl on your big day :)

Welcome Little Princess Ruby

2007-10-18T09:38:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to Albert and Hazel!! Ruby arrived on 7 October 2007 with the weight of 3.3kg and lots of hair :) She is a gorgeous little darling.