the Sony Experia Experience

I must admit that I use only a few features in a smartphone. I'm not really into tech gadgets per se but I do use them for convenience. So when the old Sony was struggling with memory issues (planned obsolescense - damn you, tech companies!  :-) ), it was time to change.

As usual, Dream handled the changeover with tech gadgets. As for me, my main criteria for buying a smartphone is the camera. And since the latest technology was not a priority, the Sony Experia Z1 was one I had my eye on. Lovely camera and ooohh ...... underwater photo capabilities. Limited underwater capabilities notwithstanding, I was keen to see what I could get out of it. Methinks the results have been worth it.

the kids' gear was bought with an eye to facilitate photographs 

 

I love the fact that even with all that colour, the photos can be pretty good in B&W

 this photo was the one I loved the most from our fumblings in the 1st pool photo session

inspired by snow angels 

Catriona in the float again; even though she can swim

And this last one is rather self indulgent. The only editing I do for my photographs is cropping, B&W and a rare straightening. I'm not too keen on the wonders of Photoshop; not that it's not a wonderful product but there's a thin line where a photograph is edited until it's more digital art than photograph. I choose to keep my photo editing basic for documentation purposes - but that's a personal choice.

Using a red filter effect. I thought that the original photo was okay .... but not good nor great. It looked a lot better through a red filter. Hence why I think that most anybody can make a great photo with enough PS editing. The only question is whether it's a photograph any more ? Think photoshop of stars in magazine shoots - is that what their face and body really looks like ? To each their own.

the Best way to get a Puppy is to Beg for a Baby Brother ....

Unfortunately, our apartment doesn't allow us to keep pets.

Years from now, decades even, maybe brother and sister will realize that the time they spent together was rather special. That all this playing together wasn't necessarily a given. That a five year age gap is pretty large when the younger one is not even three years of age yet.

And yet, play together they do. Getting along like a house on fire most of the time. Save for the occasional argument which doesn't last long.

The sister will bully the brother - taking advantage of the fact that she has five years more experience. While he will innocently drink more of the juice - mainly out of exuberance/greed. She's protective of him and he will imitate her words/actions. And they've learnt that collectively they have more leverage over the parents than if they were to act/ask alone.

I don't know how much longer this can go on. I'm just glad that they so obviously enjoy each other's company.

The Luckiest

Sometimes when I wake up in the morning on a weekend or a holiday, I spend the first few minutes looking around and wonder how I ever got here. With fluffy bears and toy cars on the bed - fluffy towels and milk bottles lying around - hands and feet everywhere, just waiting for the first stirrings of life, or the first wail to break the peace of the early morn ......

With toys strewn all over the floor - and paint brushes and paintings on a table - with dishes in the kitchen sink and piles of laundry waiting to be done - with garbage waiting to be disposed of and poo in plastic bags by the front door.

And all I see is this.

And I wonder how I lucked out. With all the missteps and blind alleys and travails of the dating world and relationships, I wonder how I ever ended up with the woman who gave me these three beautiful children.



Truth is, I do feel like the geeky, dorky red-haired guy who ended up with Rachel McAdams ...

NB. Ben Folds' 'The Luckiest' explained. And Richard Curtis is the one writer whose movies we look forward to.

Postscript : This post may perhaps be ever so slightly rose tinged, but then it's early morn and I've just woken up....
Reality is disruptions, distractions and sometimes just outright distress. But the song tells what I'm feeling and .... you get the idea, don't you ?

GE13 ... the Aftermath of Malaysia's 13th General Elections

I must confess.

When the results of GE13 came out, I shed a few tears. I cried not for me. I cried not for the death of democracy - it hardly came as a surprise. I did not cry because the BN government retained their hold on power - I had suspected that gerrymandering would tilt the balance in their favour. And so it proved. I did not cry for the hope of the rakyat that had been so mercilessly crushed - by fair means and foul.

I cried for my children. They deserved better.
I cried for the young Malaysian children who would have to suffer another 5 years of BN misrule and corruption and the crap education system that the BN has bequeathed to us. They deserve better.
I cried because, for just a fleeting moment, there was hope that we could move forward as a nation regardless of race and religion. That corruption, deliberate stupidity, racism, entitlement and arrogance were things that we could reduce for the betterment of Malaysia. That Hope proved fleeting..

I cried for Malaysia. We deserved a better Malaysia.

the little man wears Shoes ...

14 months in and he wore shoes for the first time in his life yesterday. We've been holding it off as there was no necessity for him to wear shoes seeing as he had only been crawling, but I guess yesterday was as good a day as any.

turning One...

Cedric turned One earlier this month and the little man got to celebrate his birthday twice. Once at Cameron Highlands with his grandparents and uncle/aunty/cousin and once at home on the actual day itself. Nothing fancy - just a birthday cake. But it meant that he got his favourite thing i.e. Food.

I thought that it's a good time to mark where he is at this point of his life :

* He's got eight teeth.
* He can stand for maybe five seconds but that's about it. He's still crawling but we're in no rush to get him to walk.
* Despite the eclectic music played at home, his first favourite song is "Old McDonald had a farm". Sing the song and he'll do a head shake and a bum shake and since he's not very coordinated yet, it's quite a funny sight to see.
* He likes pulling things out - pretty much like any other baby.
* He's pretty much ready to eat any time. It means that he's constantly asking for food when we're having our meals. It's not particularly convenient when the food is not baby-friendly. I've fed him food with chilli a few times. He hasn't blinked.
* He's a pretty solemn baby. Getting him to smile and laugh isn't particularly easy.

He's pretty different from the girl in many respects, that much we know.As he grows up and reveals his interests, we'll get a better idea of how to channel them in the appropriate direction. At the moment, the only thing that he's shown any prolonged interest in is Food.

the Little Man

Originally, the intention was to call Cedric by the nickname Sun Ray, which was an approximation of his chinese name. It would have jived nicely with his sister's nickname, Sunshine. That was the plan.

The plan got hijacked.

It got hijacked the first time I saw him in this suit.

Now, he's simply known as 'Little Man'. It's a pretty cool nick name, no ?

The other name we sometimes call him is 'Gold Fish' -  because he'll take whatever food we give him and still be on the lookout for more.

There's a dearth of Left Footed Players in Football ....

Back when Cedric was still in the womb, I used to exhort him to practice his left leg - reason being most football players were not very skilled with their left legs. Now, I had no way of knowing whether he actually ever did kick more often with his left leg, but .......

I do know that since he was born, when he sees something he likes and he's lying on his tummy, the left leg would go thump, thump, thump. He would raise his left leg from knee down and thump the floor, or bed, or wherever it was he was lying on. Kinda amusing actually, sort of like a dog wagging it's tail.

It's one of the things I'll miss as this little man grows up. I figure that it won't be long before he starts to walk and the chances of hearing a thump, thump, thump from him will eventually disappear.

her First Trip ...

Catriona went on her first long distance trip without her parents yesterday. Coincidentally, it was also her first bus trip as she followed her Grandma back to Penang. Postmark event.

We thought that she might pine for her parents somewhat but we don't know how much that'll happen. What we didn't anticipate was her brother missing, and asking for his sister. The best laid plans of mice and men ...

the little man Speaks ....

For the past month or so, the gurgles and screams have gotten a tad more specific. The little man's first words were "mama" and "mem mem" (for some reason, many Malaysian Chinese use this phrase for food - but only for babies). I couldn't figure out which came first but the nanny tells me that it was "mama". Smart boy - he knows which side his bread is buttered on.

Cedric's morning hair - invariably the mohawk

His third word ? "chie chie", sister in mandarin. He hasn't used "papa" with any sort of regularity yet but it sounds like it may be on the way. That's okay, I can afford to wait.

All I Want for Christmas ...

For posterity's sake, I thought that I'd better post a photo of the little man's first teeth. Looks like he got his Christmas wish.

on the Hair ...

It's taken 6 months, but we couldn't hold it off any longer. Cedric had to get his 1st hair cut. I'd been delaying the hair cut because I liked taking photos of him with his hair sticking up and moving like grains of wheat being caressed by the wind. Still, it had grown so long that the hair could no longer stand.

So, on 18th March the scissors went snip, snip. When the scissors stopped snipping, not only was his hair shorter, it was sticking up again. So I'll enjoy it while I can because surely that hair can't keep on sticking up by itself, can it ?

Cedric, after his weight reduction exercise

Flipping the Cedric

Yesterday was a landmark day for the boy. He managed to flip himself upright for the first time.

Here, his sister is celebrating with him but what's notable is the fact that she is wearing his shirt. He's six months old and she's 5 years older so even though the shirt is a little short, she is still slim enough for the shirt to fit.

the CNY break

Just got back from a week in Bintulu, Sarawak where the boy experienced his first plane flight. Slept through it like a baby, he did.

And even though the routine doesn't change, I'm still not tired of watching the view outside change from tarmac to ground to clouds and sky. I'm not sure if I'll ever get tired of that.

While in Bintulu, Cedric got to make his official debut to the rest of the family and was reintroduced to his maternal grandmother, pictured here below.


He had a ball, being the only baby around, getting entertained and being carried from pillar to post. Feel the Love, boy.

4 months now ....

Things are different with this second child.

Where it use to be one kiss, now it has to be two because #1 asks "where's my kiss?"

We can take different styles of portrait shots that we just never thought of for #1. And all the good ones for #1 can be recreated for #2.

And all the time that used to be showered on #1 is now split between two children. You may be able to multiply love, but you can't multiply time.

I took this photo because it reminded me

of two mice peeking out from their hole

Cedric's now trying to turn but he hasn't figured out how to do it yet

I didn't have to use vivid settings for this photo

but it was already so colourful that everything just popped

the Inherent Huggability of Baby

It's amazing how much this soft toy has been a part of our lives.

Having been a constant companion of Catriona for the 5 years, he's always in her hands come bedtime at night (even if Catriona refers to Baby as a She). So when Cedric was fretful and was having trouble falling asleep, I plonked Baby in his arms. He fell asleep within one minute.

Magic !

The sister's promised to hand over Baby to Cedric when he's 3 years old (we were teasing her ...). Somehow, I very much doubt that it will happen.

Catriona & Cedric - a Comparison

A comparison of how the brother looks compared to the sister when she was young.

the Stork Delivers !

Finally, the Little Prince made his debut on 5th September. Bang on schedule for his ETA. And in keeping with his habit of being awake during afternoons, he arrived at 1428 hours.

I hope he's been practising his left leg like I've asked him to.

As for his sister, we asked her on Sunday night to speak to him. Her first words?

"Cedric, when you grow up ......... can you do the housework ?"

Sneak Peek

Cedric decided to give us a sneak peek yesterday. First sight we've had of the little fella.

T minus 37 to another seismic shift in our lives.

the Naming

"So what would you like your brother's name to be ?" we asked, "Cedric or Ryan ?"

"Cedric" she said without hesitation.

"Why Cedric ?"

"Because it's ... perfect."

We didn't have anything to reply to that.

Cedric it is.