Hannah approaching 18 months

In about 3 days, Hannah will be 18 months old. A landmark. And in the absence of many recent photos of the young lady, we think it is high time we let you see her again. These shots include various poses from the last couple of months, culminating in a surprisingly nice family photo taken at Rajes and Shan's wedding in Seremban today.

Well, pictures speak louder than words, so don't let me delay you:

Come and See

In case you haven't seen this addition to the list of sermons on the right, this was preached by Chris on 20th January. It is part 3 in a 6-part sermon series that our church is conducting on the topic of discipleship. This message is about the first phase of discipleship, as modelled by Jesus, entitled "Come and See".

Click the 'play' button to listen now, or right-click the title in the playlist and chose the 'download' option.





Chris will be preaching again on 3rd February.

More memories

My Dad has just uploaded some video clips, mostly of Hannah, from our Christmas holiday in Ashtead. These are on his own website, along with a few older video clips. Click the link below, or follow the additonal "Videos" link on the right-hand panel.

Click here

Oh, and happy 30th birthday Cindy. Welcome to the club dear ;-)

Memories of Christmas

Spending Christmas in England was great, and we have lots of pictures to remember the holiday by. For Hannah, it was her first time on a plane, her first time in England and her first experience of * * WINTER * *

Check out the pictures, and read the captions, by clicking on the web album link below or on the right-hand panel:

Christmas in England 2007

By the way, do any seasoned family travellers out there have advice for parents of jet-lagged babies? Hannah waking up just as Mummy and Daddy are going to bed has been a painful experience for us!

Merry Christmas 2007!

Click here for some festive fun from the Wylie family ;-)

Hide and Seek

Behind the trolley, eh?


Let's take a closer look

Poor photo quality aside, I do believe you can make out the side of Hannah's face, and her hair, as she skulks behind the changing trolley. Close your eyes for 2 seconds, and you won't know where this little girl has gone...

Getting ready

Ok, here are signs of packing in earnest. We actually packed these bags at the weekend, and have been adding things during the week. One case is full of Hannah's winter clothes (and nappies and milk), while her parents will either brave the elements with their limited winter wardrobe, or shamelessly borrow clothes from family members once we get to the UK.

Hannah has decided this pile of luggage forms a handy chair for her to perch on every once in a while. She is even learning to declare aloud "Chair!" when she sits / leans on it. Cute.

And how about an up-to-date picture of Hannah? Well, here is a mystery shot taken today. Who can spot the girl? Answers via the comments button below:

Generations

I suppose we should be blogging about our upcoming trip to England, but after snapping this shot today I feel I have to share it, for fun if nothing else.

My car (Proton Saga, on the left) is parked next to a new Mitsubishi Lancer in our apartment's carpark. Funny thing is, they are essentially the same car. Well, a few generations apart, and lots of Malaysian plastic inside mine, but otherwise for all intents and purposes they are both Mitsubishi Lancers!

I thought they looked quite nice together. And mine doesn't even look that bad despite the 23-year age gap.

And of course I could talk about how many multiples of my car I could buy for the price of that ONE new Mitsubishi Lancer.

Hurrah for the Proton Saga.

That's all I wanted to say, really.

Games that make a difference?

The internet is great for many things, including free games. I remember days long gone of saving up pocket money for weeks just to buy a £9.99 cassette game for my Commodore 64 (Rainbow Islands, Batman the Movie, etc.). Nowadays, of course, you can find all the classics as well as plenty of new game online for free.

Well, I could give you a host of links to some of my favourite "safe" games sites... but today I came across a couple of other sites that really ARE worth sharing. They both entertain and educate, and one even contributes to needy people in the world.

The first game [click here] was created by the UNHCR to help people empathise with refugees. Well produced, a little scary and definitely eye-opening.

The second game [click here] was created in tandem with advertisers to fund contributions that provide rice to hungry people in the world. You improve your vocabulary, and actually feed someone at the same time.

Hannah's Web Album Update

Admittedly we haven't taken many photos recently. Maybe we're too busy, maybe we can hardly catch Hannah standing still long enough... but here are a few shots for your viewing pleasure.

Hannah at 12-15 months

Some are of Hannah smearing her face with rice (her favourite food right now - yes, plain boiled white rice), most are of Hannah roaming around the Bukit Jalil Park.

Malaysia to England in 2 minutes

No, not some Richard Branson Hyper-galactic low-cost flight from Malaysia to England. Rather, a stroll in the park...



...starting in the 'Malaysia' corner of the park, and after a 2-minute stroll...

...ending up in the 'England' corner. Oh and we passed the Netherlands on the way:

This is how we like to spend time with Hannah. Either early in the morning, or in the late afternoon. This park is about 10 minutes drive from our apartment, and offers lots of space for Hannah to run around, look at birds and pick up leaves. Surely better than rattling around our apartment for hours on end!

Here are some more shots of Hannah having a good time.

A powerful sermon

No, not a new sermon by me. This one is by Professor D. A. Carson who was in Kuala Lumpur this week, speaking at the annual Klang Valley Bible Conference (http://www.kvbc.info/).

Don Carson is always good. Good to read, good to listen to. I recommend anything by him that you can get your hands on.

And at the KVBC, his talks were as good as anything he has preached. But I was especially touched by his second talk - an exposition of Matthew 27:27-50 entitled "The Ironies of the Cross."

He brought out in my a fresh appreciation of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. I thank God for his ministry, and the fact that he has come to Malaysia (it is actually his 3rd time here as the speaker at KVBC). I am so glad I recorded his sermon, and I encourage you to take time to listen to this message. It is long - over an hour - so if you have an MP3 player, I suggest you download the file (about 16 MB) and take your time listening to it. Sorry if the recording quality is not fantastic - the official CD will only come out in about a month's time, but I really wanted to share this now!

Click here to listen to / download the sermon. I have also put a link in the right-hand panel.

Sweet Dreams?

As I write this, Hannah has just fallen asleep.

That might not sound like blog-worthy news. But right now it feels like it to me! Let me explain...

In Hannah's first few weeks, I think we would have classified Hannah as a baby with a 'sleeping problem.' Not able to sleep without considerable carrying, waking up frequently, etc. Then after a couple of months (and up to a few days ago) we considered Hannah to be a 'good sleeper' - especially compared to some nightmare stories we heard of some people's babies. She could actually sleep a solid 10 hours every so often. And then things changed.

Hannah has always enjoyed being carried when she wants to sleep. But three days ago she insisted on being carried UNTIL she fell asleep, and that meant about half an hour of carrying/rocking 10kg's worth of baby. Two days ago she insisted on the SAME treatment. Thus, a new habit began to develop. Yesterday she insisted on the same treatment AGAIN. At the same time, her daytime naps had also got more difficult. But this time Daddy was getting tired, and getting worried about the new sleeping trend. And so ensued a "battle of wills" as Hannah did her best (screaming, throwing things, crying, choking) to win sympathy while Daddy did his best to ignore her. The result was, after a LONG time Daddy managed to pacify Hannah while sitting next to her cot and without laying a finger on her. After a few more minutes, an exhausted little girl fell sleep. Ah-ha. Hope for a better way.

So, tonight, Hannah tried to be carried again - but without as much conviction as the night before. And Daddy stuck to his new plan. It took more than 45 minutes sat next to her cot, but she did fall asleep - and with less fuss than the night before.

Given our concern about her sudden change in sleeping habits, I decided to do a bit of internet research, and found this rather neat Johnson's Baby-sponsored site that produces a "Customized sleeping profile" for your baby, complete with practical tailor-made recommendations for improving your baby's sleep.

You can try it out here:

Some tips I picked up

• Her sleep patterns are not entirely unusual for babies of her age - an encouragement!
• We should move Hannah from 2 naps per day to just 1, and plan it in the early afternoon.
• We shouldn't put Hannah's pacifier in her mouth for her (she always sleeps with a pacifier!) - rather, put it in the cot and let her pick it up so she doesn't depend on someone to do it for her (e.g. in the middle of the night when it falls out and she wakes up)

I hope you find something useful on the website, too.

Good night, and sleep well.

Solving the Unsolved Mystery

Thanks to everyone that took part in our poll.

Now before I reveal and analyze the stats, I want to clarify one of the comments made in the poll.

After THIS comment...:

":-)If based on baby photos, Hannah looks a lot like Chris when he was a baby but...sad as it may seem, Chris is no longer a "round" but more of an "oval" now and I will have to say that Hannah looks very much like her mummy...thumbs up for you Cindy ;-)"

...Cindy added THIS comment...:

"That's one vote for option 3!!"

...which I think is a misreading of the first comment. It should actually be a vote for option 2 BASED ON THE BABY PHOTOS. (P.S., as you might have guessed, Cindy is not the one typing this particular blog!)

So let's have a look at a visual representation of the voting:

Just to clarify, there were 3 voters in total, one of whom split their vote between options 2 and 3. And who are options 1, 2 and 3?


Option 1 = Samantha Wylie (Chris's big sis)

Option 2 = Chris



















Option 3 = Cindy

Memories

What are your earliest memories?

The brain is a curious and complex organ, with much left for scientists to unravel and comprehend. Experts say that human beings unconsciously store memories of their experiences as early as the first few months of life in the womb, triggering off a mini-explosion of commercial ventures aimed at producing future little Einsteins.

We won't argue about that for now.

Among some of my earliest memories are that of my older brothers having a fight and breaking my first hairband; crawling into that very same brother's bed in the middle of the night during a particularly bad thunderstorm; having a 'black and green' apple computer; witnessing the death and funeral of our first family dog etc.

For some strange reason, I remember watching a monkey eating a banana. We were in a park and I was absolutely terrified of those vicious monkeys who were known to snatch cameras and scratch over-friendly visitors. Despite several notices advising visitors not to feed the monkeys, many still did. One monkey ventured near us and boldly grabbed the banana offered to it.

It was fascinating to observe the process: the monkey flipped the banana the wrong side up, bit off the black end, swiftly peeled the banana and gulped it down in a couple of mouthfuls.

I remember thinking, was that the right way to peel a banana? Could it be that we humans have been peeling bananas the wrong way for centuries?

Not the most profound question in the world, but nonetheless that image stayed with me all these years.

So, it was a sort of deja vu when Hannah got her hands on a whole banana for the first time (we normally peel and cut it up in manageable chunks). Being the stubborn toddler that she is now, Hannah refused to surrender and proceeded to figure out the best way to eat it.

Since she hasn't had too much conditioning, could it be that Hannah would show us the right way to eat a banana and solve my inner turmoil once and for all?







Oh mommy, do you really have to follow me around all the time with that camera? Enough already.

















Right, let's see. This doesn't look too tasty. How do I get to the goo-ey stuff inside?










There we go. Easy-peasy.
Yummy.








Oh, this is taking too long. I reckon this is the best way to do it. Watch and learn, mommy!

Ten minutes later, our young warrior tosses aside the carcass of her prey and walks away triumphant - with banana mush down the front of her dress and all over her face and hands.

Looks like I'll be sticking to my way for a while.

Unsolved Mysteries Part II

The red-haired woman remains a mystery.

Although you folks could not help us arrive at a confident conclusion previously, we trust you may be able to help us do so this time.

Once and for all, we would like to know, who does Hannah look like?

Cast your votes, NOW!

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

And just to make sure you get to make a side-by-side comparison, here's the young lady:

Official voting closes in a week's time. So please say your money's worth now, OR, forever hold your peace.

Perhaps then, at last I will have hard statistics to quote when people ask about who Hannah resembles most...

"Oh, a recent internet poll reveals a 66% lean towards Mommy. Yes, definitely a 'Mommy' look."

How nice.

Malachi: Sins of the Priesthood Part 1

That rather long title comes from my latest sermon, preached on Sunday 23rd September. It is part 2 in a 7-part series.

You can access it HERE, or click on the link in the right-hand panel -->

I am preaching part 3 this coming Sunday.

Who is she???

There is obviously a limited to kind of spiritual input parents can provide for their 13 month old baby. But we do make it a habit to read Hannah a story from her 'Children's Bible' and then read a couple of prayers together each night before she sleeps.

We have been using "A Little Child's First Prayers" given by a friend, Mag, for quite a few months now.




On the last page is the 'Doxology':

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, you heavenly host,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.






We quite often sing this to Hannah, who rewards us with a round of applause at the end.

But she has another habit. She likes to point to one person in the picture, and make a lot of noise. Every time we turn to this page, she will home in on the same lady.




















We are rather perplexed as to who Hannah thinks she is pointing at. Could it be Daddy, with his red (but very short) hair? Could it be Mummy, with her long (but very black) hair? Could it be someone else?

We welcome your verdict! You know where the comment button is...

Merdeka!

Call it writer's block, call it stress, call it whatever.

It's been a long time since I left an entry here, and our nation's 50th Independence (Merdeka) Day seem the best topic to talk about, since the nation's patriotic spirit is currently running at an all time high.

Well, not quite so in our household.

There seems to be too much our plates to chew. So much to handle and so little time. Despite having been in a new department for the last month, incidents still occur to remind me that I am still, the new kid on the block. More about that another time.

Yesterday was a historic day for our nation - we celebrated 50 years of independence from the British colonial rule. Events were organised throughout the country in commemoration of this special day. This weekend was to be a time of joyous celebration.

One little snag though.

Chris was back at work this morning, bright and early, post Merdeka celebrations (not that we did anything significant). Tomorrow, I will be labouring well over 24 hours in the beloved Aceh-like Male Medical wards. What was to have been a long bank-holiday weekend will instead be a dreadful, unsynchronised work week.

I reckon poor Hannah gets a little confused. She doesn't know when to expect Mummy or Daddy to be at home. No wonder she often says "bye-bye" to me out of the blue, as though expecting another disappearing act from me. How heart-wrenching.

Grouses aside, I must admit that the Merdeka celebrations always had a special place in my heart. I remember as a little child I would rush down early Merdeka morning to catch the annual parades live on television. Secretly I longed to be part of those colourful formations and be among those proud marching students.

So, what DID we do for Merdeka?

Well, we had a leisurely breakfast at our local dim sum shop, and proceeded to mingle with the MILLIONS at Mid-Valley Mega mall. Even after we had done all we had planned, we were forced to retreat back into the shopping mall when we discovered a horrendous standstill traffic jam in the parking lot at lunch hour.

Later in the evening, we met up with old university friends back from England and met their little cross-cultural darling for the first time. We would have posted some pictures, but ah, we seem to have stopped taking pictures since Hannah's triumph (been there, done that!), and discovered a little too late that our camera was out of battery power.

To cut a long story short, we found ourselves in front of the TV at the end of a long day, somewhat dreading the working weekend ahead of us. After immersing ourselves briefly in the dramatic life of Jack Bauer (24), we found ourselves surfing the channels and ending up with ... the Merdeka parade.

In spite of himself, Chris had to admit it was an impressive display that kept us watching till the end. In fact, here are some snapshots of the day.

Commentators have much to say about the progress of the country over the last 50 years, both positive and negative. Everything said and done, it is no doubt difficult to attain racial harmony and unity in a country as diverse as Malaysia. This young country has struggled to become what it is today, and rightly deserves to be proud of what has been acheived.

Happy 50th Birthday Malaysia.

When Children Ask Questions

This is Chris's latest sermon (preached this morning) on Deuteronomy 6. Find out what Moses instructed parents to say when their children ask questions similar to 'Why do we go to church?' 'Why do we study the Bible?' and 'Why do Christians have to follow all these rules?'

You can click HERE or on the link in the right-hand pane to listen to/download the sermon in MP3 format.