Happy 6th Birthday Nigel

We're still in Malacca and will be here until the end of the week.

Today is Nigel's 6th birthday and we had a jelly cake (pictures in the other camera) for him - given he doesn't really like actual cake cake for him - he didn't eat much of the other 2 he had last week (in school and ExplorerKid). So Celest thought we'd do him a flavour favour of sorts and get him something he would actually eat - thank you Auntie Waishin for walking 2 miles in the hot sun to get this :)

Six years old - wow, he's come a long way from the baby that he was just under six years ago. Where has the time gone, where has the baby fat gone, now he's becoming a lanky boy of bones, skin and some muscle. This also means that today, Celest and I turn six as parents - six full years of parenthood and we're not that much smarter actually - although we'd like to think that we have learnt a thing or two about rearing children - and I make it seem like we're herding cattle and milking cows :)

Happy Birthday Nigel, whenever you get to read this. The years just keep flying by. Primary School next year, homework and stuff. What next!!



We spent almost 3 hours in the pool today. Given it wasn't crowded, the sun was nice and warm and it was Nigel's birthday. By the time we came up, we looked like prunes and my whole back looked like BBQ. Nevertheless, it was real fun for the children to just play water and splash each other to bits (or should it be drips). Amber's starting to really enjoy being dumped in the water too - and Nigel's getting pretty good and doing the underwater thing - I think he would be swimming in no time given his confidence and ability to hold his breadth. Shannon's coming along quite nicely too with her floaties and board skills. Gabirel needs a little more coaxing and I'm sure eventually he will get used to the water - but for now he was quite happy running around the shallow pool and having the kids run over to play with him.

Note: this hotel lobby I'm typing in, even though it is fully airconditioned and stuff, has got mosquitoes by the dozens!! I have to stop typing after every fullstop to "clap my hands", which causes the receptionist to think I'm not the stable sort, which is probably why nobody has asked me to order a drink. I wonder why the mosquitoes don't bother them though - probably it's a local vs tourist blood thing.