A father's chronicle (shrinking the world)

I am on travelling now and without my family around.... actually, I prefer my family to be around for long hauls... it helps to keep my sanity in balance.

To prepare for this long trip, I have setup my web cam both at home and on my laptop here. So, I get to "see" my family everyday which is always a good thing. In fact, technology have really shrink the world. Back in those days, video conference was an expensive thing and used only in office. Now? Well, I am on Skype and I talk to my family everyday. It is not the best thing, though, I still wish I am with them physically. It is still... different.

The difference can be quite sharp to me... as I have commented to one of my team mates with me now. I was mentioning writing a "snail" mail to Theophilus and post it to him, and he asked why not write him an email. Hmmmm... because "snail" mail have a personal touch? It is handwritten. I like handwritten mails. It is different. It has a different touch to it... even though I tecki guy... I still like "snail" mails.

A father's chronicle (First kilometer)

I have always wanted to run with Theophilus. Not the 100m dash, but to go a run within the reserves, on an off-track trail. When he was still less than 1 year old, I used to carry him behind me and go for my 6 km runs... now, he is over 20 kg, and proved to be quite heavy for such an undulating terrain.

When he requested to run together with me 2 weeks back, I thought he was merely joking about it. Little did I realised that he was quite serious about this suggestion. So, yestarday, he brought up the suggestion again. To run with Dad....

I felt that training him is part of my responsibility. He is young, and training him young will be good... but 5 years old? Hmmm... a bit too young.... even to my standard. Nevertheless, I decided to go ahead. To "train" him in cross-country running - for a mere starting distance of 1 km.

He suprised me.

He did not stop for more than 3 seconds during the 1 km of undulating terrain. It was quite an enjoyable run, though at the end of the run he was quite exhausted (just enough energy left to do his usual climbing of obstacles in the McRitchie playground).

It is great to run with my boy. I did not really start to train in cross-country running until I was about 10 years old... so, he is doing it half of my age. I did not want to discourage him by running way ahead, but to do it beside him... cheering him on.... knowing that once he "conquer" his first kilometer... there will be more to come.

I hope he will continue in less injury-prone sports (e.g. swimming). Running tend to wear off your joins easily especially for undulating terrain. I don't want him to suffer all the injuries before he reach his prime...

I am looking forward to another run with him. As for Yan and Gracia... they were waiting for us at the finishing point... he was so glad to see them!

A father's chronicle (Learning to ride a bicycle)

I am having a break, so I got myself into action - removed the two hind wheels of my son's bicycle. He was on a four-wheeler for some time already and now it is about time to get going in life.

Actually, I could not recall how I really got the idea of cycling. I mean... I could recall my brother helping me to get onto one, and holding onto the bicycle and riding downslope (downslope training is easier, but more dangerous?) And then... somewhere along the way, I could balance and ride on my own. It was not just as if I aquired the skill all in one day. I believe it was more like a week of practising.

So, today's is the first day I expose him to a really bicycle. Not that he was not on a real thing, but it was with two additional supporting back wheels. I removed those back wheels and brought him down to the park....

As usual, I go through the theory. Being an engineer here does help, I think?

First, it is how to get onto the bicycle. Ya, if you know how to ride on one, this is almost like second nature. But to one who is entirely new to this experience... ghosh, we really got to get to the basic and never ignore the steep learning curve.

As I said, it is how to get onto the bicycle. Part 1 was short. Holding onto the handles, climbing over, adjusting the peddles. Being familiar with which leg might be a "stronger" one which can help you to peddle off at the first push... due to job hazard, I even mentioned the angle of the foot peddle at starting point that will give the best push forward! It is as if I am going to calculate the force of the foot press... anyway, he did it quite naturely. At times, it was tough for him. He need to make sure that he has one foot on the ground. Balance himself and holding onto the handles, and ... once done... look up! He can get engrossed in the whole process of preparation that he fail to look up and move off.

I held onto his handles as I let him taste the fun of riding without the back two wheels. It was fun for him... well... not entirely enjoyable for my back after 20 minutes . The bending over and holding onto the handles was breaking my back. Good thing, I brought along his water bottle. We took breaks in between and look at the clouds and bring back the world of dinosaurs.

He is still not capable to ride on his own without support. But since it is just the first 40 minutes of training (module 1?) well... I think he is doing fine . I don't expect things to be magical. It is not like the movie E.T - with the touch of a finger, we take off into the air!

Overall, I did enjoy the company and the learning together. Yan did appear at the second half of the training. She got her hands dirtied. It is always good to have another method of teaching. Who knows? In this area, perhaps, her method might be more suitable? But her expectations were higher - she expects him to ride without support today (well, with a bit of falling off, of course).

It has been a great day.

A father's chronicle (Book 1)

And so I did what I really believed in - I bought him a (sub-)set of Chronicles of Narnia.



One thing that attracted me to this set is that it is broken up to nice set of 2 volumes each. Futhermore, it is a full-color gift edition box set. However, there is a miss on the order of those volumes. My current box contains "The Magician's Nephew" together with "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". Ahhh!!! I thought it should have been in this order:

1. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
2. Prince Caspian
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Silver Chair
5. The Horse and His Boy
6. The Magician's Nephew
7. The Last Battle

To be honest, I did not know that it was more suitable for ages 8 and beyond. I bought it with the intention to read it together with Theophilus. And as an introductory material for him to go beyond into the more advance stages of reading.

He went beyond my expectations....

He read more than 2 chapters on his own and came asking for more. In fact, he stopped just to let me continue on the reading tonight that we might enjoy it together. (So nice of him to do just that). It was a delight to know that he is capable to move on to more advance materials (and even sometimes ... "dry" materials).

I notice from the publisher's website that I might be stuck with just this set... I could not find the rest of the volumes.... I hope this is just a temporary situation and that they will print all the rest quickly. I wrote in to enquire about it... let's hope it will turn out positive.

A father's chronicle (A delightful time together)

One of my most enjoyable moments with my children is - reading time together!

On our latest favourite reading list this week:

The ArrowHawk. Read my review here.




Actually, I have in mind to buy this beautiful book. Theophilus seems to like it very much and have read it numerous time over and over again.

The second one on the list is this which is in his own personal library:




It is slightly more wordy and is quite a suitable book for him to get onto being a great reader. I am still planning on the series of books to really expose him to. I don't think I will go for Harry Potter series or things like that. Perhaps, I will choose the route of C.S. Lewis - The Chronicles of Narnia. I will go for the complete set, and I believe he will certain enjoy it (with us or by himself). Someone did highlight the order of those books... I will keep that in mind...

A father's chronicle (Crossed the line)

I must brag (so which parent is not doing that?)

After 10 days of working on his maths (with 2 sets of 250 sums to complete each day).... He made it! (He should get past Level C by the end of this year... without much pain) One of his senior teacher was filled with praise for him (for his tender age, speed and concentration level). In fact, I've to concentrate hard to mark his assessments lately. He is given 28 mins to complete his present set of worksheets. He is meeting the timing... and I think it is tough. 28 mins of full concentration. It is a lot of mastery for his age.



A closer shot now....



Now that the holidays are over.... he is slowing things down.

I am so proud of him. It is an achievement. And guess what we gotten as a "reward" for him?

Yes, it is Lego Knights' Kingdom. The last set... it is 8877! The cashiers raised their eye-brows when I paid for it (I could almost hear ... "You mean, this guy is buying this big set of expensive toy? He must be crazy").




He does not desire to have anymore sets. He said he has enough.

Yan spent the night building it for him... while he slept.... poor girl.

A father's chronicle (Happy Fathers' Day)

It is just like any other day to me, but to my family... it is MY day. Theophilus wanted it to last for 2 days.

Here is a picture which he drew for me.

A father's chronicle (A visit to the clinic)

Well, wel, well.... it has been so long since I've last blogged isn't it?

Many things have happened in between. Kids gotten ill, I fell ill ... the bug circulates and passed around like a parcel. In fact, Gracia was one of the worst hit in the episode. She was down with bronchitis. Poor girl. Got to get her to the clinic, (btw, all these are aftermath now).... and as you can envision it - the clinic is FULL.

I mean, what a better season to fall ill? The school holidays, I am busy with project work... AND to top it? The clinic is filled with kids who are down with some flu bug or something. OK, the first victim in our family was Theophilus. I believe he might have caught the virus from his school (in fact, we were dead worried after we found out that there were cases of HFM in his school). To his delight, he was relieved from his last 2 weeks of school just before the holiday begins. Or rather the OFFICIAL holiday.

What blessings in disguised for him? What a nightmare to us!

Anyway, back to the girl - she was quite a poor thing. Quite restless and couldn't rest well at all. We even have to bring home the nabulizer. Well, it was only after the nabulizer treatment that things gotten better.

When we were back to the clinic for a review, it was ANOTHER long waiting session (3 hours I believe or ... to put it another way - my Saturday was maytred at the doors of the clinic). Yet, there were moments I could not help but play with some tune and words in my head. For example:

Doctor, doctor, quick quick quick,

My daughter, my daugther, she is sick

Nurses, nurses bill me quick

My daughter is restless and became a wiggly twig

Ah, a great amount of my life is spent waiting, queueing, .... such is the true of life. What do people do when they wait? It is a period of great agony to me. Well, I guess that is also part of my job description for being a daddy - Must be capable to transcient across the (waiting) time.

A father's chronicle (After over 2 years of hard work)

He has been working on it for over two years. I cannot say it was easy for him (there were times of disappointment, frustration and tears). The fact is that he is working on his weakest topic, so I must admit that this is quite an achievement for him - yes! he is on the Advance Student Club now. He is still struglling to keep up with it. Working hard to improve... it can be very tough when he moves on to a new higher level every time and it takes alot of time before he could master the topic.

Here is his picture on the notice board (since last week):

A closer shot:

He is the youngest in his grade to have achieved this far. Still a long way to go, but for now....

It is good enough, my boy. Good enough. Just continue to work on it...

The good part is that the discipline which he has harness during this learning experience, he is putting it into his piano lessons now. To him, practising his pieces is plain simple and fun.... what could be worst than doing his maths (under timing)? He is asking for more music lessons... it is so fun for him.

A father's chronicle (A good 5 year)

We have celebrated his birthday last week. He is five. Five good years. If what studies say concerning the importance of the first five years of a child's life is important, then I think these five years is really well invested. There are signs of what we have trained him showing fruits - he is self-motivated to practise his piano everyday (without us pushing him at all. Amazing... but then piano is so much much much much more easier compared to his maths lessons... - from the horse's mouth)

It was a good time of celebration and was a simple one. The arrangement is requested by him. He did not want any fanfare. He just wanted to have all of us together. Goto the beach, eat sandwiches, enjoy some moments together... go home, and eat a cake. So simple. Previously, it was more elaborate. The celebration in school is as usual - cut a big cake, give out goodie bags... he was so happy on the day of celebration in school.

I've enjoyed him for five years. Every part of it. From diapers changing, to running at the playground, to reading, to drawing, to swimming, playing Lego together... catching fish, running after birds, pretending to be pirates or dinosaurs. Life have been enriched with his coming.

I am looking forward to the next five years. The toys that we play will be different. They topics that we dicuss will be different.... he will be fast approaching adolescence and will have different struggles. But I hope to be the person he can talk to and confide in even as he have more friends around him.... even as I grow older and perhaps... can't run as fast as I could a few years back.

Oh, guess what was the best gift (from his perspective, of course) for this year? Yes, he received more than 1 birthday gift from Daddy and Mommy every year...

The best birthday gift for this year is: A book! Here is the book.

He has been reading it and enjoying every story....

A father's chronicle (A bagful of love notes)

This is not my first trip out of town for a project. In fact, being in Sun for coming to 6 years... I've lost count on the flights... but only a handful were memorable. Today, my flight out is memorable. It has been quite a while that I've flown out without my family coming along. I am used to them around. I am "addicted" to their company. In fact, I find it hard to concentrate without them around me. So, when it is made known to them that I will be away for a couple of days.... there were alot of mental preparation.... Daddy is not going to be at home....

Theophilus wrote me notes. Love notes. He drew drawings for me. He comforted me:

Son: Daddy, if your customer makes you sad.... just open this drawing and remember me... and cheer up, OK?

Yes, being in the service arm of Sun does have it's "job-hazardous" days, and Theophilus is aware that I am trying to keep up my spirit.

At the airport, I could notice that he was not looking into my eyes when we parted. I believe he could not understand his emotions. He missed me so much.... and when asked by Yan at the escalator... the dam broke. He broke into tears. Big drops of it. He missed Daddy.

I have just touched down and washed up. Yan told me that he cried to sleep (what a lousy way to fall asleep)... He wrote on his diary today. It is a sad note.

He wrote 'i cried' on one whole page n it really looked like the words cried

It is never easy leaving my family behind and getting my job done. Sometimes, even customers don't appreciate that too (and take that for granted).

Don't cry, my boy. Before you know it, I will be beside you again. Sleep well, tomorrow you will be stronger to face another day. Sleep tight.

A father's chronicle (Revisting Newton's Law)

It is a good thing to be a father. And even better to be a father of two kids! I could recall how interesting some of the growing milestones of Theophilus... and how they are unfolded once again in Gracia's life. I get the chance of savouring such moments again (well, with a little twist sometimes).

It was only like yestarday that Theophilus was the one who picked up his toy infront of him and throw it to the floor and watch how it rolls with the curious face of 'Ghee... what's happening here?'. Now, it is Gracia's turn. She is picking her toys and throwing them on the floor. She is curious. I am patient. She probably dropped it more than thirty times (look, I am not counting... but the stretching and bending... is not too good for me these days... getting old... or in engineering term - My back is suffering from fatigue stress, and if I don't take good care of it... it will go beyond the factual point.)

But I like to watch the whole episode. I put the toy infront of her. She picks it up. Look at me. Look at the toy. Place it over the edge of her walker, and drop it off. She bends over and look at the toy. What is in her little mind? Is she wondering why it is not breaking to pieces? Or is she trying to figure out the whole thing about gravity - why is the object moving down and not up like the balloon she saw the other day?

It is a mini-experiment. She is discovering the truth of our world. Data is consolidated. Hypothesis made and re-evaluated. They are turned to axioms. Re-challenged. Re-confirmed. The whole lesson went on again and again till she is satisfied with the conclusion.

I enjoyed the whole learning episode. I never mind the lesson of rediscovery of simple truths. I am attracted by her curiousity and her hunger to learn about this world - it is so different from the time she was 'in mommy's tummy'.

"Strangely", Theophilus could not recall this stage of his development. He could only take it as the truth when I told him that he did the same thing too - dropping toys onto the flow.... only thing he had one more act - he bit his toy after dropping them (what was he trying to check? that they don't change in form when they drop onto the floor?.... ) He is very patient with the little sister's learning. He is not fussed with the dropping of toys. He accepts it readily as part of learning. Just pick it up again. Just drop another one.

Soon, I will get to enjoy the other phases too. Like fussing over which hair-pin to get for her when she goes to school.... Ah.... I like parenting.

A father's chronicle (Art and play)

I can see many a times how is drawings are reflecting what is in his world. Take for instance this piece of card which he drew quickly and gave to me as a suprise (put on my laptop).

Compare it with his Knights Kingdom set.... can you see the similiarity?

So, they borrow ideas from their experiences and weave in-and-out of their world of imagination...

This water-color drawing is about an attack in the high-seas on a pirate ship (No, he didn't paint it... he drew it, Yan helped him to paint most of it... he choose the colors). It is one of his "master pieces" after so many months. Some of his drawings are getting a bit complex.... the more complicated it is... the longer time he spent on it... and a fair chance he might be very tired after the whole process.

One way to relax is to play with his sister.

Now, come here...

A father's chronicle (Taking some time to have fun)

I think one of the healthy benefit of having children is that I get to find all sorts of excuse to play. So, over the weekend, I gather the family and took some time out for some fun. Here are the photos... yah, using my Nokia N70.

Still a happy boy now that he is five years old....

A happy girl at 5 months old.... OK, OK, most of the time we are happy people...

We were actually waiting for StarBucks to open... and she fell asleep...

At five months, she has very little hair... but so was Theophilus when he was at five months, and so we don't bother. Anyway, she does look pretty with her Mommy's hat... was shielding her from the hot sun!

Heh, look at my camera! Or is it a phone?

My happy family! I think my N70 flash is not that strong....

A father's chronicle (The first step into a journey of a million words...)

While walking my son back home today, he turned and asked me what is a 'diary' - he noticed this word on a piece of paper somewhere.

Me: Well, it is a book that you write about what happened in the day. Say, Daddy, Mommy and you went to the zoo today and you have a fun time, you can write about it. And you can write about the happy things, the sad things... Daddy still writes diaries.

He didn't react much to my explaination. Perhaps, I was not talking sense. Or maybe I was just too dry on my explaination? Sometimes, I wonder whether am I talking sense... anyway, that was my best attempt.

So, it came to me as a suprised that the first thing he did when we stepped into the house - he went straight to get a piece of paper and a pencil (he has no formal diary to write on, perhaps I will get one for him tomorrow). Lying on the floor, he wrote his first page of his very own diary:

Today I have a very happy day playing with Gracia on the bed we have fun togather. (Draw a happy face with a wink)

I am happy today

(Yes, yes, there is missing punctuation, etc. etc. but nobody marks grammar and spelling on diaries, right? I will keep this piece of work. It will be one of his 'first'...)

I was so encouraged and happy with his first piece of diary. I think it is great place to start his writing and learning new words (I was thinking of getting him a children's dictionary... I think I should dump that idea - might as well pass him my Longman dictionary and teach him how to use it. Yes, he is four years old, but kids are learning things earlier than most of us in those days). Hopefully, he will write in Chinese in a few years time...

It is so strange, some times he can be so self-motivated... while other things... well... I guess all kids are like that.

Oh, btw, the naming of places and corners have stopped. And that's because he have plastered everywhere with a piece of note.... naming every one of them!

As a side note: I think he is really a fantastic brother. He really dote on his sister.

A father's chronicle (Reading and analyzing)

It always brings me a smile whenever I see him reading away (and tonight, he read to his sister who is ... er... slightly over 4.5 months old).

We brought him to the mega-mart and when he reached his favourite corner (the books), he comfortably picked up a book, sat on the floor and read away. It is a typical scene.

Besides the benefit that he gets including: entertainment, relaxation, improved in knowledge... perhaps, one of the greater goal that I've for him is to analyze. No, no, not exactly from a engineering point of view.... perhaps from what some people call "critical reading". It is a sad that that many people read, but never understand. Or even be critical about what they read. It is like (well, the passage says so, so it must be true). It is a dangerous way of reading - to accept everything that enters your eyes and goes consumed into your soul without going through an exhaustive filter (aka brains). And that includes what you have just read!

Reading is a stange thing. The author conducts a sort-of monologue with you. In that short span of time, you need to "wrestle" with him/her ... but in an unfair way. You don't really get an immediate response to your objections. Well, in this blog, you can send in a comment. But in a book, say, you might not be able to do so (especially when the author has moved onto the next world).

But, alas, the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Theophilus' journey in understanding this world has began. "Wow, you see the world is so beautiful!" (he spoke these words while we were at the reservoir). One day, perhaps, one day... he might read Law (as one stranger in a cafe pointed out when he was two years old), but for now... it is good enough to read his books and enjoy them.

Yes, my boy, the world is so beautiful... especially with you around.

A father's chronicle (The power of a little success)

Yup, he has began to spell. So, guess how he is exhibiting that confidence? He is labelling every room and every corner. There is music place, darwing (oops! should be 'drawing') corner, washing place, watching (TV) room, play corner, kitchen.... Theophilus was like a little busy bee, writing on small pieces of paper and sticking them everywhere (actually, I think he gets the good feeling of spelling and writing and labelling all those familiar places in our home).

I find the empowerment of language a very fancinating thing. I could still recall the first word he spoke "blue", then it was an explosion of words, then reading (which was quite difficult to learn especially those five to six syllabus words), and then writing simple words... now he is writing and spelling those words that he is so familiar with in his conversation. I don't have any theory to offer. I couldn't even recall how he picked up those words like "concussion". Perhaps it is through our conversation.

But I notice how that little success with simple words that lead him on to learning more and more...

In about 2 weeks more he will be taking his maths test again ... hopefully he can get pass it and move on to other topics... he is eyeing on a big train set... at the rate he is getting his stickers... I think I better safe up faster (to make it more difficult to get the "prize", he have to earn 30 stickers to get the big train set... that will give me some buffer).

A father's chronicle (I Not Stupid - A Film Review)

This is a follow up on my last blog (Celebrating Normalcy) since I've also watched a movie on TV over the weekends on parenting....

I should have watch the movie "I Not Stupid" about 4 years back.... I couldn't exactly recall why I missed that show... but I was glad that they showed it over the weekends and ... on TV! For a review, you can read it here.

For those who are parents with young kids and living in a society that placed (or over-placed) emphasis on academic excellence (not that being academic excellent is a bad thing... ah, forget about the explaination, watch the movie and you will understand the struggles of "normal" kids in Singapore), this show is a MUST. I intend to get the DVD. And to get the full ROI (Return-on-Investment), I intend to watch it over 5 times before putting it on the DVD shelf for future parenting-research-material.

It is really a very realistic show. In Singapore (and like many other countries in Asia, e.g. Japan), kids are falling off high-rise buildings... all because they have failed academically. While it is true that the underlying problem is due to "problems in interpersonal relations, especially with peers and parents. Fewer than half are related to school-work stress" (see this article), I find it is just a microscopic observation.

A child have interreaction with the society too and is subjected to the opinions and expectations of the society as well besides those of his/her parents. Perhaps, this is the narrow phrase "interpersonal relations... with peers". But peers are only a subset of the social circles of a child. You can see this social expectations in the life and experiences of Boon Hock (esp. in those scenes at the hawker center while helping out in his mother's hawker stall).

There is a follow up sequel to this movie (I Not Stupid 2). I am not sure whether I am ready to watch it now... I am still digesting the first part. There is a lot of material to think about... hopefully it won't be another 4 years of wait before I get to that movie. I think the second part is just as relevant to my parenting skills... perhaps even more?

A father's chronicle (Celebrating normalcy)

They run just like my son. They talk like my son. They argue, they ponder.... but they are not "normal". I mean, these kids are not just above average. They are gifted. Yes, I am not refering to my son. There is a difference between being intellgent and being gifted. And, sure, there is a gap between between "normal" and "intellgent".

Our society is a strange one. Alot of focus goes to the "bright" ones. They are featured in papers (e.g. last weekend, there was a whole section on them). These kids (err... they are working adults now) are not like the kids next door. They are really heading for the heavens! Their career is planned before they start. Their lives are mapped out - lived in the upper 1% of the society.

My son is not gifted. Actually, it came as a bit of pain when I realized/accepted that (huh, are you joking, Paul?). But let me quote again from the book (which sort of summarized my experience):

At first this intuition is painful. Emilio will not be a genius after all. Or at least I won't be able to make him exceptionally intelligent. It is the death of a dream. But I feel relief. I give him permission, inside me, to be what he is. Perhaps he will be an ordinary child. I realize that I no longer have control of the process.... Expectations. You can see them everywhere... Thus children are turned into pretty knickknacks, supergifted monsters, sports champions, or just good little puppets who never get into trouble because they are already only half alive....Bit by bit I also discover new ways of loving. After all, how can I truly love my children if at the same time I wish they were different?

Nope, my son cannot swim 100m in 3 minutes flat (that's the gold standard, btw for their age category). He cannot tell you the order of planets (I didn't get it right either, besides the first and last)... he is normal, ordinary, and he is my son.

He is honest (he cannot stand to tell lies)... his best attempt is to keep quiet. He does not bully the weak. He is helpful. He is a friend when you are in need of help, he does not chick-out on you when you are in the deepest hole. He cries when you are hurt. He laughes when you are happy. He shares his last piece of chocolate and will gladly share his toys too... and yes, he forgets (which can be the best part).

He is normal. He is ordinary. He is my son. I am so glad that he is who he is.

It is great to be.... normal.

A father's chronicle (Achievements in doing simple things)

So often, we take simple tasks for granted. Even the wearing of a T-shirt or a pair of shorts. For children, this can be quite a task for them. You need to balance on one foot, make sure that the shorts is facing in the right direction. Place the right foot into the right hole, and make sure the other foot does not go to the same one... ghosh! All this is liken to be a great acrobatic act.

So, yestarday when I offered to wear his clothes, he refused and said...

Son: No, no, no... I can do it. Let me show you...

And he did it. To me that's a milestone. An achievement. A little victory. A score on the chart of independence. I think I only exhibited this behaviour when I am 3 years older than him (Shhhh.... don't tell him yet.)

One of the joy that I get as a parent is to see these little achievement every day. From the first foot step to wearing of clothes, writing of words, writing of name.... all these are very precious memories.

Well done, boy. Well done.

Maybe these little hands will get to button my shirt when I grow too old to do so someday...