And why not? Perhaps sometime down the road, when the time is right and the perfect opportunity comes along, we might do just that!

But for now, let's just float gently back from cloud 9 and arrive on terra firma...good ol' solid ground.

When I was approached to be interviewed and photoshot (if there is such a word), I gave it some thought. Was this the right time to 'go public'? Some of you might think --- 'Are you nuts? Newspaper want to feature you, say yes lah!'

Timing is everything. With H1N1 going around, the Asian Youth Games, Michael Jackson's passing (hey, it matters!) would it be appropriate and timely for us to be featured in an article? Well, the decision was made, and so the paper sent along a photographer to do the shoot at my place.

To any of you who might think that doing a photoshoot is easy, think again (I actually now do pity those who participate in 'America's Next Top Model'). I mean, in the past, I used to do work supervising photoshoots. Now, being 'shot' at, it was whole new experience. Along with me in this experience was my dear son, who is actually the focus of the photo, honestly.

So we sat down and arranged some props, trying to put Marc in position --- that was the easy part. The tough part was getting him to smile.

"Your son very serious leh," quipped the photographer. I really admire her patience as she tried coaxing Marc to smile and 'look joyful'.

(Note: The photo shoot was taken just before dinner time and Marc was really hungry. Bad time huh?)

There must have been more than 50 shots taken from all angles to try and capture a 'smiling Marc'. Yeah, he was cranky, fussing and hungry. Who could blame him? (Strong reaction to hunger and lack of food is genetically traced from The Wife)

Just before the shoot, I had completed a lecturing assignment and was rather pooped. So Daddy has to look energetic, Marc has to look happy. It was not going well.

As the shoot was taking place, Ah Gong was snapping away with his panasonic lumix camera, beaming with pride that his grandson was going to receive so much publicity (he used to be in advertising). The repeated pleas of 'Uncle, uncle, try not to blcok my camera flash' was not really heeded. But eventually, Ah Gong was disciplined enough to restrain himself from compromising the photo quality.

Ah Ma was singing and clapping her hands in tandem with the musical rhythm from an episode of Barney & Friends, urging Marc to react joyfully. We sort of stumbled upon the idea that if we put on a Barney DVD with the 'If you're happy and you know it' song, he would react animatedly, as he usually does. It worked...for a while. And then Marc sort of quizzically looked at us when we kept playing back the entire song over and over and over again.

He's a smart boy.

But that was good enough. Photographer called it a day and it was a wrap.

It took her 1 hr and 15 mins to get just this one perfect shot.

Daddy fell exhausted onto the sofa. Marc ran to his booster seat and was promptly fed his dinner (we usually let him feed himself. You can understand why we fed him this time around). Ah Gong and Ah Ma browsed their recently taken shots of Marc and were gushing praises about how Marc looked so handsome.

Now that I have to agree.

This fact can be genetically traced to The Daddy.

(I see my wife's eyes roll in disgust)

Marc can finally feed himself!  Going to school has done him a world of good and I'm a school convert.  Its not so much the academic learning at this age but the basic skills like self-feeding, putting on and removing shoes, packing up toys.  We recently taught him how to throw rubbish into the bins at home too.  (next on the list: fold own clothes!)  He creates an almighty mess when he eats, which shocks quite a few people.  But we're fairly renegade parents and would rather clean him up and give him the chance to learn to feed himself.  Plus he loves food, so feeding himself keeps him occupied, which means we can eat!  We take his feeding chair everywhere, which means we have peace of mind letting him eat off the tray as we can remove it and wash it ourselves. 

And his latest indulgence - MACDONALDS!  He loves the Fillet O Fish, which is our favourite too.  We're pretty indulgent, but hey, life is short, live it to the full right?  :) And to think i was totally anti macdonalds before I had kids!  Somehow, they have the recipe down pat.  Firstly - their eateries are air conditioned - a BIG PLUS in hot humid Singapore.  Secondly, they have kid friendly equipment - high chairs, happy meals.  Thirdly, they give kids free stuff which they like - just last Saturday they gave out free balloons to the kids.   Balloons don't cost much - but it made Marc so happy, he was SOLD before we even walked in.  And if the kids like the place - the parents will go!  If only other businesses learnt this trick too.  We were at Han's just last week for lunch and Marc was making a mess as usual.  I got several dirty looks from the waitresses, who came up midway with a broom to sweep the floor.  I had no intention to leave the restaurant in a mess, and was planning to clean up the chair and pick up whatever food bits I could from the floor.  But even if I didn't - as a family restaurant, having kids mess up the place is part and parcel of customer service and running a restaurant.  If you don't welcome families, then families won't come, simple as that.  Of course, a lot depends on the service staff as well, but Management should communicate to their staff their business philosophies and enforce it.

The other bad thing about school - is that kids will fall sick.  Marc's pretty strong and recovers quickly.  Which leaves me sick for a week!  I tell people that I have no immune system left,  as I gave it all to my son!  Oh well, its part and parcel of having kids I guess!