This is a Google Chrome ad, which is getting panned from quite a few corners (especially on YouTube – where people who comment there always seem really, really angry).

I quite like it.

Probably because I’m a new dad, and realising how quickly your child turns from a new-born to a toddler to a little girl – in front of your own eyes – you begin to really treasure each passing week. And the idea of having a private mailbox (a SPAM-free mailbox at that!) dedicated to these memories just seems priceless. I regret not seeing something like this 2 years ago. I’m reticent to start one now as it’s missing the precious first two-years ……..

This morning is the first time my daughter would rather I stay at home than her have more toys. That was so cute, a little heart-breaking to leave her and go to work. She’s also poorly which doesn’t help. But as she was clinging on to me, she suddenly said ‘cake’. I said ‘daddy’s got to go to work to earn money to buy cake’. She promptly waved me off ………

I write this from the end of my two-year-old daughter’s mattress (on the floor), in the dark. She’s not been sleeping too well these last few nights – probably a mixture between a cough she’s got and renovations work happening during this week disrupting her usual routine.

The misses is working nights designing her graphics so I take the night shift – or as much as I can. When nights don’t go to plan I often end up spending a good few hours sleeping at the end of my little girl’s bed – or even the whole night! But secretly I love it. Everyday I get home from work she seems to have grown a bit more. I worry it’s going a bit too fast and a bit of me thinks that just sleeping at the end of her bed – those few hours a night – somehow makes up for all the hours I’m away during the week.

Can’t believe she’s already two. She’s got a bit of a diva about her but we think it’s because she’s mentally a bit bored. Well, she’s off to nursery soon for one day a week so hopefully that will help calm her down – or at least it’ll help her develop her interpersonal relationships a bit more. It’ll also give mum a well-deserved break … well, I say ‘break’ but she’ll still be working.

So how is the little girl doing? Well she’s super clever. She loves singing and dancing and amazingly can sing the entire song for quite a few nursery rhymes and tv tunes. She even hummed along to Eastenders the other day … not overly proud about that one. She’s got an amazing memory for words, and is picking up both English and Chinese well. She loves pretend making coffee, she positions all her toys in specific places and doesn’t like people moving them; she doesn’t like it when mum works on the computer and is constantly nicking her mouse or mouse-mat. And when mum goes to the kitchen, she jumps onto the desk-chair and starts banging the keyboard.

She still sleeps with the dummy and ‘daisy’. We really need to get her off the dummy soon. And we’ll resume potty training later. She loves telling us to clap our hands when she does (mostly after a song has ended) and she’s still chasing us around the house telling us to ‘come here’. Life’s hectic, but good.

Must remember to note her development down more before it’s all forgotten …

Currently using this video to teach a two-year-old about ‘sharing’. And I think it’s working.

We just watched ‘The Bucket List’ – starring Jack Nicholson an Morgan Freeman. It was quite a moving film about two oldish guys, two very different guys who are both told they have 6 months to live. They then create a bucket list of things they want to do before they die. Things like skydiving, see something majestic, kiss the most beautiful girl in the world, etc.

Have to say, the most moving bit – the most memorable bit – of the film for me was a bit where Morgan Freeman described how his marriage had become stale and all focused on the kids without them knowing. When the kids left he looked at his wife and couldn’t remember why he loved her in the first place. That scares me. It’s such an easy thing to happen. I’ve witnessed it happen first-hand. With our first child, now almost 9 months old, I can really understand how that can happen to a couple, and how I – as a husband – need to guard against that from happening. Before you know it 30 years have passed.

I and the guys who watched the movie made our own Bucket Lists. Most list items involved spending time with friends and family. We set ourselves the challenge of making a list of 3 things. For a long time I could only think of 1 – ‘to spend every single remaining moment I could with those who truly mattered to me. My family and friends’. At the time of writing the list, all I could think about were my wife and little girl. All the stuff about going to places, eating nice food … that didn’t really appeal.

None of our lists contained anything work or career related and I’ve kept hold of that piece of paper as a reminder. You don’t want to be making that list when time is about to run out. Identify what really matters to you and use your time wisely doing these things.