Using a block cipher with timestamp instead of counter
A timestamp in the message won't fix the problem with ECB mode. ECB mode uses the same key for each block, so you will leak the fact that blocks are the same within the same message, and if you use the same key static key for every update, between different messages as well.

Consider a higher level library such as libsodium or spiped from tarsnap to avoid worrying about these details.