Life in England

Last London trip Sept 6th

2008-09-09T04:19:00.000-07:00

We've enjoyed london so much, we were back the subsequent sat. The weather was not as sunny as the previous one, but even so, we had fun eating crepes in the rain, drinking mocca at star bucks, roaming in the museums for the whole afternoon, and having duck at four seasons.

Baby sitting

2008-09-09T04:11:00.000-07:00

Baby sitting

It was our first time baby sitting our friend’s baby. We volunteered to baby sit Audrey while her parents watch a musical in London. It was 4 hrs long. But this girl was incredibly easy. She is able to communicate, follows instructions and is potty trained!

Park was the best choice to bring the two toddlers, and thank goodness, there was a live band, and did our kids have a great time dancing to the beat. They tired themselves out running about and chasing pigeons. She fell fast asleep the moment she sat down in the pram for the rest of the hrs.

Nathan was awake the whole time, so we decided to get his face drawn at Leicester Square. He was good on the chair, sat there rather still for 10mins. Later, we had Audrey and her parents drawn too, a birthday present for her mum.

Lake District August 18-22nd

2008-09-09T04:10:00.000-07:00

This was our second time visiting lake district, but we stayed at a different town –Keswick.

As always, travelling around in England, we hope for sunshine, and this time, we could hope for no rain, less to say sunshine. It drizzled every single day, and rained heavily on some mornings and nights.

Lake district is well known for her lakes and mountains. Depending on the season you visit, Autumn is the prettiest, where colours of the rainbow are displayed on the vegetation on the mountains. In Summer, we saw mostly green, some red and purple.

We did 2 hikes up to latrigg (400m) and Ashness Bridge (200m). These are push chair friendly hikes. Nathan went on foot half the time. This chap enjoys walking, a little slow and takes us longer to reach the summit, but patience did pay us off, watching him conquer the heights.

Norway July 2nd-9th

2008-07-11T01:38:00.001-07:00

Spectacular! Spectacular! Spectacular!

Norway was the 5th European country we’ve visited, and by far, the most glorious one. She has the fjords, sea, snow capped mountains, alpines, steep plunging rocky hills, majestic waterfalls, plus good choices of sea food (the most popular Norwegian salmon) and friendly people.

We stayed at 4 different places. Thrice at youth hostels, and the last night at a hotel. Everywhere is clean and pleasant, cultured and peaceful. Only noises from laughter and chatting, no sign of construction or big machines. It is a paradise for cyclists, mountaineers, walkers, like us, and drivers too, esp caravans, which are seen in most hiking locations. It’s easy to get to places by bus or ferry, but be prepared for a couple of hours of travelling, nicely compensated by beautiful scenery, which made the journey quite wonderful.

I would have appreciated the Norway trip to the fullest extent if I had not been ill. Still, thankfully, I count myself really blessed to come so close to God’s creation in every way possible.

Finse

2008-07-11T01:32:00.000-07:00

Finally, our last night at a hotel. We had no other cheaper options here, where everything is snow and rocks. At 1200 m above sea level, Finse is the highest train station in Norway.

If only, if only we had more time, both LC and I kept lamenting – that we could walk a longer distance and climb more heights in this area. Nathan even walked on ice, for a short while.

The clear blue sky made all the difference to our stay here. There isn’t every much to do around here, except biking and hiking, and sitting on a nice big rock to admire the fantastic white and blue scenery that surrounds you.

Balestrand

2008-07-11T01:26:00.000-07:00

We stayed 3 nights at a third youth hostel. Balestrand is a nice town, with a church, an aquarium where we had all 3 dinners, and of course the sea port where the boats and ships docked. Nathan saw star fish, a few gigantic lobsters, fishes, urchins and crabs in a pool at the aquarium.

One very wet day, we stayed in to watch Wimbledon, a final match between Federer and Nadal. It was a long hard fight for 5 solid hrs!

We made a day trip to a glacier. Nathan was too young to walk on it, so we only visited the museum and watched the glacier from a distance.

Flam

2008-07-11T01:17:00.000-07:00

The train ride was the highlight – Flamsbana, which took us from Myrdal to Flam, 800m above sea level to zero. Along the way, we saw a gorgeous waterfall.

At Flam, we stayed at another youth hostel, but we were delightfully brought back to the ‘kampong style’ of living – common bathroom and kitchen facilities, not even a basin in our cabin (hut with 4 single beds). We had a small cooking area and fridge, so we decided to make 2 breakfasts and one dinner – ham and cheese omelette and sausages with bread. What an adventure.

From Flam, we took a day out on a cruise along the one thing every tourist speaks of – The Norwegian Fjords – long and large water bodies surrounded by high steep cliffs on all sides. We saw waterfalls, billy goats and seals along the way.

Beautiful, glorious and amazing was the scenery!

Tonsberg

2008-07-11T01:16:00.000-07:00

The first day we arrived in Norway at Torp airport. Alighted from the plane, took a bus, then another 15mins train ride to Tonsberg. First thing first, looked for our youth hostel. There it was, located right in front of the mountain!

Staying at youth hostel wasn’t a bad thing at all. Nice comfortable beds, and we were even surprised to find a TV in the room, and of course, can’t do without an en suite bathroom.

Dropped our bags, and went out for a short hike, 20 mins up hill to a 100 yrs old Tower, where a much older castle once stood. It was the highest peak and view point of the area.

We treated ourselves to a good meal on our first night too. Salmon fillets! The stretch of restaurants strategically located next to the port was bustling with activities and people watching, boats docking, dogs roaming and sea gulls hovering above us.

We didn’t get to see this town very much, for we quickly moved on to our next more spectacular location, another 7 hr train journey away the next morning.

Visit in Cambridge

2008-06-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

After spending a week in London, and a second week in Salzburg, Austria, mum finally got a chance to see cambridge. We brought her out for a walk to the colleges, the world renowed King's college, trinity, the Round church, and did something all visitors to cambridge must do - Punting. LC did a fantastic job, rowing us on for an hour. Thank God, everyone was kept safe on board.

Just snapping pictures of our neighbourhood was lovely. You got to be here to feel the wind yourself, looking at them from pictures wouldn't help you appreciate much of nature and the lush greenery you find around cambridge. The river that flows through it all the more lovelier.

We are going to miss this place alot.

London Trip 11-14th June

2008-06-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

Mum arrived on June 2nd, Monday, and on wed, we took a train from cambridge to Londond, spent 4 days and 3 nights stay with karen at her host's house.

We did what tourists usually do- sightseeing tower bridge, big ben, south bank, west minster abby, Harrods mall (where i got my second bag), ate at Chinatown. We even managed to catch a musical, just LC and I - Blood Brothers! Tears couldn't stop flowing down on cheeks. Parked nathan with mum at Joy's host's house. That was our very first date since nathan was born, wow whee. Freedom indeed.

London is too busy to truly enjoy, carrying the pram and nathan up and down the tube stations was a nightmare, better to walk in parks or take a bus.

Elea and Juniper Birthday Party June 8th

2008-06-20T06:58:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful time we had. Party started from 2.00p.m. and lasted until 9p.m. by the time we parted. We had bbq picnic, games and lotsa of fun. These lovely ladies even celebrated my birthday for me, a small chocolate cakes and a bouquet of flowers, how sweet.

The 2 yr mark

2008-05-29T05:46:00.000-07:00

We saw a rather big leap of growth after nathan turned 2 last month.

He had a new sense of confidence to do things, like playing on the slide, running greater distances at double the speed, feeding himself snacks and dinner using the spoon, and mastering a new understanding of language use.

It is an exciting time now seeing him change so quickly. I guess it's also a time when he starts displaying acts from his sinful nature - stubborn behaviour and rebellion. We need to pray all the more for God's wisdom and patience to teach him correctly, and more importantly, to model godly behaviour with each other.

new words: dirty, chair, naughty, most body parts, most animals in bks, cartoon, please, thank you, hello, hi, counting 1-20 (missing some), wet,

I try not to lose track of his development, just so tickled whenever he can say something new.

Punting

2008-05-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

Punting is a regular hobby amongst students in cambridge. Some of them do it as a sport every other gd day wk end. But it was our very first time.

Both LC and I had a go, but i was totally hopeless. The pole was way too heavy for me, I gave up after only 10 mins, much preferred to be a rider. LC was much better, his punt moved a great distance.

3 families went together. The lovely weather made it all beautiful and pleasant. A picnic on the grass concluded our brillant outing.

2008-05-27T07:04:00.001-07:00

Playing on slide

2008-05-27T07:01:00.001-07:00

2008-05-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Slide play is a new milestone for Nathan. We've been to the playground umpty times, but he has finally mustered the courage to slide down. Before, he would sit right at the top, refusing to move his butt, blocking other children from sliding down.

2008-05-21T08:06:00.004-07:00

Recently we started introducing the potty to nathan, but he resisted violently. So, the video shows how far he is into potty training. We thought perhaps it is a good idea to have 'play' with the potty, getting him used to sitting in it, and learns to use it in good timing, using it correctly has to take a willing toddler, there's no point forcing him at all.

potty fun

2008-05-21T08:06:00.003-07:00

trampoline

2008-05-21T08:06:00.001-07:00

riding car

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Sophie's bday party

2008-05-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

We were invited to Sophie's bday party last sat. She turned 2. unlike nathan, Sohpie knew it was HER party. She blew out the candles confidently, and dashed at her mummie's home baked cake that shaped like a cottage.

Nathan had a lot fun with outdoor play, jumping on the trampoline and riding in a red car (backwards for now), and digging into a sand pit, one thing I haven't introduced him. I'm glad he didn't stuck any of the mud into his mouth, many kids have done that before, somehow they thought mud looks yummy .. beats me.

Bathtime play

2008-05-14T08:14:00.001-07:00

Nathan loves bath time now cos he could actually bathe himself, except for the soaping bit. But he does it well, so proud of him.

Walk down stairs

2008-05-07T06:23:00.001-07:00

2008-05-07T06:21:00.000-07:00

A brand new milestone for little boy who managed to conquer his fears coming down the long flight of stairs all on his own now! Hear him count his steps as he makes his way down, really funny.

See me kick a soccer ball!

2008-05-07T06:19:00.001-07:00

2008-05-07T06:10:00.001-07:00

It was one of those bright sunny days in Spring, and we were out for a picnic with some Singaporeans.

One of them brought a soccer ball, and before any serious football players arrived, Nathan had a go with it. Many friends commented how strong he is to lift the ball up over his head and when he threw it, it would be a fantastic throw. Well done, boy! Plus, he kicks really well, too. We could almost see great potential in our little son in ball games.

Snack time

2008-05-02T07:59:00.001-07:00

Nathan's Second Birthday Party

2008-04-30T06:02:00.000-07:00

Thank God for blessing us with a lovely sunny day to enioy the party. We planned to have both food and games indoors, but everyone was so eager to get out, so we packed everything and headed for lama land (opp playground) to have a picnic, and yes, outdoor games!

7 families in all. We had a great time of food and play. Poor nathan didn't get to blow any candles cos the wind was too strong. But we did have two sticks of candles and song.

My boy is TWO. Wow, many changes have taken place, speaking more words, understanding mum and dad better, and he is quite a pleaser. Whenever he does something naughty and we scold him, he would be real sad. We continue to pray for him that he would come to know Jesus for himself, and for ourselves, that we would be godly role models for Nathan.

Nathan is Two

2008-04-30T05:58:00.000-07:00

Health chart
Ht: 83cm
Wt: 13.5kg

Mental Developments

Frequently used words:
ball
dog
daddie
bread –favourite food
duck
eyes
mimi (for mummie)
car
bus
more –for food, esp raisins
no, no, no
yes
yeah
don’t want(s)
finish
door
shoes
juice

Identifies in books and surroundings:

ele (for elephant) –hot favourite
beep (wheels on the bus) – whenever he wants to watch tv
ar (for star) – mime actions for song
eiaow (for cat)
quack, quack …-whenever he sees ducks
s (for snake)
bear
frog
croc (for crocodile)
raow (for lion)
mouse
mo mo (for elmo)
fish
sheep
clock
bump
bee
egg
sun
row, row …(song)
pear
raisin
oyoyo (for balloons)
this
there/that
milk
nana (for banana)
grass
bird
mat
teeth
nose
mouth
brow
bye
cold
please
moo (for cow)
neigh (for horse)
pig
gate
moon
press
wo wo (for monkey)

happie

2008-04-24T05:59:00.001-07:00

Nathan's laughter is ever so contagious. And he is a charmer too, with a cute little dimple on one cheek. I'm not boasting, of course.

Amsterdam April19th-23rd

2008-04-24T05:09:00.000-07:00

We woke up at 3.30am, got prepared, a cab picked us up from home to the train station which would take us to Stanstead airport to board the plane at 7.00am.

Accomodation
It was a 5 day 4 night stay. First 2 nights were at a youth hostel (stay okay) centrally located at Vondel Park. Basic amenities available, big spread breakfast, 3 single beds, on suite bath rm and good heating. Next 2 nights at a BnB, Hanna Penso, located on the east side of city, Keizergracht. Large rm, self svc breakfast with everything you need – juice, milk, german coffee maker, toaster hot flask, and even an egg boiler. Fresh pastries were delievered every morning. Comfortable beds, and a cot for baby.

Sight seeing
Dutch village (Zaanse Schans) highlighting 7 man-made windmills, cheese factory, wooden toy shop, clog making museum, clock shops and several other museums and souvenir shops. Things are not necessarily more expensive. A pretty village.

Keukenof Garden
World famous flower garden featuring various species of tulips, Holland national flower. Great place for toddlers to run about safely. Picture perfect destination! Many shops and stalls to buy waffles and ice creams, benches to sit and admire the flowers, and live music to liven the garden.

Museums
Van Goth – famous paintings of the crooked house, and sun flowers.
Rijkes – featuring Dutch famous painter, Rembrandt
Anne Frank – Jewish Christian girl who got killed by German soldiers during ww2 for standing up for her faith.
Corrie Ten Boom – Dutch Christian woman with her sister and dad housed and defended many jews from the germans during ww2. They were jailed, dad and sister died, but she survived the world, toured the world and testified for Christ.

Eating places
Wilhemina Dok
Take a free ferry across from central station. The only sea facing restaurant. Good for western seafood and ships watching.

Shopping
Dam Street – city centre, most happening stores and fun fair grounds. Watch your pockets! Too crowded for little ones to go on foot. You want to whisk through quickly.

What’s nice to do?
Roam the streets and canals, sit down in a café and people watch. Walk in artistic shops selling all kinds of interesting goods, from paintings to tiles, key chains, clogs, cheese, windmill, and miffy stuff!!

Encounters
Once, on the way back from Keukenof garden, we took a bus that went in the opposite direction, discovered only after 20 mins. A nice old man gave us very clear instructions on where to drop next and cross the road to the bus stop to take the ‘right’ bus back to where we started.

On a train to Haarlem to Corrie Ten Boom house, we chatted with a Dutch old man, retiree. He told us he was born in Haarlem, had 4 grand children. It was pleasant time.

Nathan was given free food in shops – yogurt milk drink from the owner, because little boy gave him a fly kiss. And a little toy dog at another shop.

The trip was made possible because of

Sunny weather
Safe journey
Smiles from everywhere

Amsterdam is a pleasant and pretty city, rather ideal for families if you like some sightseeing and shopping.

Laughing

2008-04-09T07:49:00.001-07:00

2008-04-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

Whenever Nathan plays with daddie when he comes home from school, he always at his best. He probably misses him for the entire day, and he knows daddie is going to play 'rough; with him. Sometimes, dad does nothing, he simply sits down on the floor relaxing, and nathan would walk around him throwing things over dad's head, and find things to amuse himself. His laughters are contagious, how delightful. Oh, he tried GYOZA today, jap dumplings, he seems to like it...

2008-04-09T07:43:00.003-07:00

A friend from home passed by Cambridge and bought Nathan a brand new pair of shoes from Bata Bubble gummers - brown leather! They were lying around in the living room when he brought them to me to have them put on. He was happy trying them out, hearing the 'thuming' sounds from his stamping.

New shoes

2008-04-09T07:43:00.001-07:00

Brushing teeth

2008-04-06T06:43:00.001-07:00

HeadtoToes

2008-04-06T06:31:00.001-07:00

Brushing teeth

2008-04-06T06:26:00.000-07:00

We have started introducing tooth brushing for some time now. But only recently has he grown fond of brushing his teeth by himself after I placed him sitting in front of the mirror to do it. Kids enjoy looking at themselves in the mirror, so they would gladly comply to do anything, maybe that's a trick to get them eating well too... a little more cumbersome. Bring a portable mirror, perhaps that's more feasible.

Head to Toes

2008-04-06T06:22:00.000-07:00

Nathan is quite confident with his body parts now. These are some which he could identify with at the moment. I love the one he could do most - his bottoms... amuses us so much when he smacks them. So, watch and laugh! Btw, don't mind his home - think he looks pretty gd in pink...

Pizza Party April 1st

2008-04-02T06:58:00.000-07:00

Nope, it's not an april fools' day joke, we had a party at our place.

6 mums came, 3 koreans and 3 japanese ... how interesting.

Soo, a korean prepared the dough and ingredients. I merely provided the place, and drinks. We had a good time. These are the ladies we are trying to reach out and have decided to come for a christianity explored course coming May.

Parties are nice, and when carried out purposefully, it's even more enriching.

http://s272.photobucket.com/albums/jj168/carisbay_album/PizzaPartyApril1st/

SnowingMarch23rd

2008-04-02T06:57:00.001-07:00

Post Easter party

2008-03-31T03:30:00.000-07:00

It was another splendid party time for us, this time, it was a family thingy, mums, dads and babes were invited to Melissa's house.

They stay in a village at the outskirts of cambridge, Matt, her husband came to pick us up. It was about 15 mins drive away. So we had a slight tour in the village.

Their garden was beautiful. We ate food prepared by different nationalities and played games outdoors. I had so much to laugh about, my voice was sore at the end of the day.

Playing games seem a distant past during days of youth. So having them again here in cambridge is helping me reliving those fond memories, what a pleasure.

Check out our fun times...

http://s272.photobucket.com/albums/jj168/carisbay_album/EasterPartyMarch29/

Granchester Walk

2008-03-31T03:25:00.000-07:00

Spring is here!

The sky was clear BLUE. So we walked to Grandchester. Nathan surprised us by walking more than half way there, about 3km. Well done, boy. Whenever there was a plane or flock of birds flew past us, he would stop and gaze at the objects ... made me wonder how often I have taken for granted some of these amazing moments, just watching the birds flying way up there. A tod is certainly more capable of admiring God's creation than adults, you think?

Who's reading the papers?

2008-03-28T07:59:00.002-07:00

Perhaps nathan has watched daddie read newspapers and books enough times to model him in that. See how nathan flips and reads the papers like a man ... haha! Simple trash as such can imuse him and provide him with ample entertainment ...

Small man

2008-03-28T07:59:00.001-07:00

Feeding dad

2008-03-28T07:57:00.001-07:00

Reaching under

2008-03-28T07:28:00.001-07:00

Balloon Fun

2008-03-28T07:27:00.001-07:00

Balloon Craze

2008-03-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

Recently we had some parties at home and we put up some balloons. Nathan had a lot of fun playing with them in his own ways, throwing, squeezing, bouncing, lying on his tummy and sitting ... all of which send terrors up LC's spine, cos he dislikes bursting balloons ... Nathan has no fear at all.

Noisy Car

2008-03-28T07:04:00.001-07:00

munching on corn

2008-03-28T07:02:00.001-07:00

munching on corn

2008-03-28T06:43:00.001-07:00

From raisins, to cheerios, to pear, now corn knobs, how incredible. Nathan is surprising me everyday with new tricks of his own, i am just waking up to what he is capable of showing me each day, now nice, feel as if God is telling me, 'Caris, the adventures have just begun, yeah ...'

Flowers

2008-03-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Flowers are lovely around here. I seem to be getting alot of them from friends who visit for tea and meals. These are daffodils and blue hayacinth from my jap friends' gardens... how nice, they got them fresh from their back yards! Something i really appreciate about England's weather, you get more than just pale pink flowering plants hanging from the overhead bridges back home.

2008-03-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

2008-03-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

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White Easter

2008-03-25T06:21:00.000-07:00

It’s finally here – Snow fall.

We’ve been waiting for snow fall the whole of the winter season. And just when we were least expecting it to happen and about to welcome Spring, the wind changed its direction and blew the clouds from the arctic to Cambridge!

It snowed rather heavily for two full days, reaching 3 cm deep. That’s very good news for England, where snow is scarcely seen. We’re very lucky this yr.

Easter Party 08

2008-03-22T05:01:00.000-07:00

We hosted an easter party at our place last Tuesday. We had finger painting for the 3 yr olds, and origami for the mums an younger children.

It was splendid!

http://s272.photobucket.com/albums/jj168/carisbay_album/EasterParty08/

tickle tickle

2008-03-22T04:56:00.000-07:00

Ever since nathan recovered from his cold, he's been on an eating spree. He put on a good 1kg over a wk. seeing him eat his food by the mouthfuls always warm our hearts!

He started calling us now - daddie, and mimi. I'm happy with that for now.

He also understands no and yes perfectly well, and expresses these words by nodding and shaking his head, sometimes, he verbalises them.

now, i'm beginning to understand what it means by toddlers being sponges, soaking up everything around them - things they see and hear.

New found hobby

2008-03-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

It's BAKING!

Back home, i had all the baking equipment necessary to bake, but I hardly had the chance to use them, and those few times I did, they turned up horrible - too hard, or uncooked, so i sort of gave up, thought that i simply lack the talent to bake anything.

This has changed since 2 weeks ago. many mums have inspired me greatly - they can really bake! From traditional cheese cakes to chocolates, muffins, buns, pies and quiches, you name it, they have it. So, I decided to try it out again, and perhaps I have a bit of beginning's luck, I did it.

My recipes are derived from Super baby food by Ruth Yaron. I have been following it consistently for Nathan's first yr for food, and now, pleasing a toddler's taste buds can be ever more challenging.

To date, I've tried butter biscuits, flap jacks (euivalent of muesli bars), pineapple muffins, peanut butter muffins and fruit pie.

There are plenty of opportunities to try out new recipes because of the many little parties we have at our place and around every other week.

Tomorrow, we have another farewell tea party at our place for a Japanese family. So, I'll be trying oatmeal cookies and carrot cake. Looking forward to it.

What has LC got to say about this new hobby?? He has every good thing to say - glad you have found a new feminine side of yourself. Hmm ...

The best part about baking is I find it very theruputic. Plus, nathan enjoys them, and my very friendly friends.

Nathan @ 22 Mths (24.02.08)

2008-03-05T04:55:00.000-08:00

Here’s doing another update of what Nathan can do, and likes to do.

Nathan can

a) Climb up and walk down stairs unaided. We have 2 flights of stairs at our flat, which provides plenty of opportunities to practice. But sometimes lazy and tired boy refuses to conquer them himself, prefers to be carried instead.
b) Fix individual shaped puzzles – wooden and cardboard.
c) Recognise shapes and fit in different shapes in a sorter.
d) Doodle with a pen on paper or magnetic board. This is cool for occupying him while we dine in at restaurants.
e) Use crayons and colour on paper. But his attention is short for this activity. Somehow, he prefers writing with pen than colouring, no state of art maybe.
f) Pick his favourite vcd and put it in the cd player. He knows the right button to press. Hmm, not taught, this is learnt through imitation.
g) Sings ‘row row row …’ stops there, but he gets the tune roughly right.

Nathan likes

a) Playing with his 4 wheeler plastic red fire engine. He brings it with him wherever he goes.
b) Playing with any 4 wheelers – truck and bus and car.
c) Finger puppets. He talks with them and likes putting each one on our fingers too. Great for pretend play, and we can bring them wherever we go.
d) Watching cartoons – wheels on the bus, sesame street, barney.
e) Climbing up the sofa. Often claps his hands when he gets up there.
f) Eating raisins, cheerios, plums, pears, corn, yogurt (anytime). And drinks water from his new red bottle.
g) Lying and rolling on the floor. Sometimes to show his frustration, but most of the time just relaxing on the carpeted floor.
h) Opening and closing drawers and cupboards. Won’t take No for an answer.
i)

Some attempts at developing his interests:

a) Prepared a biscuit dough and have him play with it, but he has absolutely zero interest in baking … oops.
b) I love crafts – cutting and making cards. So I’d hope Nathan would enjoy a bit of craft too. At play groups, they always have time set aside for craft for kids. But all Nathan does is mess up other people’s work, or dip his fingers into the glue. Sigh, perhaps I should put craft on hold for the moment.

Surprise party

2008-02-29T07:16:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, we had a surprise birthday party for two boys, age 2 and 3 - Kota (Jap) and Tarek (Hk/Pakistan)

Here's the link to the photos

http://s272.photobucket.com/albums/jj168/carisbay_album/BirthdayBash/

Two mums baked 2 cakes - cheese and chocolate, yummie. We had biscuits and other snacks. The best part was games time. The children had a fabulous time. Nathan wasn't in the mood at all, so I just took the shots.

At his age, he is still very much in a world of his own, o boy.

Boy Model

2008-02-29T06:10:00.000-08:00

My dearest Boy wearing my nike cap. I have several caps brought over from Singapore in the cupboard. but each time Nathan lays his hands on them, he would always pick the same one - this blue one. He would try to put it on his head and run up to me to have a look. He always wears a cheeky smile on his face each time he does that. He knows we like to see him in it. And so he poses for these shots.

I love Plum

2008-02-29T05:59:00.000-08:00

Plum is another favourite fruit, especially when they truly ripe, inside and out. He wasn't used to eating fruit with their peel on, now, he's cool at it.

I'm trying to get him eating blueberries. We are blessed with reasonably priced berries here - blueberries, strawberries and raspberry. Unlike Singapore, where tropical fruit are cheaply available, berries are good when they're in season, like now - winter.

2008-02-26T05:49:00.000-08:00

Fix it - Puzzle

2008-02-26T05:36:00.000-08:00

The card board Cartoon character puzzle was given by my Japanese neighbour friend. She has two daughters and have probably out grown it, so Nathan had it. For a month, he needed alot of help with it. Now, he has completely mastered the art of finding each piece and fix it up all on his own.

I think puzzles can be great fun, besides the fact that they do train up certain part of the brain. Another benefit is, he spends a good amount of time doing them, most of the time, until he finishes up everything - and we will all applaud him for his accomplishment.

I managed to persuade daddie to buy most puzzles - 3 wooden ones for nathan to play (buy 3 for the price of 2) hee, costs us 12pounds.

Hide-out

2008-02-26T05:31:00.000-08:00

These photos were taken today! I was doing my reading, and saw him playing by himself under his high chair. he is developing his own games these days, and it is really amusing to see him there.

Some pictures have him pointing to his body parts - head, nose, mouth, ear, hands ... He can do cheeks, hair, stomach and legs too.

Chong and I remind each other that we should watch what we say, though Nathan is not actually talking yet, he knows more than we know.

Frozen river

2008-02-22T05:45:00.000-08:00

This was the second time River Cam was frozen, and poor ducks had to waddle on that without any water to drink or swim in to keep them warm.

Quite a sight to behold.

But colder days are over, and warmer days are near. Today's temperature hit over 10 degrees, yeah, makes me happier with that warm... and nathan too, cos it means more outdoor playground time.

Cheerios

2008-02-22T05:27:00.000-08:00

Show time ....

Sometimes we take a video of Nathan and then show it to him. When he looked at himself, he would smile or laugh even. Chong says we should do less of that cos that could possibly turn him into a 'performer', him being more 'monkey' next time, seeing that we actually enjoy him like that.

But for now, we will just share with you!

Chocolate Marmalade Cake

2008-02-22T05:12:00.000-08:00

It was Chong’s 35th birthday on Thursday. I had a surprise planned for him. Quite a simple one. I had the help of a friend to come over at 1-3 to bake a cake with me. Chong would be in class then. Perfect timing. We did up the cake in time, but, failing to keep a close watch of time, it got slightly burned. Still tasted fine.

I even invited my Jap neighbours with her girls to come surprise him with me. They brought party poppers, how nice. So, we were all waiting in the dining hall for him to return. The moment we heard the door, we hushed. And out went the party poppers, straight at his face. We sang a song, and ate the cake. Turned out just fine.

Cookie party

2008-02-20T04:37:00.000-08:00

I am never good at baking, tried a couple of times before, but my efforts have not seen results, except for using pre-mix like Betty Cocker, which many 'baker' mums would declare it very unwise, loaded with SUGAR.

So, I thought up a plan, to have some experience mums over to bake together. I 'stole' the receipe from a belgium friend, who kindly came over an hour earlier to help me the with dough. She did the measurements, and gave me step by step instructions, how nice, and the best part, it worked!

An hour later, other mums came with their kids, 6 mums and 7 children in all. The older one, 3 yrs old had a jolly time playing with the dough, making biscuit shapes, which was one of Nathan's shape sorter toy. All turned up perfect, you can tell from the pictures.

Chong said it was a brilliant idea. Well, I had fun. Most of all, it built up my confidence to make more cookies in future :)

Visit from a friend

2008-02-20T04:27:00.000-08:00

Two nice pictures of our dear friend, who visited us on Monday and stayed one night.

We went for Pub lunch at The Mitre, which served good fish and chips, didn't manage to persuade her to drink sweet cider, and my tummy wasn't quite up to it. We had ice water and lemonade instead.

Though the visit was short, we had a good time, catching up on friends back home and updating her on our little 'happenings in cambridge these past 5 mths. Meeting up with friends from singapore is always a heart warming experience, bringing us nearer to home.

Chinese New Yr 2008

2008-02-14T04:10:00.001-08:00

Chinese New Year 2008

2008-02-14T03:59:00.000-08:00

This yr's new yr is particularly special mainly becos we're not home, and we don't have the usual 'must do' stuff, like reunion dinners, visiting relatives and preparing red packets.

We initiated a few parties at our place, of which, the one we had most fun was the CNY tea party on the 3rd day. We had 3 different families - German, Jap and China. So, I felt quite chinese having to explain some new yr things to them, such as wearing red, hanging writings on the walls, and eating CNY cookies, finishing up with jasmine tea. I also prepared some craft for the kids, we made mouse masks, quite a success.

So, it was nice. Wherever you are, so long as you make an effort to make the best use of what you have, you can make something happen, we did. Praise God!

A New Game

2008-02-13T03:03:00.000-08:00

Although nathan gets giddy with these rounds, he never bumps into anything, quite an expert now, i wouldn't have managed that on my own. I think little kidos have a special balancing power within them, and also explains why children learn skating and skiing better than clumsy adults, besides the known fact of having lowing centre of gravity?

Time to clean up boy!

2008-02-13T02:26:00.000-08:00

In the past, nathan is always swiping his mucus all over his face, thus causing his cheeks to turn really patchy and red, and that is not good looking at all.

Becos mum and dad often have running nose in the mornings, he had also learnt to blow his mucus into tissue, not quite getting there yet, but making good progress to cleanliness!

2008-01-31T07:54:00.001-08:00

Nathan@21mths

2008-01-26T01:28:00.000-08:00

Latest milestone, calling 'mama', finally. He doesn't do that all the time, unfortunately, but most of the time when i ask him to. But, all day long, it would be 'dada',without fail. How sad it is, that I'm with him 24/7, yet he mouths about daddie the whole time.

Nathan has turned 'social' these days too. We could leave him alone at creche on sundays, and he would often be more than happy to stay in there for another hour. He has grown independent too, playing on his own alot more at home, leaving me more time to do my thing, like picking up a novel and be happily engrossed in it without interruption, which I badly needed, finding my brains alittle rusty now after staying home for almost 2 yrs!

His favourite word now is, 'No'. I wonder if I have said that too often that he picked it up so well. Even when he meant 'yes', he would shake his head. I hope his next milestone would be acknowledging 'yes' when he means it. Poor kid.

2008-01-20T06:23:00.001-08:00

2008-01-18T03:51:00.000-08:00

Burrr

2008-01-18T03:38:00.000-08:00

Barcelona 9th to 12th Jan

2008-01-13T03:48:00.000-08:00

We were in Barcelona for 4 days 3 nights, arrived 9th late at night, our b n b host came to pick us up from the airport.

Besides the price, staying in a bnb is nice becos of the personal touch you get from the host, and usually, they are family-run. This one has a little girl just one month older than nathan, we only met her on our last day at breakfast cos she goes to school from 9-5 everyday.

The lady runs it with her mum, with a helper who does most of the cleaning up. She and her husband have other jobs. They work hard, looks like the revenue from the bnb is not enough to meet the family's needs.

From our room, the view of the large city is spectacular, One morning, lc was up to catch the sun rise, and the visibility was so good, he could see right up to the sea. He was 'shouting' to me in excitement, but i was too tired to tear myself away from the comfy bed.

We walked everywhere. Going places is convenient, there are 'metro' or underground trains, just like any other crowded cities. We visited the 'must' see like the cathedral and churches, as well as walked the stretch of shopping streets - LaRambla. I particularly like the back street lanes, narrow walk ways with tiny interesting shops on both sides, selling antiques, paintings, art, food and even a barber shop where lc had his hair cut for only 7euros! Quite a good turn up i thot.

Of course, we love food - paella and black rice, which we had on our last lunch. Barcelona is good for their seafood, given its ideal location next to the M sea. Shopping is good too, cos we both shop at ZARA. They are having their post winter sales, so it's good for us.

On tours like these, the air tickets are not the 'killers', it's what we spent on food and travel.

It was a reasonable trip.

Flying with a 20mth old tod

2008-01-13T03:42:00.000-08:00

Tip no. 1: bring food

tip no.2: bring more food

tip no.3: bring alot more food

That's what we did. For the entire 1h50min plane ride, we just kept feeding nathan to keep him hush and occupied.

First, you need to know what your tod likes to eat. For nathan, raisins and cheerios are two kinds of food that never fail. We also bought grapes and cereal bars, and plenty of water to keep yourselves hydrated esp on a long flight.

So, time flew by rather quickly, we just ate and ate.

hah, one last but most impt tip, PRAY, for God's strength and patience.

2008-01-05T02:05:00.000-08:00

2008-01-04T05:08:00.000-08:00

Independence

2008-01-04T04:17:00.000-08:00

Nathan is finding his grounds these days, a fast growing independence, and a sudden realization that it is fun doing things without the need of mum. These are his latest milestones:

Drink water holding on to the handles and eat a whole pear. Seeing him taking huge bites from the big round pear and fiddling it with his little hands is a gorgeous sight. Pear has now become his do-without fruit a day. He has also decided to be rather adventurous by being more physical with his hands and legs like climbing up the sofa, standing on the high chair, and crawling under tables and chairs to hide and reach for things. He has even attempted to put on his home soft shoes into his feet!

It was really nice seeing him attempting to do things on his own. We are now experimenting helping him to eat his dinner by himself. I help him scoop the porridge into his spoon. He is able to direct the spoon into his wide open mouth. It certainly helps when he is hungry as he is definitely more keen to feed himself when his tummy rumbles.

Balls are still his favourite games, throwing and bouncing them, and now, sitting and feeling the vibration on his bums.

First Christmas present - New Bib

2008-01-04T04:09:00.000-08:00

It was heart warming to receive Christmas cards from home and friends while we were here, never felt more home sick when it happened.

Nathan had his first Christmas present – a bib, fitted him perfectly well. He didn’t like wearing it, like any other bibs, probably felt restraint at his chubby neck line. He is at this age when he is often bothered by the slightest change and movement, such as changing nappy, or even wearing clothes, which can be a chore, cos he is now bigger and heavier, and ‘escapes’ much quicker than before. Grabbing him back in place is a tiring battle daily.

This is just part of growing up, isn’t it?

My little Sheepie

2008-01-04T03:38:00.000-08:00

Nathan had a farewell present at departure from change airport – a soft toy sheep. He didn’t get acquainted with it until recently, he had developed a liking for it. Some of the things he does with it – talk in his own language, laughs at it and throws it about, or simply, fling things at it, he is amused by it.

The Kok family

2008-01-04T03:36:00.001-08:00

It was nice to have a family of Christ from our home church come and visit and stayed with us for two nights – the Kok family.

The second night, we had a cook up at the elder’s daughter’s hall – popiah party! We couldn’t find larger turnips, so we used cabbage instead, turned out perfect, with peanuts and the awesome home-made chilli sauce, what can go wrong? The second dish was prata with chicken curry. Yummy! Though we’ve only been away from home for 4 months, boy did we miss these food!

Christmas Day

2008-01-04T03:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas day was a lot more fun cos half the day was spent with friends at church.

We had a Christmas service at 10 to 11a.m followed by lunch at 12. Tables and chairs were set up in an hour after the service. The vicar’s wife was the chief chef, together with a team of helpers. I wasn’t sure what I was eating, but everything was tasty, especially the dessert, which often is the highlight of my meal time.

My Japanese neighbours came for the lunch, We sat at the same table. We sang the 12 days of Christmas, played some games and there was even a short skit put up at the very last minute! I meant the actors were chosen at the last min, but everything was planned, the narrator had a write up, there were props and music too. My friend’s 5 yr old daughter was asked to be ‘Mary’, she had simple dressed up clothes, and another Jap boy was selected as ‘Joseph’, and a dollie as baby Jesus.

The programme lasted longer than expected, by the time we left church, it was nearly 3p.m. I was quite glad since going home only meant more tv time and nothing more.

For me, this yr’s Christmas was interesting, spending time with internationals and having a traditional English lunch. That was enough to make it nice.

Christmas Eve

2008-01-04T03:34:00.000-08:00

Unlike many other Christmas we had over the past years in Singapore, it is by far the quietest Christmas eve we ever had. I miss home, and friends and the feastings and exchanging of gifts. None of these happened today.

In the morning, we went to the supermarket to stock up on our supplies because all shops would be closed for the next two days. We returned home by noon, and all we did the rest of the day was sitting in front of the tv and watched movie after movie. First was ‘My Fair Lady’, and next, ‘Chitty Chitty bang bang.’ Both movies are classics. We enjoyed it very much, so did Nathan. Whenever the actors started singing, he would glue his eyes on them.

We had a simple dinner, no turkey or ham nor wine, just our usual Chinese meal, steam rice and fish with fried veg, like any other day.

Mooo

2007-12-21T04:17:00.000-08:00

Nathan makes this funny 'mmooo' noise when he plays on his own sometimes. He has quite a deep voice there.

2007-12-21T04:10:00.000-08:00

Chickies

2007-12-21T03:55:00.000-08:00

My dad bought him these little rubber ducks when he was about 6 mths old, and I am sure glad I brought them over to cambridge, they are his truest companion at bath time! I would ask him to look for the duckies, he would do so, then he would have his duckies in his hands the whole time he is in the bath and sometimes, even after towel dry and change, he would still be holding them tightly in his small little hands.

He particularly likes banging them together to make the 'squeaky' noise.

Climbing stairs

2007-12-21T03:50:00.000-08:00

Climbing up stairs has been his second favourite past time now, it's not the first cos we don;t have stairs around the house, but just outside our flat, there are two flights of stairs which he loves to go up and down it. They are alittle too steep for him to do it by himself, so mummie always helps.

Those flight of stairs in the video are taken in Basel, next to the river, a twice the size of boat quay. When he sees stairs, he runs towards them, then looks up at me, as if saying, 'help me now'. Guess his next mile stone would be climbing up stairs on his own.

Stuck

2007-12-21T03:44:00.000-08:00

Nathan seemed to have this new habit of getting himself into corners, and sometimes he gets stuck like this in the video. It's just funny watching him get out of it by himself without our help. He has also developed the 'bad' habit of hiding things everywhere too, in between the doors, cupboards, underneath the beds and drawers etc, both lye chong and i have grown so tired from hunting things, esp when we're in rush, it can get us very annoyed.

Stool

2007-12-21T03:41:00.000-08:00

Watch Nathan carry this aged old wooden stool from corner to corner. Boy, does he look cute? he was so fascinated with that stool. In fact, it looked familiar, I had one when i was little in my old Toa payoh house.

Walk on Ice

2007-12-21T03:29:00.000-08:00

See little boy venturing out on snowy ground. He is thrilled to see the ground all white and bright. Unfortunately, he did not have a good pair of water proof boots, else he would be jumping and running on it. I had to grab him back before his toes got frozen.

Stamping

2007-12-21T03:16:00.000-08:00

Just want to share a brilliant smile from my little boy.