They are setting some booths up on Orchard Road with advertisements for the Youth Olympic Games. The games will be here in mid-August. There is also a large clock on the corner of Orchard and Paterson that is counting down the time until the games begin. If you can't see the picture well enough, it says that there are 102 days until the Olympics. I don't walk past this clock every day, but I think it read that there were 139 days until August 14th when we got here. Actually, the time has passed rather quickly!
I also took a picture of the nutmeg sculpture in front of the Orchard Ion today. I've seen the sculpture, but I've never really taken the time to stop and investigate it. Why a nutmeg? Apparently, the mall's building site use to be a nutmeg plantation. Orchard Road also takes its name from the orchard and nutmeg plantations that were located on that site in the early 19th century before commercial development. Good to learn a bit of local history.
Brandon and I got to the American Club a little earlier, so I let Brandon run around in the lobby while we waited for our friends. While we were waiting, my mobile rang. I almost didn't answer it, because I didn't recognice the number. I'm so glad I did though! It was Dr. Chiang. At first, I was worried that he wanted to see Brandon for some reason. However, he just called to give me the names of some great parks to take Brandon to here. We were talking about this at the appointment yesterday, and Dr. Chiang couldn't remember the names of a couple of the parks. I was so impressed that he not only remembered, but he also took the time to pick up the phone and call me. Wow. He could have even waited until next Monday's follow-up appointment to tell me, but he didn't. So, so nice!
Brandon and I enjoyed our time at the American Club today. They have a very nice playroom, and Brandon loves playing with new toys! They also have a great lunch menu, and we enjoyed a nice lunch by the pool with our friends afterwards.
I wanted to get home before Brandon's nap, but I was also trying to wait until close to 1 pm to get back. There was some building maintenance going on today, so they had our air conditioning off until 1 pm. I really didn't want Brandon taking a nap in a room with no a/c, especially in this heat! Luckily, the air was back on when we returned.
This afternoon, Jo, Jake, and Jessie came down to visit for a while. They have been such a blessing to me here! Brandon and I love their company!
A couple of neat things Brandon did today -
When he got up from his nap, he was a little cranky and laid his head on my shoulder. After a couple of minutes, I asked him if he wanted to turn the light on. He popped his head right up and pointed at the light switch. Just so cool when I know that he understands something I say.
Brandon was playing with a red transparent baby wipe case today. He was holding it up over his face. I saw him look up at the lights on the ceiling through the case. He must have noticed that he was seeing red because then he kept moving the case on and off of his face. He was looking at the lights without the case and then through the case. So fun to watch Brandon learn and discover his world!
