Playgroup

This morning, Brandon got to talk to his friend, Amelia, on Skype! Amelia was eating her dinner while we talked. Still getting use to this 13 hour time difference thing. Weird to have night and morning at two different places at the same time. Brandon loved seeing Amelia. He especially loved seeing her dog, Okey. Brandon kept saying "dog" and looking for the dog on the computer screen. I hope he doesn't start asking us for a dog too soon!

Steven caught a cab to work this morning. Just after he left, my friend Kristie (and Will) picked us up in a cab. Kristie lives near us, and we were headed to the same playgroup this morning. The playgroup was at my friend, Trudy's, house. Although it was Monday, the group getting together was people from my usual Friday playgroup. I love that this group is weekly, and that there are so many people involved. I look forward to this group each week. Lots of nice moms and lots of children for Brandon to play with. Plus, I like meeting at people's houses. A nice change from all of the public playrooms we visit.


Brandon took an extra long nap today, 3 plus hours. It has been harder to get him down to sleep these last few nights, and I think he was just exhausted.

As Daddy is leaving for London tomorrow night, we decided to go meet him for dinner tonight. Any extra time we can have together is treasured! We had dinner at The Coffee Club tonight. So good to have dinner together as a family.

I've noticed that the service at restaurants here is really slow. They brought my food first. Then, I was halfway done eating by the time Steven's food came. Also, when you ask for the check, it often takes awhile for them to bring it, and then another few minutes for them to run the credit card. I've had this experience at many restaurants, not just tonight's restaurant. Also, the people here walk very slow. In a way, it's nice that people aren't in as big of a rush as they are back in Chicago. But, when I'm walking, I'm often in a hurry to get inside for some a/c (aircon). And, when I'm at a restaurant, I've got a child who is antsy in the highchair. Maybe they need to speed up a bit here, and I need to slow down a bit. :)

Sunday

Before going to work, Steven took a cab with us to Liang Court in Clarke Quay. We grabbed a quick bite to eat together before parting ways. Steven headed to work, and Brandon and I headed up to Royce Gym.

Royce is a very different place on the weekends! Instead of moms and tots, the place was packed with dads and tots. I guess that moms get time away from the babies on the weekends. I also noticed that many of the dads had their helpers with them.

Brandon and I went to the Japanese supermarket at Liang Court before catching a cab home. Brandon is going through milk and fruit very quickly! We have to go to the grocery a couple of times a week just for these items. I've been pleased with Brandon's eating lately. He is doing much better with eating meat. When we got home today, he ate a large piece of chicken. I did have to dip it in hummus to get him to eat it, but that's no problem. I'm happy that he'll eat hummus! Brandon also ate a heap of pinto beans - good protein and iron.

After Brandon's nap, he was quite bored and fussy at home. The weather looked like rain, but we went ahead and walked to the Paragon. It was sooo nice outside! There was a breeze, and it was overcast. I would actuallly say it was "cool" outside. Keep in mind that "cool" here has a completely different meaning than it would back home. "Cool" probably meant 70 degrees. But, it felt really nice out. Very, very comfortable.

I was going to let Brandon play at the kids' playground on Level 5 of the mall, but it was packed with older kids. Instead, there is a toy store behind the playground where kids can play in the front area of the store. They have toys out for kids, and it attracts parent shoppers. It was much less crowded, so Brandon played happily there.

After playing, we went down to Din Tai Fung to get some dinner for carry-out. It was raining when we came out of the Paragon, but it was just a light rain. I was still able to walk home, and it was very refreshing.

When we got home, Brandon devoured almost an entire pork chop from Din Tai Fung. He loved it! Lately, we've been ordering Brandon his own pork chop when we go to Asian restaurants. He sometimes eats too much to share with Mommy.

Tonight was a night for a glass of wine! I haven't been in the mood for it lately, but I was needing a chill. While Brandon played in the bathtub, Mommy chilled out with a nice glass of wine. Her seat - the toilet. :)

Steven got home just before Brandon went to bed. Once the little man was down, Steven and I had our Din Tai Fung. Not as tasty tonight as we were expecting... Oh, well.

Steven told me tonight that he is leaving on Tuesday for London for work. He will be there for a few days. Brandon and I will have to get along without him for a bit. :( Glad that Steven gets to go. It will be great work experience for him. But, we will miss him here soooo much...

Add one more word to Brandon's list - "eye"

Oh, and we have to get Brandon to the bird park soon. He loves to climb on the couch so he can look out the windows for birds. If I ask him where the birds are, he looks intently out the window. He is picking up things sooo fast!!! We have been working on the animals and their sounds lately. So fun!

Saturday

This Saturday morning, Steven, Brandon, and I walked to breakfast at The Coffee Club by the Somerset MRT station. After Steven left us and headed to work, Brandon and I walked to the Forum. I am so happy that the Forum is open for play on the weekends!

I really wanted to take Brandon to the Jurong Bird Park or to Underwaterworld at Sentosa, but we didn't make it today. If we go to those places, I'd really like to get out of the house early to enjoy the best weather of the day. Also, I'd really like to go to those places with Steven. It's hard to do any tourist attractions with Brandon by myself. Just not enough hands. Really looking forward to seeing those two attractions here though.

I took Brandon down to the pool earlier this evening. As usual, he was more interested in walking around on the pool deck than swimming in the pool. He did swim a little though, and he tried to blow bubbles.

Earla, from housekeeping, came today to put up some thicker curtains in Brandon's bedroom (block out curtains). It is so bright in his room in the mornings, and I think that some mornings he has trouble sleeping because of the sunlight. Unfortunately, Earla had to come back an hour later to take the curtains down. I think the curtains had been in a smoker's room before ours, and Brandon's whole room was starting to really smell.

Brandon is really starting to imitate our sounds. Today, I said, "See you later." He said some gibber gabber back that sounded a little like those sounds. Same thing when I said, "Thank you." He is really listening to hear sounds and form words. Words Brandon can say - mama, dada, ball, bye bye, hi, more, dog, hot, moo, yay, and mum mum (a favorite snack). He said "car" once, but he hasn't said it for a while.

Play and More Play

Pictures -

Brandon and Will at their morning playdate

Brandon and Sophia at their afternoon playdate

This morning Brandon and I were supposed to go to our Friday playgroup. This week it was at my friend Michelle's house in order to celebrate her daughter's second birthday. Unfortunately, her daughter, Bea, had a low fever and tummy ache this morning. While we were still invited over, I decided to pass on exposing Brandon to Bea just in case it was a bug. It has been very hot and humid here these past two weeks, and I know a few kids who are sick with fevers and tummy aches. I don't know if the heat is making people feel sick or if there is a bug going around. Brandon is finally over his runny nose and almost over his cough, so I don't want to intentionally open him up to being under the weather again.

Since my friend, Kristie, and I were going to share a cab to Michelle's house, we decided to go ahead and get together at Kristie's place. I love getting Brandon out of the house in the morning. If we stay home all morning before his nap, he gets irritable, and I have trouble getting him down for his nap. We walked to Kristie's this morning. It was a bit overcast and fairly comfortable out. We did take a cab home though.

This afternoon, I was watching Survivor on the Slingbox while Brandon was napping. All of a sudden, I heard a knock on the door. Then, someone said, "Housekeeping!" I ran to the door to try to avoid Brandon waking up. Who was at the door? Steven! What a surprise! He had a quick break at work, and so he made a quick trip home. Even though he had to head back to work, it was such a nice surprise!

Later this afternoon, Brandon and I went over to Wendy and Sophia's house. It was so funny watching Brandon and Sophia interact. They are both very strong willed, and they did quite a bit of fighting over toys at the beginning of our visit. Brandon would take a toy from Sophia, and she would scream. Then, Sophia wouldn't give Brandon her toy, and he would scream. There were definitely a few games of tug-of-war. Usually when Brandon is with another kid, one of them gives up in a toy battle. When Brandon and Sophia are together, neither of them wants to give up. The longer we stayed at Wendy's, the better the kids got at playing together. There were even some moments of kisses and hugs. So cute!

This evening Jo stopped by for a few minutes. She brought us a door stopper for babyproofing and two blankets. I was telling her the other day that I wanted to get a couple of blankets. Just a couple of small ones to snuggle with at night. And, here she shows up at our door with two blankets. She is so thoughtful and generous!

FYI - Cotton candy is called "Fairy Floss" in Australia. Jo told me that if I mentioned "cotton candy" to Jessie and Jake, they probably wouldn't know what I was talking about. I like it. It's neat finding out that items are called different English names in different countries.

Go Go Bambini

This morning, Brandon and I met Kristie and Michael, and Neetu and Zayden at Go Go Bambini. Go Go Bambini is one of the indoor playgrounds here in Singapore that we hadn't been to yet.

http://www.gogobambini.com/

The playground was huge! It was also different from other playgrounds we've been to here and in Chicago. Go Go Bambini's playground was a 6 meter tall jungle gym. It was four stacked levels of tunnels with ballpits, slides, climbing walls, and more. Very impressive. Brandon especially like the ball blower (shown in a couple of the pictures).

I also liked that it only cost SGD$6 for Brandon to have unlimited play. That is the cost for 1-2 year olds. I think the cost more than doubles for children over 2.

Go Go Bambini also had a cafe where parents and kids could order food and eat. After letting the kids play for a while, we all went to have lunch in the cafe. I realized after seeing the prices on the menu that the gym must make its money from the food, and not the play price. It was a nice lunch, but I think that next time we'll just wait until we get home to eat. We paid about $15-ish for lunch. Makes the day not so cheap, especially when you factor in the cab rides to and from. My friends agreed that maybe we'll skip the cafe next time.

After lunch, Brandon, Michael, and Zayden played for a while longer. We'll definitely go back to Go Go Bambini.


Early this evening, Brandon and I took the train down to meet Steven for dinner. When Brandon saw Steven, he ran to him with his arms open for a hug. So sweet. We ate dinner at The Asian Kitchen. We've been there before, and Brandon loves their pork. Steven and I each ordered some pork fried rice, and we ordered Brandon a pork chop. Yummm! Brandon is getting better about eating meet. He loves fruit; his favorite fruit might be blueberries. He loves avocados and pinto beans. Now, we just need to work on vegetables a little more!

Happy Day

This morning we left home a little later than usual. We were able to talk to several family members on Skype, and it was nice to be able to take some time to do that. Brandon and I left with Steven this morning, but he jumped in a cab. I had no morning plans, so we took a stroll down Orchard Road.





There is a mall called "Lucky Plaza" on Orchard Road which we hadn't checked out yet. I decided to stop in and look around. I found that this mall is very different from the Orchard Ion and many of the other malls. Those malls are more upscale with designer name brand stores. Lucky Plaza is one of the largest shopping arcades in Singapore. The mall has small shops which sell electronics, shoes, and sporting goods, to name a few. These stores are not the big name chain stores. The mall also has a wide range of stores which sell Filipino products. The mall is a popular spot for locals and tourists.





After some time in the Lucky Plaza, we left for the Forum. I wanted to let Brandon out of the stroller for a bit. So much energy to burn off! As always, Brandon enjoyed the Forum. Also, I spoke to a couple of helpers while we were there playing. One has a 13 year old son back in the Philippines. Many Filipino helpers here have children at a very young age. To support the children, they move here to be helpers and leave the children in the Philippines with the grandparents. They work here for years and send money back for their children. Once their children are grown, they move back to the Philippines where they begin to raise their grandchildren, as their children do the same as they have done. So, it seems that these helpers don't really raise their own children, but instead they raise their grandchildren.



Brandon's sleep has been off since our trip to Bali. The last couple of nights, he has been up several times just wanting to be held. Today, his nap was a little rough too. Brandon woke up after 40 min. of sleep. When I picked him up, he immediately fell asleep on my shoulder. Every time I tried to put him down, he woke up and cried. I really wanted him to get sleep, so I laid down with him for a bit. I guess I would just have to take a short nap today too... In the picture above, Brandon finally fell into a deep sleep. I was able to get up and take this adorable picture while he slept.





This afternoon, we went to Royce Gym with Laura and her daughter, Tabitha. Brandon's favorite toy today was the toy mop. He also enjoyed the play kitchens. At one point, I saw him sipping some delicious tea.





Brandon was loving his new ball popper toy today! Yay! It was worth buying here! This evening, he kept pushing the "plunger" over and over and over. The music kept playing and playing. So cute, even if the songs are the theme songs to my dreams tonight. :) Brandon was in a much better mood today compared to Monday and Tuesday. I think he is slowly getting back to his routine after Bali.

Plaza Singapura

This morning Brandon and I took a cab to Plaza Singapura with Jo. Plaza Singapura is a mall located at the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station. It's so hard for me to do much shopping with Brandon, and Jo offered to go with me.

There is a store at Plaza Singapura where everything costs SGD$2. It's like the dollar stores in the U.S. I loved this store! I bought several items, including two wine glasses, Ziploc bags, refridgerator magnets, an elephant watering can for Brandon, and, of course, another ball for Brandon. Jo was so helpful. She took Brandon out of the store and entertained him while I shopped. She was also great company. We had lunch at the mall.

There is also a department/grocery store at Plaza Singapura called Carrefour. I bought Brandon some generic Croc sandles. The sandles that I bought back home are still too big for him. I also bought Brandon a toy rotary dial telephone. He loves talking on the phone, so I figured he might leave our phone alone if he has his own. (Yeah, right!) I also broke down and bought Brandon another Playskool Busy Ball Popper. (See video.) It's the same one that Grandma D got Brandon for his first birthday. It was his favorite toy at home, and we couldn't bring it with us. At home, the toy probably costs around $20. Here, I've seen it for about $45. Today, I saw it on sale for $30. I called Steven about it, and we both thought that it was worth the money. I waited until after Brandon's nap to open it. He went wild when he saw the box. "Ball. Ball. Ball." I've gotta say that I was a little disappointed though. Brandon liked the toy, but he didn't seem as into it as he was at home. That's how it goes though, right? I'm thinking that he will play with it more later. He goes through all of his toys when we spend time at home.

This afternoon, my friend Wendy came over for a playdate. I realized that this is the first time we have had someone over since we've lived here. It was really nice. Brandon and Sophia played together and fought over toys. They were both screaming and having a little trouble with the idea of sharing.

This evening I put some pictures on the refridgerator with my new magnets. Something little that makes this feel a little more like home...

Mr. Brandon is learning how to scream and make noise when he doesn't get what he wants. He use to just point at what he wanted. Now, he points and grunts and/or screams. He is still a very, very happy boy. But, he is learning more and more each day that he has his own mind and his own will. Isn't this not suppose to happen until Brandon is 2 years old? :)