Parties, birthdays, New Year and visitors

Thursday 29th January 2009

Wow!! A very busy week this week and lots of fun. 

On Friday I had a birthday party which was fabulous fun. 5 of my friends and their mummies came round to play and mummy made me a cake with a candle on for me to blow out. I loved having my friends round to play and I think everyone had lots of fun.

Then on Saturday it was my birthday, so i opened some presents with mummy and daddy and then we went to see Jinny, Ranesh and Vikram. We had a lovely meal there and I got to play with the pool table which I loved - see the pictures at the top.

On Sunday we chilled out a little bit after a busy few days, I opened some more presents (nothing like making your birthday last!!) and we went to the shops and for a walk in the sunshine. When I woke up Monday morning I discovered that Dan had arrived from the UK whilst I was asleep and it was also Chinese New Year. So we headed out to Chinatown to see all of the decorations and then we headed off to Little India for a look around and some dinner. Me and mummy had a late night (we were home after 9pm!!), needless to say Dan and daddy had an even later night!!!

Tuesday was a quiet day of relaxing at home before Dan headed off to New Zealand for Ros and Scouse's wedding. Then on Wednesday Daddy took me to my swimming class - yeah!! I think he was very impressed with how well I swim underwater and how good I was at jumping in the pool. Finally today we went out to the shops and chilled out at home, ready to start another week of fun and games.

I have been attempting new foods again this week. As well as birthday cake, I have had some raisins (they are fun as I can drop more on the floor than I manage to eat) and some lovely Indian food and I am loving mummy's spaghetti bolognese!! I am also getting very good at managing to manoeuvre around the corners of the coffee table and I can pull myself up to reach the second shelves of the bookcase now. I am also enjoying my breakfast as the picture shows - I emptied mummy's cupboard and started eating my weetabix dry as i got bored waiting for mummy - mummy's cereal is not safe neither, she now has to share it with me and let me use her big spoon - this is after I have finished mine!!

Well I think that is all the gossip from this week. Will be in touch again soon, until then big hugs and kisses,

Eleanor xx

Hong Kong Phooey!!!

Thursday 22nd January 2008

Well the week started off on a bad note, mummy and daddy got me up at 4.30am!! Now I appreciate that I am normally awake at this time for a cuddle, but it is safe in the knowledge that I can go back to bed - but oh no not this time. Instead we get dressed and head off in a taxi to the airport. Luckily this time the flight is much shorter - only 4 hours and then we land in slightly chilly Hong Kong, where this time nearly a year ago I was born.

Once we had stopped for mummy some coffee and me a bagel, we headed off on the Airport Express to meet Vicky who was kindly letting us stay with her. We had a little nap and then headed off to explore Hong Kong and work out how to get down the huge slopes and steps in a pushchair. I was very sensible and decided that with an early start and a busy day tomorrow I would go to bed after dinner - not so the adults, who decided to head out into Lan Kwai Fong.

Anyway, Saturday after a big breakfast we headed off in a taxi and then a train to catch the Disney train to Disneyland. We managed to spend a whole day there and saw some shows and the parade, we went on a boat tour and a train ride and went on a few rides as well. Everybody's favourite was the Buzz Lightyear ride, daddy was very disappointed that the cars were not working, although the mean lady said that I was too small anyway, so we went on the Dumbo ride instead and I got to be in charge of the joystick that moved us up and down - very exciting. The Lion King show was good as well and I clapped during that (although I did cry twice when the baddy came on). Daddy enjoyed this too as he said it was nice to see a musical that was over in 30 minutes!! I did not think much of the parade (slept), the 3D show (slept) and most of the park (slept), but everyone had a nice time and it was dark by the time we left. 

On Sunday we left Hong Kong, but it was nice to be home and the first thing we did once we were back in sunny Singapore - swimming!!!!

We have had a busy week at home though. As well as the usual swimming (we were the only ones in the class this week so I had the pool all to myself, we were practicing diving in off the side, but this week standing up, the taxi driver on the way there thought I was going to be an olympic champion as i was learning to swim at such a young age - should have given him my autograph really!!) and music, I have been helping mummy around the house. I have helped with the washing, the drying up, emptying cupboards and shelves so that mummy can sort them out and clean them and I have also been helping mummy bake. I have also succumbed to peer pressure this week and have decided to start crawling the same way as everyone else - this appears to be much slower than my belly crawling, however it does have the advantage of making you higher when you reach your destination and need to stand up. I do alternate between the two methods though depending on my mood!!

Apparently, there is something quite exciting going on next week, but not sure what. Presents keep arriving and I keep trying to grab them, but mummy steals them before I have a chance to open them and there has been visits to balloon and bubble shops as well as lots of nice baking, so whatever it is I think it will be fun!! I will let you know what happens next week,

Love to you all

Eleanor xx

PS. Gong hei fat choi!! Happy New Year it is the year of the Ox.

Playing, cuddling, kissing and biting!

Thursday 15th January 2008

We have had quite a quiet week this week and i am still trying to get used to being back in Singapore and having some kind of routine. We had a chilled out weekend and did some shopping and swimming, although the water was very very cold and when we went in we did not stay very long. It is really windy here at the minute and around the apartments we keep getting nearly blown away when we head out for the day. The breeze is lovely though as it makes the temperature feel much nicer.

We had our music class again on Monday and we were dancing and playing with the balls again which was fun. I missed swimming on Weds as i was sleeping and mummy was so grateful for that that she did not want to wake me!! We also managed to catch up with Flora and her mummy this week and we headed round to their house to play with some nice toys. Flora is a bit bigger than me (by about 4 months) and I think she thought that i was a bit strange when she was walking around and i was trying to keep up with her by sliding along on my tummy!! She got used to me in the end though and we played - the toadstool playhouse was a definite favourite for both of us!!

My new thing to do at the minute is cuddles. i have been practicing on my dolly and sometimes on mummy if she is lucky enough. You basically fling yourself at someone and say "awh" at the same time - it seems to cheer mummy up! If you are feeling adventurous you can also follow it up with a kiss - you put your open mouth on their cheek and try to get as much saliva on them as possible (if you happen to have a cold you can also try and get some snot in there too!!) However you have to be careful with this as if you accidentally close your mouth, your teeth can get in the way - this is apparently called biting and does not go down as well!!

Well that has been our quiet week. We have a busy couple of weeks coming up, so it has been nice to chill for a short while. We are heading off on another aeroplane this weekend, so I will update you on how that goes soon. Until next week, take care and bye for now

Eleanor xx

Settling back into Singapore

Thursday 8th January 2009

Well we are slowly getting back to normal and I am slowly feeling better. Daddy went back to work on Friday and mummy spent most of the day trying to convince me to nap at the correct times - foolish woman!! We spent most of the weekend trying to sort all of our things out and find a home for all of my new toys - this involved a trip to Ikea, which I thought was very brave of us on a Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday we headed down to the East Coast Park and met Ranesh for sunday lunch. Although mummy took some food with me, I am still being slightly fussy and instead ate rice cakes and all of daddy's mashed potato - it was yummy!! I was happy as Ranesh brought his new camera with him and guess who he chose to practice on!! Not that I love the camera or anything. Daddy has also bought a new camera, so once mummy works out how to use it I am sure there will be some mega impressive pics of me being posted out.

Big news of the week - I managed to stand for 4 whole seconds on my own!!!! (Pause for round of applause) I then realised that I was standing and started flapping my arms until I managed to grab hold of mummy and my push along walker, but not bad for a starter. There is no stopping me now and I am practicing at any given opportunity, although most of the time I think about it and then change my mind - it is quite a scary thing to do.

I have also started my new classes this week - so Monday saw the return to music, which was fun, we are doing feathers this term, so lots of bird noises. Then swimming on Weds, which I am really enjoying again now that I am better. I am a bit of a surfer when we do the float surfing and David was very impressed with how well I held on - very cool. I also wore my new swimming costume this week and the other mummies were very impressed - thanks Auntie Noelle.

Finally to end the week off we went to meet the East Coast Mummies and babies for coffee this morning. It was lovely to catch up with everyone and I was so excited all day that I did not have one single nap all day - ooops! Poor mummy!

Anyway my new shelves arrived today, so mummy and daddy have some building to do this weekend and the new balcony furniture arrives tomorrow, so along with our new plant out there things are beginning to look more homely. Hope you all have a lovely week and speak soon,

love Eleanor xx

Christmas in the South

Thursday 1st January 2009

Well I am still poorly and not enjoying my new nickname of Snotbox from mummy and daddy!! Although, they have also caught the English illness now too, so we are all sad and sniffly together. We had fun at Grandma and Grandad North's and it was lovely to see everyone again and show off all of my new skills!! But on Saturday we got on the train again and headed back to London for another Christmas Day!!

The train was not as much fun this time, as we were unwell and grumpy, it was also very very busy, but we met Grandad at the train station and headed off back to Maidenhead. On Sunday we went to Auntie Noelle's for another Christmas Day and I met yet more cousins, this time the American ones!! It was a lovely Christmas Day and very noisy and full of fun, but I still was not well enough to eat my Christmas dinner. It was great fun to play with all of my cousins and I got lots of lovely hugs from Caitlin - when I let her hug me!!

On Monday we had a big picture taken with all of my cousins and my Auntie's and Uncle's for Grandma and Grandad - they had one taken 3 years ago, but since then 4 more cousins have arrived, including me, so this one is bigger and better as it stars me!!!! We also found out that I have another half cousin (another boy!) called Eduardo Andreas, who was born on Saturday morning, so big kisses to him and his mummy and daddy.

Then on Monday night we went back to the airport and flew off on a big aeroplane back to Singapore. It is really sad saying goodbye to everyone, but we were all very excited to be heading back to the sunshine and feeling warm again. And we know that we will see you all again soon.

Now we are back in Singapore our colds are going and we have managed to go swimming, which was lovely, although strangely a little chilly!! We have also celebrated New Year (slightly earlier than most of you), although I slept through midnight I did wake up slightly afterwards to try some of mummy's champagne (she refused to share!) Finally we celebrated the start of the New Year by sleeping until lunchtime!! Daddy said he could not remember when he last did that - but I have a feeling it might have been at some point pre-Eleanor!!!

Anyway, I hope that you all had "happy holidays" as they say out here and sending you lots of big hugs and kisses to keep you happy throughout 2009. I imagine lots of mischief and fun to be had over the next 365 days. 

Love to all

Eleanor Mary xx

Christmas in the North

Thursday 25th December 2008

Well we arrived safely in England and it was not as cold as we were expecting, but still a shock to the system. It was lovely to see Grandma and Grandad South and we stayed with them for a few days before heading North. We went into London on Saturday and saw the Millenium Eye (which is like the Singapore Flyer which I love) and me and mummy went for a walk and saw Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament as well. We met some friends in a very family friendly pub - it was like pushchair city and even bumped into Ian from Hong Kong!! Then on Sunday we spent the day chilling with Grandma and Grandad - they took me to John Lewis' which is fab (and one thing mummy misses in Singapore!!) I also caught up with my Southern cousins, who were all great fun and their playroom was fabulous. I even tried a mince pie which was yummy!!

Then we headed up to the North on a train, which was exciting - although very busy and we got to see Northern Grandma and Grandad. I caught up with Henry who has grown up lots since I last saw him in the summer and also my great-grandparents, which was lovely. Unfortunately by this time I had caught the English disease (aka a cold) so could not play as much as I wanted to.  On Christmas Eve I stayed at home and rested so that I was ready for the big day, whilst daddy, Auntie Becca and Grandma headed off into Leeds for some last minute shopping!!!

Yeah - the big day has finally arrived, my very first Christmas!! We were up nice and early to see whether or not Santa had been - and he had!!! I have definitely improved at opening presents with practice - although I still needed a nap in between. I got some fun computer story books, lots of lovely clothes and some yummy chocolate, which I have promised to share with mummy. I had a lovely nap during dinner, so that the grown ups could eat in peace, although I did try a bit of the turkey and it was quite yummy.

I really enjoyed my first proper Christmas. although I was a  bit sad that it did not snow!!

Oh well Merry Christmas everyone and hope that Santa came to you all.

Big Christmas kisses under the mistletoe

Eleanor xx