Normal life resumed!!

Thursday 30th July 2009

Well things are slowly returning back to normal. My spots have disappeared and both myself and mummy are feeling better now. We started the week off quietly just to make sure we had recovered properly and we stayed in and played some games - mainly consisting of me chasing mummy around the house with the pushchair and wearing shoes that do not belong to me (usually daddy's as these are bigger and therefore easier for me to get on my feet!)

We had a chilled out weekend as well. We did some jobs on Saturday and went looking at cars again, as I am far too wriggly in taxis not to be strapped in anymore. Then on Sunday we went out for a lovely roast dinner - daddy said he had the best Yorkshire puddings he had ever had and then with a stern look from mummy corrected himself and said the best Yorkshire puddings he had ever had out at a restaurant or pub!! In the afternoon daddy went off to play football and mummy and I went swimming - yeah!!! Then we watched the Grand Prix before heading off to bed - i still am not sleeping that well and keep waking up after a few hours in bed but am staying in bed until about 7am, so the jet lag has nearly gone!!

Then we had a normal week of music on Monday - we now go to class on a morning as we have moved up a group and there are a few people we recognised from the class before. Tuesday we were busy doing jobs at the dry cleaners, post office and supermarket and then we went swimming again! Wednesday was a proper swimming day - Dave said that he had missed us and was impressed that I had not forgotten how to swim whilst we had been away in the UK. I had loads of fun jumping in off the side, although i did sulk slightly when we had to stop and do something else instead!! Then finally today was the East Coast meet up which meant a trip out to Polliwogs - yeah!! It was a bit busier than normal today and there were some bigger children there as well - i think mummy was a bit concerned that i was trying to hang around with the older boys (they must have been about 6, but they were good fun and were big enough to shoot the guns, so i was running around getting balls for them!!)

My other favourite toy of the week has been my dolly. I changed her clothes this week, attempted to give her a bath (twice) which mummy was not that impressed with and have happily carried her around with me wherever we have gone - she even went to the supermarket with us - i was quite keen to walk and push her in the pushchair, but mummy thought that it was better if we both went in my pushchair - probably a good choice mummy!

Singapore Spots

Thursday 23rd July 2009

Well we have had a bit of a weird week this week trying to get back into Singapore life and time zone. We landed at Changi Airport a bit late after a flight where I was not feeling well - with the main symptoms being a fever and sore throat - as mummy kindly pointed out the classic symptoms of swine flu and we were met by a lovely man (Bernard) who helped us with our bags and drove us home. Then about 3 hours later we were back at Terminal 3 to collect daddy from the airport - we were a bit naughty and did not tell him so we got to say "surprise!!!" I think he was pleased to see us!!

Anyway we had a nice weekend, we had a lovely late lunch out with Jan and Alan who were visiting from Hong Kong, I have included a couple of pictures, as you can see I was clearly entertaining mummy and Jan with my stories of life in Singapore!! On Sunday we did a few jobs and then went out for an early dinner (all you can eat meat!!) before heading back home to try and get me asleep slightly earlier than last night - especially when i decided that 12.30am was playtime!!

After feeling unwell on the flight and being tired and a bit off my food (all things we put down to jet lag) I had another symptom appear - spots!!! A horrible spotty rash all over my body - luckily it did not bother me and mummy figured it was heat rash, so we spent Monday on a keep Eleanor cool mission - no clothes/nappies (cue mummy saying oops wee wee lots!!), swimming in the nice cool pool and lots of air con. However, by Tuesday it was worse so off we went to see Dr Vas - she said that I had a "post-viral rash" and a slightly sore throat still - which meant that 1) i got to keep my clothes on, 2) my next booster has been postponed for two weeks, 3) I was not contagious so i could still go out, although she did say to avoid big groups in case i catch something else and 4) mummy was finally letting me sleep rather than trying to me awake to stop the jet lag!! In the very close up picture of me at the top you might be able to see some of my spots, although they have faded now!

Well that did mean that the rest of the week has been spent recovering especially as mummy came out in sympathy with me and was feeling unwell too (although no spots for her - yet!!) I have been playing with my pushchair and dolls and we even took them for a walk around the condo, although occasionally i got too excited about something else and forgot about her (once on a slope -oops!!) Oh and I have another yuck - veggie burgers (what was mummy thinking - where is the meat in a veggie burger??!)

I think that was all the news this week. A lot of my classes have not started yet and I missed swimming because of my rash, but hopefully some things will start to return back to normal again next week.

Well speak later, bye for now

Eleanor xx

Ps The other picture is of me with my Upsy-Daisy t-shirt on, as you can see I am very pleased with it!!

Rule Britannia!!

Thursday 16th July 2009

Well as promised this week's blog is late (although slightly later than intended!) We had a busy final week in the UK as expected and have done quite a bit of travelling this week as well, so here goes!!

We had a quieter day on Friday as Grandma was at work, so we went with Grandad (aka the Yorkshire version of Bob the Builder) round to Uncle Jonathan's as he had some jobs to do which meant we got to see baby Nina (shhh!) again and I had fun running around Auntie Jo's house - she has a great running track through the lounge, hallway, kitchen, dining room and back around to the lounge - great fun. Then in the afternoon we went shopping and had a lovely Chinese for dinner - I had prawn crackers for the first time and they are definitely yummy!!

We had a very long day on Saturday as we headed out to the seaside again, this time to Scarborough. It was really nice and very warm. We played on the beach again, went into the amusement arcades and some fun rides, we had fish and chips for lunch (although i was not that keen, so had banana, yoghurt and bread!), then we walked for ages along the seafront, had a paddle in the sea and then played crazy golf again (which i won - yippee!!! (well with a bit of help from Grandad!)) then we had ice cream (well everyone else did and i just picked whose i was going to steal some from) before we headed home. Wow, exhausting but great fun and i did not go to bed until after 9!!

Sunday we had some more travelling to do as we headed back to Maidenhead and Grandma and Grandad south. I was very pleased to find Mary's Cabin still there and Grandad put the paddling pool up for me as well. On Monday we headed off to see daddy's cousins and auntie which was lovely. Carmels' house was lots of fun as she has two little boys, so there were lots of toys to play with and a big climbing frame in the garden to entertain us whilst the grown-ups had coffee and gossiped!!

Tuesday was shopping again as we had some presents to buy.We went to a lovely shop called John Lewis, which has loads of fab things in it (including toys) and a cafe which had children's food as well as grown ups! Then in the afternoon the Freeman cousins came round to Grandma's to visit and we had loads of fun playing and running around the garden!!

Wednesday was another adventure as we headed into London to see Julia. London was brilliant, it was really warm and very busy with loads of shops and people in suits so I felt quite at home - although it was not quite as busy as Singapore or Hong Kong. We did some shopping and then had a lovely lunch with Julia before heading back to Grandma's on the tube and the train (very exciting!) Then the Freeman cousins came round again with some food that they had made themselves (well dug up out of the ground at the allotment) so we had very fresh potatoes and carrots with our chicken, followed by cake as it was Grandad's birthday!!

Well that brings me to the end of my week and the end of our summer holiday to the UK. We had a great time visiting and loved catching up with everyone that we managed to, apologies to those we did not get chance to see. It is sad to be leaving, but I am looking forward to being back in Singapore and giving my daddy a big kiss and cuddle.

So the end of the week sees me on a big plane, fast asleep heading back to Singapore, tune in next week (well in a couple of days) to find out what happens next......

Love a very British Eleanor xxx

Sun, sea and rain!!!

Thursday 9th July 2009

Well as expected another busy week was on the agenda. First of all on Friday we went shopping!! We headed to York but had to change our plans slightly as it rained so heavily we could not get out of the car!!! We made it in the end though and bought some lovely clothes for both myself and mummy and we even got daddy a lovely shirt too!!

On Saturday we stayed in but had lots of visitors in the shape of Great-Grandma and Grandad, Auntie Michelle and Ian, Ben, Andrea and baby Henry and Uncle Jonathan, Auntie Jo and baby Manina - phew!! We had a lovely BBQ with lots of yummy sausages and burgers and the sun was shining, so Henry and I jumped into the pool to cool down, baby Manina was too little to join us though.

Then on Sunday we had more sunshine and more water as we headed off to the seaside - we went to Bridlington and two of the pictures at the top show me in my sunny beach day outfit and also playing on the beach with my bucket and spade, I also had an ice-cream (well some of everyone else's) and sat very briefly on a donkey before i cried and mummy saved me by lifting me off!!

Monday was shopping day again and we headed into Leeds (and more rain). We met mummies friend Sarah for lunch at the art gallery which was really yummy!! We also caught a bus which was fun and made me very sleepy, especially when mummy was chatting to random people on the bus.

Tuesday was another big day out as we headed off to Knaresborough with Grandma, Auntie Becs and Manina and her mummy and daddy! Once again you've guessed it we had sunshine and then rain!! Luckily we found a coffee shop to keep dry in - some things never change no matter where you live!! I played my first game of golf as well, it was crazy golf and we lost although I think that was mainly mummy's fault!! We had lunch and dinner in a pub - apparently this was only Nina's second time in a pub - so I am being blamed for leading her astray!!!

Then on Wednesday we headed of to Lincoln, which was lovely. After a bit of retail therapy we met up with Ruth and Archie for lunch. Archie is two months older than me and we had fun eating our pizza (or more technically throwing it all over the floor) and then running along the waterfront chasing pigeons and ducks!!! I have attached a picture of the two of us running around.

Phew!! Finally today we had some more shopping to do including a brand new pushchair for me (not sure how mummy is getting that one in the suitcase!!) and then we had a lovely visit from Great-Grandma and Grandad - which resulted in me discovering what the biscuit tin looks like!! Then when we had picked Grandad up from work and I had had my third (!) sleep of the day, Isobel came round to play with her daddy and granny (they are friends of June next door), although we had to hide under the gazebo to play in the ball pool as once again it rained!!!

Well I am thoroughly exhausted this week and have been catching sleep wherever and whenever I can (I am generally asleep within 5 mins of getting in the car no matter what time of the day it is!) I have tried some new food as well - peaches (not that good), rice pudding (yuck!), chocolate pudding and custard (created a complete meltdown - double yuck!!!), Auntie Bec's chocolate buttons (double yummy!!!), Auntie Bec's ice lolly - like the lollies but not that keen on ice cream ones, Auntie Bec's water (so much yummier than anyone else's) - poor Auntie Bec's has not managed to eat anything all week!!!

Well, I hope that you like this week's blog - am sure that there are lots of things that I have missed out. I have a new best friend in Jasper dog - he makes me giggle and is the first thing that I look for when I wake up on a morning, I enjoy chasing him around the house, although I am not entirely convinced he always wants to be chased. As you can see from the pictures he loves me too, why else would he be trying to get in through the cat flap??!! (Mummy has just reminded me that he is trying to get in that way as I had sent him out and shut the door behind him - ooops!!)

Well, am going to say bye bye for now. Next week's blog will be slightly late as we will be on an aeroplane at the time the blog should be going to press, heading back to sunny and rainy Singapore. Mmm, home from home I guess!!

Love and kisses to you all
Ellie-Smellie (as Grandad likes to call me!) xx

Sunshine and heat

Thursday 2nd July 2009

Well as the title suggests the hot weather has continued this week and boy can the Brits moan about the weather!!! I am quite enjoying it although mummy is a bit upset that she bought me some new trousers for the UK summer and so far I have been wearing the same clothes as i do in Singapore - yes it really is that hot!!!

To help me cool down we have been doing some water based activities - on Friday we went swimming (indoors) with Auntie Kate and Matthew and Amelia and we have also had the paddling pool out at both my Grandma's allowing me to get really wet - although the water was a bit chilly!!!

On Saturday we had a day out with grandma and grandad south - we went shopping in the morning and Grandma treated me to a babyccino and then we headed to a model village where everything was teeny tiny - the best bit was the trains that whizzed around and then me, Grandma and mummy went on a bigger train which was fun. Grandma also treated us to ice cream - a yummy mini milk. Then on Sunday we went to mass in the morning and all of my UK cousins were there - we escaped into the next room and sang some songs and did some colouring before we returned back to the grown ups for more singing and then I held Grandma's hand to head up for communion (i was on my best behaviour!!)

On Sunday afternoon we had a long car journey "up north" as grandma and grandad north came to pick us up and drove us up to Leeds. When i got to their house Auntie Becca was waiting for me and also a big, furry animal that kept running around and was more excitable than me - apparently it is called a doggy and his name is Jasper (or "down" have not fathomed that one out yet as they seem to shout both at him!!) It took me a while to suss him out but now we are good friends and enjoy chasing each other round and throwing things for him to catch.

Mummy is back in the driving seat again - which took me a while to get used to but now i am quite happy in my seat, especially if one of the other adults is in the car as well as they can be quite entertaining when they are trying to stop me crying!! Although I do keep trying to escape from the car seat, it seems to have a magic chemical in it that makes me fall asleep!!

On Monday we went round to visit baby Nina and i got to have lots of cuddles, I was quite good at being gentle and I got to play with some of her toys too. Then on Tuesday we had a visit from Great-Grandma and Grandad which was lovely and they brought me a lovely sunhat which has proved very useful over the last week. On Wednesday we went to Polkadots which is a bit like Polliwogs (although obviously not as good!!) and then finally this afternoon we went to Roundhay Park to see the butterflies, big fish and meerkats before a quick dip in the paddling pool!!

Phew!! What a busy week! I think mummy might have some shopping trips planned for next week, so far we have only bought baby chopsticks, a cool bag and a jumper for mummy so think we might need more things to fill up the suitcase!! Also the seaside has been mentioned, I liked Bintan and Kota Kinabalu so think this sounds fun - although donkeys have been mentioned so not quite sure where they fit in.

Right had better go, hope you like the pictures
Toodle-pip!!
El x