Eleanor McGovern

Big Girl Bed

2010-02-18T19:25:00.000-08:00

Saturday 6th February 2010

Well as the title suggests we spent this morning changing my cot into a big girl bed. It was lots of fun and as expected I helped lots in moving nuts and bolts (not always to the right places) but after a bit of sweat and a few tears (I knocked the old sides down and they landed on my foot!) I have a new bed.

Daddy bought me a pillow and case to match my throw (all in pink obviously) and once we get to the UK we are going to go shopping for a very thick duvet for it and a new cover (very likely to be in pink or possibly blue if i see an ITNG one!)

I LOVE MY NEW BED!!!! I keep saying bye bye and going to lay down in it under the covers and rush into it as soon I get out of the bath or shower, however.....

although I enjoy being in bed, I am not very good at staying in it and pretty much as soon as mummy and daddy leave the room and shut the door I escape!! It has also meant that morning happens about an hour earlier now as well, although this is just my way of getting daddy used to the earlier morning wake up call once we are back in London. And it also means that I get to snuggle for a bit with mummy and daddy in bed before we get up, which is always nice!!

In the space of a week, I have only fallen out of bed once and it is not very high so does not really hurt it is just a bit of a shock!! Luckily mummy came to the rescue, gave me a cuddle and I was fast asleep again before my head even hit the pillow.

I have enclosed a picture of my new big girl bed - hope you like it

Sweet dreams all,

Love Eleanor xx

Happy birthday to me!!

2010-02-12T04:40:00.000-08:00

Sunday 24th January 2010

Well today is my birthday and I have reached the dizzy heights of 2!!

I had a lovely morning opening lots of presents from everyone. I got lots of lovely warm winter clothing ready for when we return to the UK and some very pretty party dresses as well. I also got some lovely story books and dvd's - all of which are fab!! After I opened all of my presents and played with them (especially my scooter - had lots of fun scooting around the lounge and up and down the hallway), we had to get busy finishing off all of the baking that we had been doing all week. It was the icing and sprinkling part which I was in charge of - although mummy took control of the teddy bear cupcakes in the end, as I was doing one smartie for the eye, one for me, one chocolate button for the ear, one for me - I think mummy was worried that I might end up being ill before my party.

Anyway after my nap we headed over to the clubhouse in the condo and started getting ready for the party. We had lots of decorations up, a Winnie the pooh theme, lots of balloons and most importantly of all an indoor bouncy castle - wow!! In pink - even better!! I had lots of fun playing with all of my friends and running around eating lots of yummy food before leaping and jumping on the castle (not a good idea) and by the end of the night I was so tired I fell asleep straight away.

Now let the terrible two's begin!!

Love from the birthday girl xx

Bleurgh!

2010-01-22T05:20:00.000-08:00

Thursday 21st January 2010

Well the title says it all this week. We have been poorly. I started being sick on Thursday night and continued the pattern until Saturday night, when mummy decided to join in as well and poor daddy had to look after both of us:-(

It means that this week has been no fun at all, as we have slowly recovered and got a bit of energy back although I am still not eating properly - which regular blog readers will know is really not like me!!

We made it round to Daniel's this afternoon though which will be the last playdate at his before he moves out of his house and eventually back to the UK, how exciting!! It was lots of fun and we got to make loads of mess, as ever - Charlotte was back from her holidays as well this week, so the old gang was back together - yeah!!!

Well another short and sweet one, with just news of me sitting in front of the tv dancing to Boogie Beebies (it was the only thing that was cheering me up!!)

Take care and will fill you in on next weeks gossip soon. Apparently it should be quite a busy weekend - mmmm, I wonder why???!!!!

Love Eleanor xx

Big Kids!

2010-01-22T05:13:00.000-08:00

Thursday 14th January 2010

Well this week was much busier!! We had a playdate with Daniel on Friday which was great as we got to play with loads more toys that Santa had brought for Daniel and mummies got to have a gossip after the holidays. Then on Saturday the big boys had a lie-in and we went to watch football in the afternoon. Ben was there watching his daddy play as well, so we got to have fun running around and trying to pull out all of the corner flags!!

Then on Sunday we took Jon off to Sentosa and whilst mummy was trying to get me to sleep, daddy and Jon went on the luge and the zip ride - I think they had lots of fun. We also headed across a swinging bridge to the southern most point of Continental Asia and got to climb loads of steps at the other side - yeah, I had loads of fun!! When we had tired ourselves out in the sunshine (it was very hot), we headed back for a swim and then went off to Little India for our dinner - yummy curry!

Classes started again this week, so mummy and I went to playgroup on Monday and swimming on Wednesday and finished the week off the same way we started - with a playdate with Daniel, although this time he got to see all of the fab presents that Santa had brought me!!

Anyway, that was this week, speak to you all next

Eleanor xx

A Quiet One!

2010-01-08T18:52:00.000-08:00

Thursday 7th January 2010

After the excitement of the last few weeks we have had a nice chilled out week this week. Sunday we were very tired after getting home from Bali at half one in the morning! I had a big nap at lunchtime, which I think everyone was pleased about and then we headed out to do a big shop for lots of yummy food.

Most of my classes have not started yet, but swimming did which I was really pleased about. I managed to swim down to the bottom of the pool and I did big aeroplanes which was really good fun. I think after all the swimming that we did on holiday, it made me super confident in the water which was really good.

Our first visitor of the year arrives today as well, so I think we have a busy weekend of site seeing coming up, so it was just as well we got to chill out this week.

Sorry it is so short, but will chat again next week

Eleanor xx

Bali, Indonesia

2010-01-04T21:40:00.000-08:00

Saturday 3rd January 2010

Well late at night on Boxing Day we headed off on a plane to Bali. I had my pink suitcase with all of my toys in and my In the Night Garden rucksack with my snacks in! When we got to Bali it was time for bed, so we blew up my In the Night Garden ready bed and laid it on the sofa, so I had a lovely snugly bed (it was that comfy that I kept sneaking into it during the day as well!!) Our villa was lovely, we had a big bedroom with an area outside for mummy and daddy to sit whilst I was sleeping, a huge bath and a big shower and then our back yard was a swimming pool!! It was the perfect depth for me to play in and then when we opened the back gate it led to a big 70m pool with a bar and our own sundeck - lots of fun!!

When we were feeling lazy instead of walking to the restaurant, we could ring up and order a golf cart and get a lift - this was one of my favourite parts of the holiday and sometimes I was even allowed to ride up front with the driver! The people there were lovely as well and everyone knew my name by the end of the holiday - I was very popular! When we weren't in the pool or the golf buggy, I enjoyed walking up and down the steps constantly and eating lots of yummy noodles and sausages.

We went to 2 barbeque's and saw a traditional Balinese dance at one (with a scary man in a mask that I did not like) and we watched a dance of the Ramayana epic (although I slept through 2 of the three acts). We headed off to see some water temples and gardens one day, we spent a few days in Ubud town (mainly because whenever we got in the shuttle bus I fell asleep, so if I hadn't napped off we went!!) and we also went on an elephant safari! Our elephant was called Deli and she was lots of fun, she could play the harmonica (slightly better than me) and daddy was even allowed to sit on her (with me and mummy in the back pretending not to be scared!!)

We were in Bali for New Year and had a dinner and music night. I slept through most of it, but woke up about 11 so I got to see in the New Year with mummy and daddy - I really enjoyed the fireworks and liked the music and dancing with daddy, but it was a bit too loud for me so we were all safely tucked up in bed by 1am. Needless to say I still woke up at 6.30, I think mummy and daddy were hoping for a lie in!!

Well we had a lovely holiday in Bali and it was the perfect start to 2010 - hope you like the pictures and Happy New Year - Cheers!!

Eleanor xx

Christmas 2009

2010-01-03T17:32:00.000-08:00

Saturday 26th December 2009

We had a lovely Christmas in Singapore - my first in the sunshine and heat. It started before bedtime on Christmas Eve when I hung up my stocking and opened my Christmas pyjama's. I fell asleep really quickly and slept better than mummy and daddy - I was up at 7 to open my presents and mummy and daddy had been awake since 5.30am - I think they were too excited!!!

The first thing I opened was my In The Night Garden sticker book which was in my stocking - I was so excited that I played with that for 20 minutes, whilst mummy and daddy tried to convince me that I should open some more presents, especially as Grandma's were on Skype wanting to see me open some of my presents from Santa!!

I had loads of wonderful presents to open - far too many to mention here and I was so pleased with them all that after they were opened I played with them for ages before moving onto the next present - hence this is being written on Boxing Day as I have only just got round to opening them all!! I had loads of fun stacking the presents up and knocking them down again - luckily no presents were breakable!! I was having so much fun doing this that mummy sometimes had to start opening the presents and give me a peak of Iggle Piggle, before I worked out that there was probably something more exciting inside it!!

Thank you very much for all my presents I am sure that I will update you all over the coming weeks with pictures of me either in or playing with my presents.

Christmas afternoon we headed off to my friends Helena's for a Christmas BBQ. Cara and Eva were there too and we had lots of fun playing outside whilst the grown-ups ate too much yummy food indoors.

We also spent a lot of the day on Skype to try and speak to people on Christmas morning here, in the UK and in the US. It was quite cool as we spoke to a lot of people before Santa had even arrived. I like living in Asia as we get our presents sooner - thanks Santa!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas

Love and mistletoe kisses

Eleanor xx

All things Christmassy!

2010-01-03T03:32:00.000-08:00

Thursday 24th December 2009

We have been busy this week getting things ready for Christmas Day. We have done some last minute shopping , baked lots and lots of sausage rolls (I have included a picture of me helping make them) and received loads of special parcels at all hours of the day and night.

I have been reading my Christmas stories, putting stickers in my Christmas sticker book and I have finally finished opening my advent calenders. We also went out one night to Orchard Road to see the Christmas lights. It was very pretty and we had a yummy Italian meal as well. I was so tired that when we got home I fell down the condo stairs and landed on my head - ouch! I survived though with only a slightly cut lip so my Christmas pictures will not be ruined!!

In some brief non-Christmas related news I got my hair cut again this week. We went to Curly and Spike's in UE2 and daddy and I had a great time. They have x-box's for you to watch and play with whilst you get your hair cut, I watched a Hi5 DVD whilst the lady cut my hair. I still cannot see out of my fringe though, as we are trying to grow it out, so mummy is still spending all of her time moving it out of my face - whilst I promptly shake my head and cover my face again!!

Well Merry Christmas everyone, lots of love

Eleanor xx

Fashion tips for 2010!!

2009-12-18T22:35:00.000-08:00

Thursday 17th December 2009

The week started off well with a morning at play group, which was lots of fun, but sadly the last one before the Christmas holidays. Then as mummy has not been feeling well, daddy was in charge for the weekend, so we went shopping and I got to go in the backpack carrier, which was loads of fun. Then Daddy and I headed off to football for the afternoon, Zoe kindly looked after me whilst daddy played some football, so I got to play with Ben on the sidelines which was lots of fun.

I have been busy opening my advent calendars this week and have made some magnetic photo holders (in the shape of a snowman and Santa Claus), I have also been painting with my Christmas coloured paint sticks (red, gold, green and silver). Another gift in my advent calendar was a coloured crayon especially for the bath - so I have lots of fun at bath time scribbling all over the bath, as you can see from the picture.

I have started taking a bit more interest in my appearance over the last few weeks. I love wearing mummies make-up - especially her foundation and lipstick (or quite often tongue and chin stick when I miss my lips!!) I keep wanting to wear my Leitrim top as well (thanks Shaun and Marie) and cried hysterically the other day when mummy had to put it in the washing machine (this also happens if I catch her trying to wash my Upsy-Daisy t-shirt as well!!) I have enclosed a picture of me in one of my outfits from this week - the Atlanta Braves cap of Daddy's was key to my style and I refused point blank to wear it forwards, so off we went to the shops with daddy's cap on, dummy in mouth, handbag in one hand and baby in the other. Needless to say by the time we returned from the shops mummy was carrying everything, as I had exchanged them all for a bottle of water and some animal biscuits!!!

Finally we rounded the week off with a play date at Daniel's and as ever food was on the agenda - we had yummy grapes and then some Mince Pies - yum, yum!!!

Well that is all for this week, speak to you all later

Love always

Eleanor xx

It's Christmas!!

2009-12-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

Thursday 10th December 2009

Well the big news of the week is that Christmas has definitely arrived. We spent the weekend looking for Christmas decorations and then putting up our Christmas Tree which was lots of fun. I especially liked the stringy silver things - I had loads of fun putting them all over the tree, although daddy was not impressed with my artistic abilities and promptly redecorated the tree after!!

I went to playgroup on Friday and Monday, which was lots of fun. We did some fab angel hand painting - mine is now stuck to the fridge door and then I made a very glittery angel - I really enjoyed the glue and glitter, lots of fun. We also made it to swimming, but no coach Dave this week and we met up with Jo and the twins before they head back home to Perth for Christmas. No music this week as the term has finished. We also should have had Charlotte's birthday party but sadly it was cancelled due to illness, so we will celebrate that in the New Year.

Lots of people are starting to head home for Christmas, but most of the people we know from Europe are choosing to stay in the warmth rather than head home to the cold, so there should be a few of us here to celebrate Christmas in the sunshine with.

Mummy and I have also been practicing our baking skills this week and made some very yummy carrot, oat and mixed spice cookies - yum, yum!! I have enclosed a picture of me mixing all the ingredients together - with very little mess, I hasten to add!!

Well, adios for now, speak soon

Eleanor xx

Minding my pea's and coo's!

2009-12-02T04:22:00.000-08:00

Thursday 3rd December 2009

Well as the title suggests my speech is improving rapidly and I have now learnt that saying pea's (please) with my head slightly tilted and a little smile, will just about get me anything I want. I say just about because sometimes mummy is a bit slow and cannot understand the rest of the sentence and just stands there looking vacant saying "Pea's what, mummy doesn't know" (at this point please feel free to imagine me shaking my head in utter disgust!!) Along with pea's, another word I am being encouraged to use is C00 (or thank you). I am not 100 per cent sure what I gain by saying this though, as I already have want I want, but it seems to make mummy and daddy happy. Other than that my favourite word is door! Which I say at every available opportunity and in a really long and drawn out manner!

We have had a quiet week this week again as it has been raining lots and limited our excursions! We had a long weekend as Friday was a bank holiday which was nice and we chilled out over the weekend, but other than that it was the usual round of music and swimming, but no playgroup this week. Finally today we had another play date with Charlotte and Daniel, which as ever was lots of fun!!

The big excitement of this week was advent calendars!! I have 3 and they are lots of fun. Grandma and Great-Grandma sent me yummy chocolate ones, which mummy has kindly offered to help me out with and then mummy and daddy bought me a felt one when we were in Sydney, which has different toys and treats in each day. I have included a picture of me opening one of my pockets. The other pictures are of me in my witch hat - I have a bit of a thing about wearing hats at the minute, regardless of whether they are seasonal or not!! The last one is of me eating my chicken noodle soup with my special child friendly chopsticks - in pink!!

Big Hugs

Eleanor xx

Lots of fun playing with friends!

2009-11-27T03:56:00.000-08:00

Thursday 26th November 2009

Well another week of catching up with people this week. It started with playgroup on Friday which was lots of fun, we made rich tea iced biscuits which were very yummy. Then on Tuesday we went round to visit Harriet and Cara who again we had not seen since before we went to the UK in the summer. We had lots of fun playing and some really yummy crackers and coconut cake!!

Wednesday we were once again rained off swimming, but today we managed to catch up with two sets of friends. In the morning we saw Mary, Michael and Dave which was great - we got to run around the coffee shop again as it was quite quiet and we had yummy babyccinos too. We always have fun when we catch up with them, running around and tiring ourselves out!! Then in the afternoon Daniel and Charlotte came to our house to play, which again was lots of fun and i am now much better at sharing my toys with them!! We had some yummy hummus and bread sticks and grapes as well - i love play dates as i get to eat and play with my friends - perfect!!!

Hope you like the pictures, they are of me "helping" mummy clean the bathroom!

Love as always

Eleanor xx

Flights = poorly!

2009-11-27T03:48:00.000-08:00

Thursday 19th November 2009

Well as the title suggests as usual after a trip somewhere we have come back with a cold and quite a nasty cough. The combination of feeling a bit poorly and all the excitement of travelling means that I have slept a bit more this week - including one afternoon nap of 3 hours!!! Mummy was quite pleased.

In between sleeps we have been busy catching up with people and we had a lovely playdate with Isobel and Ava on Tuesday, which was really nice as we had not seen them in absolutely ages, so had lots of things to gossip about and of course mummy had some yummy biscuits on hand!!

We also made it to music class which was good fun as ever, especially as we did the boat trips again which is one of my favourite things. The teacher spoke to mummy at the end and said that although I look very girly, looks can clearly be deceptive as I like all the rough and tumble things!! Not sure what she was talking about!!

We also headed out to the Allard's new house for a barbeque which was really nice. They have moved just around the corner and we had lots of fun playing with all their toys and heading out into the garden. I even got to stay up really late, but I was on my best behaviour and obviously got to eat lots of yummy sausages - mmmm!!!

Well I am afraid that was it for this week, a nice quiet week after the chaos of China,

Speak soon

Eleanor x

Beijing, China

2009-11-20T23:19:00.000-08:00

Thursday 12th November 2009

On Monday we arrived in Beijing and my first impression was that it was dark and cold. By the time we got to the hotel through rush hour it was time for a quick dinner and bed so we had to leave the exploring to the next day. I had a nice cot though with a lovely duvet and pillow - i felt very grown up!!

So Tuesday we woke up early ready for a day of exploring, drew back the curtains and everything was covered in white snow!! It was very exciting, but also very, very cold. So we put on all our layers and headed off to Tiannamen Square - which was a giant square of snow, slush and mush. I had to stay in the pushchair as mummy and daddy were getting wet feet walking around in the slush and they did not want my feet to get wet and cold as well. Eventually we bought some gloves (lovely orange stripy ones) and a Beijing woolly hat which i think i wore for all of about 5 minutes, despite daddy insisting I wear them for longer. I was allowed out to walk whilst we were in the subway but then it was back in the pushchair whilst we headed off to the shopping mall for a coffee and some warm milk. The only time we have been grateful for the fact there are some many malls in Asia. Then once we had warmed up, I promptly fell asleep and we headed off to the Forbidden City - we were so cold there and we could not move the pushchair through the snow, so after a quick look around we headed back to the warmth of the hotel, a bit earlier than expected. After checking that the pool in this hotel was indoors we decided to go for a swim. Oh my God - might be indoors, but definitely not heated and with no sun shining through the roof, it was absolutely freezing - needless to say it was another quick swim!!

We had a lovely dinner in the hotel that night though. We had chinese - i had loads of rice and mummy and daddy ordered the duck which cam with the skin on a plate piled up with loads of yummy prawn crackers inside it. The nice lady made up the rolls with the suck skin inside as mummy and daddy were a bit baffled - not like you get at home - although absolutely delicious!!!

Wednesday was another early start before we headed off to the Temple of Heaven. It was very pretty as most of the snow had melted but was still lining the tress and buildings. The park itself was just full of loads of Chinese people who came out put a tape on and did choreographed dancing - we joined in a few (well it would be rude not to!) Then we headed to the Temple, which was quite open and higher up and freezing in the wind, so we headed back to the hotel to warm up and have lunch. In the afternoon we headed off to the Birds Nest, which was in the middle of the Olympic Park and great fun for running around in. I also met my first snowman and touched the first bit of snow - it was very cold and i enjoyed kicking it more than picking it up. I also had my first trip to McDonald's as mummy and daddy were in need of coffee and it was the only place in the park to go - thankfully though we did not eat anything whilst we were there (well apart from the yoghurt mummy brought with her!)

Then on Thursday we woke to yet more snow and headed off in a car north of Beijing up to the Great Wall of China. We were hoping to walk along quite a bit of it, but the snow was so bad that the poor driver asked that we would be no longer than an hour, so we headed up on the cable car (which was quite scary) and walked along a some of the wall, before heading back down. It was very slippy and lots of people were sliding down parts of the wall on their bottoms!! We then headed to the Summer Palace, but again the desire for warmth cut short some of the visit as well - we did get coffee again here and mummy and daddy shared some of their Snicker's bar with me for added energy to keep me warm!!! We spent an awfully long time stuck in traffic whilst driving around in the car, but we managed to keep our spirits up with numerous renditions of old favourites, (with some newly added bizarre verses). Amongst others we had, The Wheels on the Bus, Baa Baa Black Sheep, If you're happy and you know it, Incy Wincy Spider, and i think a few chants from the terraces at Wycombe!!

Well that was pretty much our adventures in Beijing. We had a lovely trip and although the snow stopped some of our fun, it also made it a bit more exciting and daddy got some lovely pictures. The final bit of my Beijing experience was at the airport, where we managed to find a trolley for our bags that was a toy car for me as well - great fun!!!

Will have to say bye for now, but i will let you know all my Singapore news once we have thawed out a bit.

Love from

Eleanor xx

Hong Kong

2009-11-13T04:13:00.000-08:00

Monday 9th November 2009

Well we had a very busy weekend in Hong Kong. We left Singapore Friday morning and got to our hotel in Hung Hom early afternoon, so we set off exploring the area around the hotel. This consisted of a shopping mall (surprise surprise) and we went into the supermarket to get some bits and pieces and then found a lovely wine shop where we tested wine (mine was technically grape juice, but it came in a wine bottle, so I pretended - I also downed 3 glasses, so it was just as well it was grape juice). Then we headed back to the room and decided to go for a swim. Now what we failed to tell daddy was that the pool was outdoors on the 9th floor and whilst it was heated and technically the outside temperature was in the 20's it was very very very cold. But tradition states that you must go in the pool whenever you are on holiday, so a very quick swim was in order followed by a big group hug once we were all wrapped up in the dressing gowns!! The fact that the man holding the door open for us was in a white bomber jacket did not go unnoticed!!!

We then headed off to Knutsford Terrace for our dinner. We found a nice tapas bar that had room for us as we were a bit earlier than most people and I ate lots and lots of spicy salami -yummy!! Then it was home to bed.

Saturday saw us heading across to the island for some shopping. We went to Bumps to Babes and picked up some advent calender and stocking fillers as well as mint toothpaste for me (you can only buy berry flavour in Singapore!), then we got daddy some new going out clothes and headed back for our lunch and nap. Then we headed out to Kings Park to watch the Revo football match. Luckily for me Ollie was at the game as well to watch his daddy play so we spent the whole game chasing each other round - this involved much laughter and screaming, but apparently Revo won with their biggest crowd of the season (8 people in total!!)

Then Saturday night was early to bed for me whilst mummy and daddy went out on the town - German style, with some of the RBS people. They seemed to have a good night and definitely needed to clear the cobwebs out on Sunday morning so we headed off to the avenue of stars for some fresh air and coffee. I managed to successfully pick up a protest march - although as the sign was in Cantonese I am unsure what we were protesting about. After a quick stop off at a hotel for

Tea, biscuits and toys

2009-11-13T03:52:00.000-08:00

Thursday 5th November 2009

Well I have tried my hardest not to have any major injuries this week and I have been fairly successful you will be pleased to hear. The week started off well with a visit from Daniel and Charlotte and their mummies on Friday after playgroup, we had lots of fun playing with my toys and eating really yummy chocolate biscuits!

Then on Saturday we had to go shopping for some winter clothing ready for our holiday next week, we headed off to Vivocity and I got a lovely thick winter coat, although I wasn't sold on thte gloves and woolly hat. I also had lots of messy fun over the weekend with my paints (see photos).

I spent most of the weekend giving daddy big hugs as he was not feeling very well - poor daddy. Mummy and I headed off to music class, so that daddy could stay in bed and rest and then we had a yummy homemade soup for dinner to make us feel better. On Tuesday we went to see the dentist again and had our teeth cleaned - well mummy and daddy did, I gave him a quick flash of my teeth so that he knew that I had some!!

Wednesday we went swimming and we were very lucky as we managed to fit our lesson into the half an hour slot of the whole week where it was not raining! Then finally today we headed off to Charlotte's house for our playdate - which consisted as ever of lots of toys and some more yummy biscuits!!

I will update you all slightly late next week with all of our adventures in China - first stop Hong Kong and then up to Beijing!

lots of love from Singapore this week

Eleanor xx

PS the other photo is of me trying to check under the bathroom door to see if daddy was in there, after I had knocked and he did not answer. I am quite persistent when I want something!!

Little Miss Bump!

2009-10-29T23:23:00.000-07:00

Thursday 29th October 2009

Well as the title suggests I have had a busy week causing bumps and scratches!! It started on Friday at playgroup, in my excitement to go play on the climbing frame I fell over my feet whilst running and forgot to put my hands out to save myself so landed on my nose instead - which left me with 3 lovely red grazes on my nose. By Tuesday they had just about disappeared when I decided to add to them. This time i was running to mummy (who was in my room) and fell again but this time tripped forwards and banged my head on the door frame - this resulted in a lovely long straight bruise (about the width of the door frame) on my cheek and forehead and a huge golf ball shaped bump on my forehead - luckily I need a haircut so my fringe hid it quite well and I was still allowed out to play!! I was very brave both times and although i cried i soon forgot about it after a lovely cuddle from my mummy!!

Well aside from head banging i have had a busy week of socialising. On Friday we had playgroup again after the summer hols, as it is a new term there were lots of new people that had started which was nice and except for falling over we had lots of fun. I managed to join in the dances and songs at the end on my own this week as well. Then in the afternoon we headed over to Daniel's house for a playdate with him and Charlotte which is lots of fun. Izzy (Daniel's mummy) had left the sparkly strips up at his door from his party and by the end of the afternoon I was just about brave enough to venture through them on my own!!

We had a lovely quiet Saturday which consisted of a bit of shopping in the morning (daddy and I went to the shop and bought a full fish with head, tail and everything - not sure mummy was that keen!), lunch out and then daddy went to play football whilst mummy and I popped to the shops again for some bits to go with the fish. Then on Sunday we chilled in the morning before Ben and Oliver and their mummy and daddy came round in the afternoon. They have just moved to Singapore from Hong Kong and will be living around the corner from us soon, which will be really nice. Our daddies play football together so I can imagine some playdates happening around 3 o'clock on a Saturday in the future!! I have included a picture of myself and Benjamin playing.

Other than that this week we have been to music class (apparently I was not that well behaved if you listen to mummy) but we did have fun at the end when we all held hands in a big circle and danced around - lots of fun! Tuesday we caught up with Michael and Mary and their big brother David - we had loads of fun running around and playing chase whilst the shopping mall was quite empty. Then on Thursday we spent the morning at the Chinese Embassy trying to get our visa sorted for our holidays in a week and a bit - we are heading across to Hong Kong and then up to Beijing for a week - very exciting, I am going home!!!

Well that was this week I think - we have spent a bit of time resting at home this week, in between my head banging incidents and mummy has been encouraging me to do things that require me to be sitting still - apparently she was worried about concussion but thinks with the amount of times i fall over it is quite hard to tell whether I am dizzy or just silly.

love to you all and speak soon

Little Miss Bump xx

Coffee catch ups and teeth

2009-10-22T03:19:00.000-07:00

Thursday 22nd October 2009

Hello all!

Well as ever we have had another busy week and I have not been unwell all week - yippee!! Friday was lots of fun as we met some friends who were over from Hong Kong - we had not seen each other since I was about 6 months old and Natalia was 5 months old - so we had lots to catch up on. We went to the Book Cafe which is fab as they have huge sofas in the corner and loads of books, newspapers and magazines for the grown ups (which clearly mummy and Nic did not get a chance to look at) but also loads of toys and books for toddlers. We had babyccinos which came with loads of frothy milk on top and 4 little marshmallows - very posh! I think it is fair to say the competition to see who could make the most mess was pretty fierce! Well aside from the drinks and toys our favourite games were playing going up and down the step, races up the toilet corridor and making our mummies sit on the little step tapping their knees and singing yippee-yi-yah! Hilarious!!

Then after a quick lunch and nap at home it was time to head out to Charlotte's house for a playdate with her and Daniel. This involved lots of biscuits (cunningly stolen by me - although i did give the choccie ones a miss and headed straight for the rich tea - much to mummy's delight!), playdoh and colouring, chasing around the house, the odd bit of fighting over toys and generally making another huge amount of mess which we left poor Hannah to tidy up when we left. Thank you Hannah and Charlotte though we had lots of fun!!

Well after a hugely busy Friday we had a quiet weekend. We went to Ikea which was fun as I spent about 20 mins in the bed section testing out the beds - as you have seen from previous pictures I like beds and pulling the covers over and snuggling - apparently not that appropriate to do it in a shop but never mind. We were also busy skyping again and I said another new word - Jasp (for Jasper the dog), I can also woof like a dog as well - animal noises are definitely one of my strong points, maybe I am a Dr Doolittle in the making?!

Well Monday saw the return to the grindstone with music and swimming classes. Music was lots of fun - we pretended to be choo-choo trains with hula hoops as wheels and I managed it on my own for the first time and we also made a return to the blanket river boat rides - my favourite! Swimming was also good - we timed it right with the dreaded rain again and we did speedboats, Humpty Dumpty and lots of swimming to mummy.

Mummy has mentioned a man called Santa Claus over the last few days and he appeared on the TV as well today. It has something to do with loads of toys, singing silly songs, being good and a strange looking man in red with a big white beard from what I can work out. I will keep you posted if I find out anything else - watch this space!!

As well as this funny man mummy has been trying to convince me to dress up strangely and keeps cackling at me. We looked at lots of costumes in a shop on Tuesday and sadly they were all too small or too big. I have however got a fabulous new black hat with orange sparkly witches on - I was not that keen to start with but have taken to wearing it around the house today whilst carrying my umbrella - need to work on the cackling and the turning the umbrella into a broomstick thing though before next week!

And finally today we had another adventure - we went to the dentist!! Mummy went first and whilst she was sitting in the chair daddy explained what was happening - I found it all quite interesting and at one point tried to help the dentist out and also make mummy laugh by ticking her toes - oops! I was desperate to get my hands on the swirly watery thing that mummy kept having to drink and spit out into the little bowl that looked lots of fun. Poor mummy had to have a filling and she was very brave, I watched carefully (I quite like teeth and mouths) and then it was my turn to go in the chair. It was very cool - first i tipped backwards and then i went up, however once the chair stopped moving I got bored and was not keen on opening my mouth for the dentist so I got down and made way for daddy. He had to have some work done which needed an injection as well, so me and mummy spent some time walking up and down the stairs loads of times whilst we waited for daddy. So that was quite an interesting trip and hopefully next time we go I might be able to get my teeth counted!!

Well bye for now

Love El x

This weeks pictures are me sitting in my doll's pushchair, putting my cycle helmet on and my ladybird tattoo from my party bag last week. The party bag also had some bubbles in and I have finally worked out how to blow bubbles now - that is my skill of the week!!

Active again - weather permitting!

2009-10-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday 15th October 2009

Well a much better and more exciting week this week! Yeah!! Friday was good fun as daddy was at home so I got to play with him in the morning and have sausages for breakfast - mmm yummy!! Then in the afternoon mummy and I went to Daniel's 2nd birthday party. It was lots of fun and Daniel's mummy had hired a slide for the house - weeee!! There were so many toys to play with and then we sat at the big table on proper chairs to eat our dinner - more sausages and some crisps, followed by jelly with strawberries inside (Daniel's grandma brought the jelly from the UK especially for the party!!) and birthday cake. Daniel did a great job of blowing out the candles on the biggest birthday cake ever (it was a giant Bob the Builder). Sadly we all had to leave for bedtime but we went home with a balloon, a party bag and two ladybird tattoo's which daddy was a bit shocked about!!!

We had a fun weekend as well - we went swimming twice (once it decided to stop raining for long enough), skyped the north and south of England and did loads of tidying and sorting (again!) and a bit of Ikea DIY!!

I have been busy perfecting my skills this week. i can now very easily walk up and down the stairs all on my own, without holding hands or railings - clever me!! I can also name all of the characters in ITNG, when mummy says their name i point to them after my bedtime story - mummy was impressed!! I am also perfecting my gym techniques - I have been having loads of fun creating things to climb over - daddy's legs are a fave, as is the Wii box and also the coffee table (although i do tend to get shouted at when i do that one!!)

The rest of the week we have been busy avoiding the rain - unsuccessfully as we were rained on on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday!! and getting back into all of our activities. Monday was music and we got the harmonicas out - picture the scene, 10 children under the age of 3 trying to blow the harmonicas in time to the music whenever the dog on the tape barked - absolutely hilarious!!! Maurice was back as well, which was nice although he is heading back to Germany soon. Then in the afternoon we headed off to the shops and got rained on - well mummy did i was nice and snug inside my rain cover!!

Tuesday we headed down to the East Coast, however as soon as we got there and mummy had ordered her coffee it started raining and so off we headed back home, luckily it was only fine rain until we got home, but i do not think mummy has walked so fast before. Then in the afternoon we got rained in so played at home instead of going out. Silly rain!!

Wednesday morning we headed off to do some jobs and then in the afternoon it was swimming again, but it started raining again!! So we headed off and kept our fingers crossed and headed off to Tanglin - just as we got there it started raining, so we hid under the big umbrellas, but Dave came out and said we could swim as it was easing off - yeah!!! I did lots of swimming to mummy, did some surfboarding, jumped in from the edges, sang songs and did a flying aeroplane splash!! I have definitely missed swimming whilst i was poorly!

Finally today we went to Werners and played and created havoc whilst the mummy's had coffee and chatted, then we headed off to the shops to buy dinner!!! And more importantly we stayed dry - yippee!!!

I have spent a lot of the week dancing as well - i am getting quite good at it and often go to the computer and put daddy's music on so that i can dance around. I am very good at head banging! We have been doing lots of races around the table as well and daddy has set me up with my own laptop in the study so i have been busy playing my kneebouncer games and obviously typing up my blog.

Hope you enjoyed reading this week and i will be in touch again soon

Loads of love

Eleanor xx

PS This week's pictures are me in my party dress, playing boxing with mummy on the Wii, taking pictures with my camera (say cheese!!) and hiding from mummy with daddy. xx

Cold and boredom!!

2009-10-08T23:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday 8th October 2009

Not a very good week as i still have my nasty cold and cough so we have not been able to do very much this week. no swimming and no play groups. In a bid to cheer me up mummy bought me a magazine when we went to the shops - it was a Teletubbies magazine and was really good, there were loads of stickers in it, some colouring in and some stories as well. i never used to like stickers very much as they would stick to me and i could never get them off, but now i have learnt how to stick them properly i think they are great fun. Mummy now lets me put the stamps and air mail stickers on all of the cards we send back to the UK - i usually get them in the right place with a bit of help from mummy, but sometimes things end up a bit lop-sided or upside down!!

At the weekend we were busy skyping people again and daddy and I went for a bike ride which was good fun. We also had a nice walk down to the East Coast on Sunday and a lovely roast dinner, which i sadly did not eat very much of. The good news on that front is that i am starting to get my appetite back, I was refusing fruit and even yoghurt during the week, which as regular readers of my blog will know is not like me at all. I think I have survived the last week mainly on pineapple juice and frothy milk!!

In another attempt to cheer me (and possibly mummy) up we did some baking as we could not go out to music class. We made some yummy chocolate buns - which i actually think might have been the thing that made my appetite back - mummy had to hide them in the top cupboard in the end as i kept grabbing her hand and pointing at them on the side. Mmmm, chocolate buns and frothy milk - anyone else drooling?!

Well that really was all we did this week - short walks, naps and much more tv watching than is recommended for 20 month old toddlers. Promise that next weeks blog will be completely action packed - starting with a 2nd birthday party tomorrow -mmm, more cake!!

Love and chocolate kisses

Eleanor xx

PS This weeks photo is of me in my Leitrim shirt that Shaun, Marie and baby Hannah sent over for me. As you can see daddy has a matching one - and yes we did go out together wearing them!!! Mummy did not have one so she had to stay at home!!!

Brum brum, choo, choo, shake!

2009-10-01T05:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday 1st October 2009

Well the week started off well as we headed off to play group again. It was lots of fun and lovely to catch up with all of my friends again. We did some gluing and made a scary teddy bear for daddy, we had lots of yummy snacks and played outside on the big playground - lots of fun!!

We spent most of the weekend going brum brum as the Singapore F1 was on. We could not hear anything from our apartment (which is just as well as it was at night and would have kept us awake!!) but we watched some of it on TV and mummy and daddy went to see the cars race on Sunday. Mummy and I set up a circuit around the lounge and had lots of fun chasing each other round and crashing!!!

Then on Monday we had music - it was lots of fun and very loud this week - we played the drums, danced with scarves and went around pretending to be trains on a track - choo choo!! And Tuesday saw a return to Polliwogs - it was very busy but i had lots of fun running around, shooting balls at people and even went on the big curly slide which goes down two floors!!!

Unfortunately after that the week went down hill, by the time we got home from Polliwogs i was so tired that mummy took me to bed (at 5 in the afternoon) and i slept for an hour and woke up feeling very hot and needed lots of cuddles. So on Wednesday we spent most of the day at home with me sitting on the sofa under my duvet (I have attached a picture) but i did get to have some lovely medicine - strawberry flavour - yum!! Then on Thursday we headed off to coffee morning, but i still did not want to play and sat with mummy most of the time, we headed home and i had two naps(!) and tried to play but often ended up having to rest - see attached picture of me having a quick sleep on the Wii Fit board. Hopefully with a bit more rest and some more yummy medicine i will be fit and raring to go again by the weekend!

Other big news of the week was that i experienced my first earthquake - there were two quakes in Sumatra this week, which is only 300 miles from Singapore, so we felt both of them, we had a bit of dizziness with the building moving and the blinds were banging against the wall and the lights were swaying across the ceiling. Mummy was very busy trying to get me out of the way of the lights in case they fell from the ceiling (they have done before so she was not been overly paranoid!) but i was far more interested in watching Teletubbies to care that the building was shaking!! It is very sad though that so many people have lost their family, homes and belongings in the earthquakes this week and we are thinking about them.

Well on that note I am going to send you all big hugs and kisses and will update you all next week,

lots and lots of love

Miss Eleanor Mary xx

Normality!!

2009-09-24T05:46:00.000-07:00

Thursday 24th September 2009

Well happy 20th month birthday to me! Wow so big!! Well I have to say that all in all this week has been quite quiet in terms of social activities but we have been busy. On Friday we drove back into Sydney from the Blue Mountains and then had to get on an aeroplane to fly home - it was quite a tough flight as we had booked it in the afternoon and therefore it seemed to take forever as we were not sleeping that much. We eventually got home at 11pm and had baths and straight to bed - it was lovely being back in my own bed again though and nice to see Pooh Bear again.

On Saturday we had to do a major big food shop as we had no yummy food in so we headed off to 360 and bought loads of yummy food and then we chilled out in the afternoon eating it all!!! Daddy also went out and bought a power drill to start doing some DIY - well it was a bank holiday weekend here. Then on Sunday the DIY started - we knocked down wardrobes, put pictures up, daddy cooked a lovely roast dinner and mummy and I put up some shelves. We also caught up with news from the UK. Then on Monday daddy still was not back at work as it was Hari Raya, so we went out shopping and bought mummy a bike and me a seat to sit on the back and ride along - and of course the very funky looking cycle helmets - mine is pink!!!

Then it was back to normal on Tuesday as daddy went to work and mummy and I headed off to Parkway to do some shopping and have coffee!! I started my swimming lessons again and got my first certificate and swimming badge - i am a level 4 duckling now!! Well done me - it was lovely to be back at swimming class and Izzy is back too so that was nice. Finally we had a nice lunch with daddy today after mummy had gone to collect her F1 tickets! It is all very exciting though as there are lots of big cars around - I was very happy today looking at one in the shopping mall - wow!!! Sadly I am too little to go at the weekend so i will have to stay up and watch it with the babysitter!!

Well sorry it is short and sweet this week, but am sure i will be back with more news and gossip to tell you all next week, until then take care
love and kisses
Eleanor xx

One wedding and lots of hills

2009-09-20T05:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday 17th September 2009

Well we have had another busy week, starting with a trip out on a ferry to Manly and another beach and lots more photos of the views!! Then on Friday I had my first ever proper haircut at the hairdressers and i was very very good according to mummy and daddy. Afterwards we had lunch, played with Thomas the Tank in the toy shop and headed out to the museum all about convicts in Australia (we looked for any naughty relatives but did not find any!) and then we headed out to Kings Wharf to see Cameron and have a few drinks in the pub, before the big day on Saturday.

Saturday morning was spent making ourselves look gorgeous and then we headed across the road to see Cameron and Jen get married - yeah!! It was lovely and I enjoyed seeing everyone all dressed up, then I headed home to spend some time entertaining the babysitter whilst mummy and daddy headed down to the Rocks for the reception. Sunday we headed off on the ferry again to see the new Mr and Mrs Malone and have some really yummy pizza before coming back to the hotel and collapsing for the night in preparation for the rest of our busy week.

The rest of the week was spent driving and driving and looking at views with mummy and daddy saying wow a lot!! We headed first to Windsor and spent the night in a lovely hotel where we had a yummy dinner - with a great running course for me - run down the slope, round the big sign and then climb the three steps and off i go again - yeah!!! Then we were off driving again and headed into the Blue Mountains - via the very long scenic route (and the Botanical gardens for a fab cream tea) before arriving at the Coach House which was to be our stop for a few days and i finally got a room of my own instead of sleeping in the lounge!

We visited some caves and saw stalagmites and stalagtites - unfortunately there were loads of stairs and things which looked fab fun but i was deemed to young to run around on my own - so i had a mini sulk, but was soon wowed by all the pretty lights and rocks and the little baby that was on the tour as well!! We also did lots of running this week as mummy and daddy tried to encourage me to get form point to point a little quicker than i was and in the right direction - we had lots of races which was great fun!!

We have also eaten lots of food and most of it has not been that great - i have had my usual fruit and yoghurts, but a few things like chips and chocolate have been slipped in too - and even a marshmallow!!

Well think that is most of the news and gossip from the week. we head back to Singapore tomorrow and i have had a fab holiday but am looking forward to catching up with my friends again and going swimming in the pool - Australia was far too cold for that!

Love to all

Eleanor xx

Sydney, Australia!!

2009-09-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 9th September 2009

Apologies for doing this a day early, but we only have random internet connection - there is a lot of news this week so far though so should be quite a busy blog anyway.

Well the week started out in Singapore with playgroup again. I had a great time and did loads of painting and made lots of mess - luckily mummy is so clever and dressed me in yellow and purple and the paints we were using at playgroup were yellow and purple!! Think it was a coincidence but mummy claims not!!

Then in the afternoon we had to rush over to the shops to pick up my shoes for the wedding and a quick stop to have a ride on Bob the Builder and Barney!! Then we finished packing the bags and daddy came home and we rushed off to the airport - we were heading off to Sydney!!

The journey was nice and not too long (only 8 hours!) the food was a bit poor although we did have yoghurt which was nice. We arrived in Sydney at 5 in the morning, so we spent the rest of the day quite tired and once we had settled in to the room, had breakfast and a nap we were ready to head out and explore!!!

Stop 1 - we went up to the rocks and circular quay and stood under the harbour bridge and saw the Sydney Opera House, we then headed for lunch - yummy pizza (you will see that food seems to occupy a large portion of what we have got up to so far!!)

Stop 2 - Sunday - we headed down to the shops and looked around some lovely buildings and had coffee, headed off to the John Lewis of Australia and had lunch and wandered around the CBD before heading home and collapsing!!

Stop 3 - Monday - we headed down to Kings Wharf and went to the Maritime Museum, where we went in a submarine (i nearly was not big enough to be allowed on but I stood on my tiptoes!) it was great fun getting through the holes into the different areas - poor mummy and daddy struggled to get through the holes but they were the perfect size for me!!! Then we headed for lunch at the waterfront!

Stop 4 - Monday pm - we took a ride on the monorail and headed back to the CBD and went for a walk in Hyde Park, where i had a quick go at playing Chess. We then wandered up to the Parliament and the Domain Park and headed home again. We then had an amazing rainstorm which we headed outside into on our way to dinner - Chinese (western style) - yummy!!

Stop 5 - Tuesday. We had a huge walk today! We started out at the Rocks, then went to circular quay, along to Sydney Opera House, Mrs MacQuaries chair, the Botanical Gardens before heading off for lunch again!! Daddy took some great pictures of the bridge and Opera House and I got to play in the park with my ball - yeah! Then at night we headed off to Cockle Bay and walked around the waterfront before heading off for a yummy dinner which involved loads of meat - my fave!!!

Stop 6 - Wednesday - after yesterday's walking we decided to go on a bus tour today, so after breakfast we headed out on to the Hop-on, Hop off bus - we hopped off at the railway station and caught another bus which took us off to Bondi Beach for a spot of surfing!! Well paddling in our case as the water was so cold!!

So we have seen lots and lots of new and exciting things so far. Next week we have to finish our sights of Sydney, go to a wedding and then we are heading into the countryside. Will catch up with you all then,

Lots of love from Down Under!

Eleanor xx

Tropical living - sunshine and rain!

2009-09-03T22:23:00.000-07:00

Thursday 3rd September 2009

Well the week started off well as we were back to playschool on Friday morning, there were lots of new people there which was nice and most of the group is nearer my age which is good - I am quite neatly in the middle. I got to play with the Wendy house again and the big climbing frame which was good fun and we also did some sticking and gluing -making photo frames!!

The weather has been quite grotty this week. It is either too hot to go out or very very rainy - I have included some pictures of me in my rain gear and getting wet out on our balcony - very good fun. Daddy went to Tokyo as well this week, so it was just me and mummy, which made it even more boring!! I was on my best behaviour for mummy though and slept well every night - for the first time consistently since we came back from the UK - jet lag, teething and colds are not that great for sleep!!

Speaking of sleeping, mummy and daddy are getting a bit worried that i might escape my cot soon. I have been caught leaning over the edge a little bit too far on a number of occasions, so they are thinking that i might have to move into my big girl bed a bit sooner than planned - watch this space! I have posted a picture of me playing in my cot - as well as sleeping there, i love pulling things into the cot and throwing things out of it, running up and down in it and falling over (and usually banging my head which just makes it even more funny), singing and talking with George and Pooh bear and reading in it. Although i am very clear when i have had enough and want to get out - it is fair to say that over the past week, i have perfected screaming!!

Another skill that i have learnt this week is spitting! I only ever do it when i am brushing my teeth though and love having a big sip of water and spitting it out into the sink - it does not always work though and sometimes i forget and drink the water but never mind!!

Well think that was this week. We head off to Sydney tomorrow on holiday which is very, very exciting so my next post will be from Down Under, until then take care and love to you all,

Eleanor McGovern xx

Eating and hugs for daddy x

2009-08-28T03:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday 27th August 2009

Hello!! Well the big news this week is that I have a poorly daddy - he fell over playing football on Saturday and has sprained his ankle - it is very big and bruised and he has been hobbling around all week - poor daddy. We took him for a swim on Saturday to see if the water would help, but he is a hopeless patient and would not sit and rest, so we also went to two shopping malls over the weekend as well, which I am sure did not help at all.

We went to ELC on one trip out though and i got a "Happyland" toy house which is great fun. Mummy and daddy spent ages deciding which "Happyland" thing to buy whilst I had loads of fun bouncing on the trampoline in the shop and playing the keyboard. We also got my dress for the wedding in Sydney, it is white with sparkly bits at the top and netting at the bottom - lovely. Mummy was trying to convince me to put silly headbands in my hair, but she did suggest a little matching handbag - I fell in love with it at first sight and would not let it go, especially when daddy was trying to take it off me to check the price!!!! I will take a picture at the wedding and post it for you in a couple of weeks.

We are in rainy season at the minute in Singapore - luckily the rain happens mainly at night time when i am asleep, although it has woken me a few times, so it has not affected my playdates during the week, which have included: Monday - music, Tuesday Polliwogs with Daniel and another boy called Patrick, Weds - swimming and today should have been Polliwogs again but we thought it was going to rain on us, so we stopped halfway for coffee instead (and a bagel as I kept pointing at the picture in the coffee shop and saying "mmm!" really loudly - me spoilt never!!!)

Tomorrow playgroup at the big school starts again which I am quite excited about as I have missed the Wendy house and the big playground - although we did have a sneaky play during the holidays when mummy went up to pay the pennies - sssh!!!

I have tried some more food this week as well - mummy made tuna melt fishcakes which were yummy scrummy and lamb koftas with Greek yoghurt which were okay (although daddy had them for dinner as well and wanted seconds!) I also had a bit of mummies double chocolate magnum ice cream and two hula hoops (oops!!) needless to say they were very yummy - see attached picture! At this point mummy has asked me to add that I have also eaten lots of apples, grapes, melons, bananas, kiwi fruit and raisins!!!

As well as playing with my "Happyland" house I have been doing lots of paintings this week (mummy keeps making me watch Mister Maker for ideas!), looking after my dollies, colouring in my picture books, reading my books and playing with my musical box. Mummy is trying to organise all my junk (toys) so I now have a box for musical things, a box for soft toys and a box for art/crafty things. We have been looking for a big chest to put all of my big toys in and then mummy thinks she might have her house back to normal again - little does she realise that eat time she sorts things out we end up buying more things and having no room again (silly mummy!)

Well i think that is all from this week. Speak to you later!

Love Eleanor xx

I am the music man!!

2009-08-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

Thursday 20th August 2009

Well the big news of the week is that i have learnt to play a new instrument - the harmonica (see picture). I am actually very good at it and taught mummy how to play it properly too - she was just blowing out and did not realise you needed to breathe in too to play all the notes - doh!!!

I have also turned into a bit of a teenager slightly early as when mummy was trying to make her bed the other day i decided to climb up get under the covers and turn the tv on!!! It was only half eight in the morning - not sure how impressed mummy was especially as we had a music class to go to as well.

My excuse is that i am not well (awh!!) I am teething and it is really hurting - one of my canines has come through and now the other one is on its way as well as the last 4 molars at the back and then that is it - all done, (until as mummy has just informed me they all fall out again - what's the point!!!!) Anyway, it is affecting my sleep and i am turning into a Calpol addict - whenever i see the bottle i lick my lips and say mmmmm!! So needless to say if I am not sleeping, mummy is not sleeping (doesn't seem to affect daddy though?!) and we have a very grumpy female house at the minute - poor daddy, it's only going to get worse!!!

The week has been filled with the usual mix of music, swimming, shopping, coffee and friends. We met up with Pete and Ros for lunch on Sunday - they used to live in Hong Kong but have now moved to Singapore and we have some more HK friends moving over to Sing in September so that is quite exciting as well. Anyone else coming to join us??

Well i hope that you like this weeks pictures (I have also updated last weeks - sorry a bit slow there)

Take care and i will speak to you all next week

Love and kisses Smellie xx

Science and nature

2009-08-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

Thursday 16th August

Well what have I been up to since we last spoke?

We had a bank holiday which was really nice - it was National Day, so we got the day off to celebrate Singapore's birthday - a grand old age of 44!! We made it out to the Science Centre, as mummy and daddy wanted to see the Van Gogh exhibition, it was quite good, lots of pictures of a woman with funny smile(!!!) but there was also loads of great things for me to run around, touch and play with - i have enclosed a picture of me with the gravity swirl.

We also headed out to MacCritchie Reservoir, which is a big pool of water with lots of trees around the outside that you can walk around, we had a nice walk along one of the trails and managed to walk along the reservoir edge without falling in (we had a couple of close shaves though) and then we had a nice lunch as Brussels Sprouts - moules frites!!!

Daddy had to go back to work on Tuesday, but mummy and I headed off to the Botanical Gardens to see Charlotte, Flora and their mummies, as we have all headed back to the UK for our summer hols it had been ages since we saw them and we had great fun running around the grass and up and down the hill. note to self - when running it hurts less if you fall going up hill, as when you fall going down hill, you carry on falling - ouch!!!

We made it to swimming this week as well, now that my cold seems to have finally vanished. We had the pool to ourselves to start but then the two Jordan's arrived, which was good as i was getting very tired collecting all of the toys Dave had thrown into the pool. I had great fun as ever diving in off the edge and did not want to stop - great fun splashing!!

Finally today I had to go to the doctors for yet more jabs - this time it was my booster and i was soooo good!! I tried watching whilst Dr Vas put the needle in and then tried helping her put the plaster on as i wanted to see what she was doing - i did not even squeak let alone cry!! Mummy has now convinced herself that i am going to be a doctor when I grow up!! To make me feel better daddy came home for his lunch which was lovely and then me and mummy had lots of cuddles this afternoon and watched some CBeebies - yeah!!

Well that is all for this week i think, will update you next week on busy-ness

Love El x

Me at 18 months

2009-08-08T03:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday 6th August 2009

Well this week I thought that I would update you as to the things I like and dislike now I am 18 months old. So here goes, in no particular order!!

1. my babies/dollies

2. the pushchair so i can push them around the house

3. being chased - particularly around the coffee table, but anywhere really

4. swimming - especially jumping and diving in!!

5. eating - the things that i never refuse include: bananas, grapes, yoghurt, kiwi fruit (this is quite a new addition!), goldfish biscuits, apples (dried or real) and crisps (mummy and daddy give me baby crisps, but i do try and sneak some grown up ones in if i can!)

6. drinking - there is not a drink i have tried that as long as a straw is attached i have refused, i mainly drink water and have milk at bedtime, but as special treats I like pineapple juice and babyccinos!!! I am particularly keen to try two things though - one is mummy's drink, which whenever i try grabbing I get told - no, hot!!! and the other is daddy's drink which generally comes in a bottle (of various sizes) and the response to me grabbing that is usually - nooooo, daddy's!!!

7.tickling - i love being tickled and i enjoy tickling other people as well, especially if it is mummy or daddy's toes when they are stuck out of the end of the bed - very funny!!

8. dancing - i do have my preferences, but love boogie beebies and any other music with a good beat to it. Daddy was trying to covert me to prodigy the other day, i was not that keen but apparently it was more to annoy mummy than anything else!!

9. In The Night Garden - love it all and could watch it all day if mummy would let me, love all the characters, have the books and yes even the t-shirt!!!

10. Attention - from anyone and anywhere!

11.baths - my favourite game is throwing everything in the bath and making huge splashes that soak mummy!

12. in fact water in general is fun - i love washing my hands and splashing the water in the sink, love showers (especially after swimming), playing in the water fountains - just water - maybe that has something to do with living in a tropical climate though?!

13. messiness - love taking things off shelves, emptying cupboards and drawers, throwing all my toys out of the cot etc etc

14. hugs and kisses - i am quite particular on this one and will only give hugs and kisses to special people, but mummy and daddy get lots, sometimes if they are lucky they get away without dribble, food or snot on them afterwards but that is not always guaranteed!!

15. gadgets - I am my father's daughter - i love the computer, the wii, the Bose sound system, different phones, remote controls, cameras - anything that is (or looks like) a gadget i will play with - hence my love of writing this blog every week!!

16. bedtime stories and milk -yeah!! i think mummy likes this part of the day quite a bit too!!!

Okay moving on to dislikes, now there aren't really that many things that i do not like and most of the things that are listed are connected in some way to the list above, so here goes:

1.having to stop doing any of the things that i listed above - nearly always guaranteed a mini-meltdown of some description, especially if i have to stop because mummy thinks that i am tired and therefore need a nap

2. being strapped in - car seat, pushchair, high chair - not a lot of fun, however, once i have let it be known that i am not happy, i do sit quietly and work on sussing out how the different locks work so that i can try and escape when they are not looking. Sometimes i even get so caught up in doing this that when mummy or daddy try to let me out i refuse to get out and try strapping myself back in!! Confuses them no end!!!

3. There isn't a huge amount of food that i dislike but certain highlights include - rice pudding, shepherds pie and roast dinners (including [whispers} Yorkshire pudding)

4. arts and crafts - i have had a few attempts at painting and colouring and not entirely sure what the fuss is about, i do like scribbling with ink in mummy's notebook though (i am only adding to her lists the things that i want) so maybe soon i might get the whole creativity bug!

5. uncleanliness - as much as i like making mess, i am never that keen on things being unclean, so as soon as any juice is spilt i run to get the kitchen roll to wipe it up. this was particularly amusing when i had my first homemade lollipop - obviously the ice was melting and dripping on the floor, so poor mummy was following me around the house with the kitchen roll as every time some dropped i just stood there pointing at the floor going - ooh, ooh!!! Highly amusing!!

Well I am sure there are a few things that i have missed off the lists, but hopefully they will have given you an insight into Eleanor Mary McGovern at 18 months (and a couple of weeks) old and will give me something to look back on and laugh at how immature i was when i reach the grand old age of 2!!

Hugs and kisses to all reading (as you are all clearly special for having got this far!!)

Love Me xxx

Normal life resumed!!

2009-07-30T07:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-23T06:21:00.000-07:00

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!!

2009-07-21T05:28:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-07-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

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

Places to go, people to see!!

2009-06-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

Thursday 25th June 2009

Well a very busy week this week, so lots to tell (and mummy is back in charge of editing this week!) We started off the week still busy packing with trips to shopping malls for last minute bits and pieces and trying to stock up the cupboards for daddy.

On Saturday we took daddy to Polliwogs, which I think he really enjoyed. We met Daniel, Cara and Marina & Lola there with their mummies and daddies, which was really nice and we had lots of fun setting off the volcano and playing in the ball pool. I think daddy was quite impressed with how fast I managed to get around the climbing frames. We were there for nearly 2 hours and the poor daddies were very tired, so we had to pop into the pub on the way home for some lunch and drinks!!!! Then in the afternoon we had a lovely swim in the nice warm pool at the condo, before Aquillah (my babysitter arrived - as usual an hour early!!) and mummy and daddy headed out to watch the rugby.

Sunday was Father's Day, so we made daddy some of his nice coffee and gave him his present - he has got a lovely photo album with lots of pictures of me in it, so that each day we are away in the UK he still gets to see me!! Then we headed off up to Mount Faber to catch the cable car down the hill to Vivo City where we had a lovely lunch before we headed home to finish packing!! I also sat down with my daddy to watch ITNG as I know that he will miss it lots whilst I am away!!

Monday was a very busy and long day. It started off normally with a trip to Parkway Parade and some shopping, followed by lunch, nap and then music, playtime, dinner and bath - but then after mummy put me in my pyjama's she forgot to put me in bed!! Instead we got in a taxi and headed off to the airport. We had to leave daddy at the airport as he has lots of work to do in Singapore, so mummy and I had to head off and get onto a huge aeroplane (the big A380) and off we flew to London. I managed to fall asleep just as we were taking off and so missed dinner (as this would have been the third meal I had had that night it was not a big issue!!) I managed to get myself comfy by laying across mine and mummies seat (not sure where mummy was sleeping?!!) and slept well for most of the flight - i was awake for the last 5 hours of a 14 hour flight so not bad going. I managed breakfast which was scotch pancakes (very yummy). Everybody commented on how well behaved I was on the flight - so mummy was very, very proud of me!!

When we got off the aeroplane we had to collect all of our bags and a lovely man helped mummy push me in the pushchair so that she could push the trolley with all the bags on (they weren't very heavy, we have travelled light so that we can do lots of shopping in the UK!!) Then when we got through customs, Grandad was waiting to take us off to Maidenhead where Grandma was waiting for us with a lovely cup of tea!!!! The rest of Tuesday we spent chilling out and trying to work out what time of the day it was (stupid jet lag, it is very confusing!), we had a little nap in the morning, managed to find ITNG on the TV and then went for a walk to the playground in the afternoon - it was lovely and warm and sunny - we clearly remembered to pack the sunshine in our suitcase when we came!!

The end of the week has been very busy as well. We caught up with Great Granny and Great Auntie Sonia on Wednesday morning which was lovely, Great Auntie Sonia bought me a great rocking stacker toy and an animal book, which has kept me occupied this week. Then in the afternoon we headed off to the park and met up with Auntie Noelle, Auntie Kate and my cousins - Joe, Amelia, Caitlin and Matthew -we had lots of fun running around and bouncing on the giant seesaw. I was also busy exploring Grandma's garden and playing in the cabin (it is like my favourite wendy house but bigger and wooden) and pushing the shopping trolley around the garden. Then Amelia and Matthew came round to Grandma's for dinner, whilst Auntie Kate and Uncle Ade put up the biggest wendy house i have ever seen in the back garden - they called it a tent and apparently you can go on holiday and sleep in it - how cool is that!! Mummy sounded quite keen (apparently she is a bit of a tent putting up pro!), so I am hoping that once I am bigger and we are living somewhere without big nasty snakes, we might be able to go on holiday in a wendy house!!

This morning started off badly when in my excitement to get out into the garden I fell out of the patio door and landed on my face! I have a lovely big red graze on my cheek and a bruise on my forehead - I was very brave though and only cried for a bit and was fine once we went back to the scene of the crime and told the step off!!! Then we headed off to Odds Farm Park with Grandma, Auntie Noelle and Caitlin to feed the animals. The rabbits were my favourite, I was not that keen on the big smelly pigs (much to mummies disappointment) and thought the baby goats were cute but then the big scary adult ones came along as well and even Auntie Noelle was scared then!! My favourite bit of the morning was the playground and our picnic though! After lunch we headed onto the tractor ride, but by this time both Caitlin and I were exhausted and were nearly falling asleep on our mummies, so we headed home. Then in the afternoon, Caitlin's big brothers (Joe and James) came round to Grandma's to play as they had been at school during the day - we had great fun playing cricket in the garden and we had ice lollies as it was so hot (mmm yummy!)

Well I think that was all of this week's news and stories, we have been very busy and I have been fast asleep by bedtime (although with this silly jet lag morning wake up time has moved an hour earlier, but that just means that we have more time in the day!!) I am pretty sure that next week will be just as action packed - so watch this space for more updates!!
Big hugs and kisses to all
Eleanor Mary McGovern xxx

Daddy's turn!!

2009-06-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

Thursday April 17th 2009

Well in preparation for our trip back to sunny England in a few days

Mummy has been very busy packing and so this week Daddy is

assisting me. He informs me that the he will assist in improving

the grammar but it could interrupt the normal humorous flow. I have

seen him try and do some of mummy's jobs previously and he is not

very good so I think I will take Mummy's lead and let him feel like he

is in control and i will really lead!!

Well we had a lovely weekend which started with Daddy winning the

final league game of the season and scoring a fantastic goal which

turned the game, according to him. Mummy and I are doubtful without

video footage as we were at home after i had slept until 830 and still

felt tied in the morning. However, Sunday was a far more energetic day

and I had my very first bike ride along the east coast park. We hired two

bikes with a baby seat on Mummy's and although she seemed a little bit

unsteady she soon got use to it. She claims it was because of the

additional weight on the back - How rude!!!! It was though very exciting

and I loved watching the world go by, We were though very naughty as i

did not have a helmet on which Mummy promises to buy before we go

again but i think she is trying to make me look stupid!!! We rode all the

way to the lake and watched the Wake boarding Championship arriving

at the coffee shop just before the thunderstorm came, although Mummy

and I did laugh at Daddy as he had to dash out in the rain to

move the bikes and came back very wet.

I also continued my culinary journey by visiting a Japanese restaurant

on Sunday evening and I have established that I like Sushi and Tempura

but not really keen on the Sashimi. I think i just like rice but it seems to

make Daddy happy so if he is happy to pay for overpaid rice then who

am i to stop him.

This weeks daily activities continued with music, gym and swimming

but the best news was the discovery of Polliwogs. a great fun place

which mummy says is called "Soft Play" and is great value at $6.

All i know is that it is full of things for me to play with including slides

and a ball pit. We are going to take Daddy there on Saturday to

show him how much fun it is.

Much to Mummy and Daddy's disapproval this week I have decided to

start preparing for the jetlag by waking up every three hours during the

night. Those regular readers will know i normally love my 12 hours

straight. I think Mummy had forgot what it was like to operate without

sleep so I thought it would help her plan for the flight. I think Mummy

is still hoping that she may get an upgrade on the flight or that it may

be empty so there is lots of room. I have checked with Daddy and he

said "Fat chance", not sure what that means but it does not sound good.

My swimming is still going well and we had an extra teacher to help

David out. She was very good but i think I still prefer David - sssh do

not tell Daddy. I am improving my Diving so I am looking forward to

showing off my skills to you all in England. Mummy has told me though

that we will need to swim inside!!!! This makes no sense to me as we

always swim outside and the sea is outside so i think Mummy is getting

confused with having a bath!!!!

Anyway need to dash as i have a lunch date with the girls and as you

can see from the picture above i like looking cool in my sunglasses

and shopping till i drop. The other pictures are of me packing the

shopping into the car, playing my musical instruments and showing

off how my eating skills have developed!!! Mummy and Daddy are

so proud.......

Busy, busy!

2009-06-11T02:55:00.000-07:00

Thursday 11th June 2009

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all well and happy! I have had another busy week, starting with my last play group of the term as school has broken up for the summer. We had a class photo taken in the playground which was nice and I did my first ever bit of painting. To be honest I was not that sure about the whole paint thing - it was quite slimy on my hands, I did enjoy going to wash my hands afterwards though and mummy was very impressed that my white trousers were still white at the end of it. I think I might give it another go next term when I am a bit bigger though as it looked quite fun. I am still addicted to the wendy house though and have attached a picture of me at the window!

Daddy was very sporty at the weekend, he played 2 games of football on Saturday and managed to fit in a bit of swimming with mummy and me in between and then on Sunday we went for a nice leisurely walk along the Esplanade and had some lunch. I have enclosed 2 pictures of Sunday, one of me walking and the other of me and mummy with Courtesy Cat - he is around to remind everyone to be nice to each other and offer seats to people etc. Speaking of which we got the bus to the town and back again. Think mummy's words were never again!! It was very busy so we had to stand with our bags and the pushchair and me!! Someone eventually gave up their seat for me and daddy but poor mummy was swinging through the bus holding onto the pushchair, two big bottles of water, her handbag and the shopping - poor mummy!! On the topic of shopping the bag included some lovely goodies, such as sushi and pate - which i had for my dinner, very yummy!

Then it was back to normal for the week - Monday is music, Tuesday is gym, Wednesday swimming and this morning East Coast mummies meet. Lots of fun, as well as the usual trips to Parkway Parade, the supermarket and The Coffee Bean, we had a lovely walk by the sea and met two little doggies (both called Peppa), they were very sweet and I got to hold the lead (luckily they did not run away). We also went to marina square and saw Thomas (the tank engine) he was giving rides around the mall, but everyone on it looked so bored that we thought we would give it a miss!!

I have been busy In the Night Garden and have perfected Upsy Daisy's kisses and love walking around the house with my towel over my shoulder like Iggle Piggle and his blanket and clacking like the Pontipines. For those of you who have no idea what I am on about, it is definitely worth watching CBeebies for!!

Well, i think that is all of my news and gossip for this week. I now own a jumper so am nearly ready for my trip back to the UK in a week and a bit.

See you soon

Eleanor Mary xx

Holidays

2009-06-04T06:18:00.000-07:00

Thursday 4th June 2009

We have had a busy weekend - we went away on holiday to Bintan. We had a fun ferry ride across and then a bus came to take us to the hotel. it was a fun bus ride as there were lots of bumps and bends for us to go "weeee-eee" round! We had loads of fun playing in the pool, eating lots of yummy food and playing games. I tried some lovely new food - crab cake, red snapper and lobster bisque - mmm yummy!

The pictures i have included this week show me helping mummy brush her hair after swimming, playing in the pool with mummy, going for a walk with daddy and sunbathing with daddy around the pool. Our hotel room was very nice, it had a big balcony overlooking the pool and sea, and two rooms so that i could go to sleep whilst mummy and daddy stayed up. I had a nice cot, however the mattress was a bit lumpy, so once mummy and daddy went to bed I usually woke up and got into their huge bed - i figured it was only fair that with all of that room they shared it with me!!!

We landed back home on Monday evening and then daddy also had the Tuesday off work which was nice. We went for coffee in the morning and to the shops and I had my first babyccino. It was very nice, but i did make a bit of a mess!!

Wednesday was back to normal with swimming in the afternoon. After all of the practice at the weekend I really enjoyed my lesson and for the first time I managed to pick up the sticks (although this week they were Nemo Fish) from the bottom of the pool - yeah, well done me! We also practiced dolphin dives and I managed it first time. I jumped in the pool so many times whilst we were doing Humpty Dumpty and kept trying to make the biggest splashes i could!!

Finally today we had a quieter day as I went to the doctors for my MMR jab. Once again i was very brave and created more of a fuss about the thermometer in my ear than the needle in my leg - mummy thinks i must have sensitive ears! I was also weighed and am now 13.3 kgs (which is about 29lbs!) however i am nearly 85cm tall - so perfectly in proportion!! We spent the afternoon chilling out at home, in case I felt unwell, but I feel fine so far.

So all in all a busy week. Hope you are all keeping busy and I will speak to you soon

Take care and big kisses

Eleanor x

Feeling better and talking!

2009-05-28T06:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday 28th May 2009

Well we actually managed to complete all our planned activities this week now that I am feeling better. It started with play group on Friday, which was really good fun, although I did bang my face on the climbing frame and cut my lip - not a good start to the week. I am sure that you will be pleased to learn that was the only injury I suffered this week. Although daddy was convinced I was going to do myself more harm this week, as i have fallen over my feet so many times (and his feet too!!)

We had a nice weekend relaxing mainly at home again, we found a British pub to have lunch at and then I had a great time running around Vivocity and trying to escape mummy and daddy!! I had some yummy new food at the weekend as well - I tried marmite on my toast, I had most of daddy's sausage sandwich (after my own breakfast which consisits of weetabix and most of mummy's cheerio's) and I also had some scampi - yummy. I think it is fair to say my appetite is back now!

Other things we have done this week include music, the gym and swimming. Very active for a 16 month old baby! We also met up with Hannah and Charlotte - we met at a place called the Book Cafe, which has coffee and books, but also toys to play with. Perfect! Mummy and Hannah chatted about Hong Kong and long aeroplane journeys back to the UK with toddlers and Charlotte and I tried our best to empty the toy box and all the children's books from the shelf. My favourite toys in the box were the till and tea sets - yeah, I had loads of fun serving Charlotte endless cups of tea. Think that might be on mummy's hit list of things to buy me to keep me occupied!!

I spoke to Uncle Jonathan this week (and baby Manina!) and I finally worked out how the phone works - i get that you have to speak into the holes at the bottom now. Poor Uncle Jonathan had to speak to me for ages, because everytime mummy took the phone back I carried on talking. Now whenever I get a phone I grab it and talk and talk and talk - I do not think that it matters what you say, from watching mummy that's all she appears to do!!

Well I hope that you like this week's pictures. They are of me trying to pick up all the straws after I dropped (emptied!) them out all over the floor, chilling out and watching ITNG on my bean bag and being a big girl and using my step to wash my hands (aka splashing around in the water making a mess!!)

Love to you all

Eleanor xx

Poorly baby!

2009-05-21T06:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday 21st May 2009

Well news hot of the press - and only just making this weeks deadline - I am now a big cousin!! Auntie Jo and Uncle Jonathan have a little baby girl called Manina - I am very excited and cannot wait to meet her in a few weeks and teach her a few tricks of the trade!!!

In other news, life has been a bit dull for the past week. I was ill for most of the week and then mummy became ill as well, so we have not been doing very much. I have been having lovely long sleeps at nap time though which i think pleased mummy. Daddy made us some lovely food at the weekend to try and make us feel better - we had a roast dinner with lots of veggies and then a lovely chicken, mushroom and leek pie. As you can see from the pictures I was trying to help daddy in the kitchen, but could not quite get a grip on the oven gloves - tricky things that they are!!

Then on Wednesday to make up for the fact that we were too poorly to go swimming, we met daddy for lunch, i have included a picture of daddy and I colouring in the picture book that i was given. I am getting better at not confusing the bread and the crayon and actually managed to do some colouring before i resorted to trying to eat the crayon. They come in such yummy colours though and it can get confusing when you have yummy bread in one hand and a crayon in the other - come on admit it, i am not the only one to have done it?!!!

As well as being ill over the weekend, I also had another injury which needed my very first plaster!!! I was opening and closing my wardrobe door and my little toe got caught under it, it scraped the skin from it and all this red stuff came pouring out!! Mummy said it was blood and daddy gave me a cuddle whilst mummy bathed it in magic savlon and put a plaster on it. Apparently you can get pretty plasters, but mine was very boring, so mummy is going to go out and buy me some special ones - not that i plan on hurting myself again in a hurry.

Then to top it all off i was very poorly yesterday, i was crying and crying because my tummy really hurt and mummy managed to rub my tummy and send me to sleep, (see photo) but then when i woke up my tummy still hurt, eventually after about 20 minutes, i did a big trump and then was perfectly happy again!! However, this coincided with daddy arriving home from work, so mummy thinks that I was pretending in order to be allowed to stay up and play with daddy!! Maybe actress could be a future job for me!!

I had my first attempt at washing up this week. Mummy put me on my step and gave me the brush - I was not very good though, so think that it might be a while before I am managing to earn my pocket money. I am however getting better at drying up and this afternoon i spilt a bit of my water on the floor and went and got some kitchen roll to wipe it up with all before mummy even noticed I had spilt it! Maybe I am a domestic goddess in the making after all!!

Well am going to sign off for now. I hope you are all well and hopefully next weeks blog will be accident and illness free - well you never know, stranger things have happened!!

Take care

El x

Food!

2009-05-14T06:17:00.000-07:00

Thursday 14th May 2009

Well as you can see from this week's pictures there is a bit of a food theme to this week. I am not feeling very well at the minute and have a sore throat, a runny nose and keep sneezing - poor me!! We had our temperature checked everywhere we went last week (in case we had piggy flu - but we were fine!) so am thinking that i just have a bit of a cold - one of the downsides of hot Singapore and all the air con wherever you go!!

Anyway, this means that for the past few days i have been drinking lots of water and juice and eating my yoghurt for lunch and dinner and not much else - even the melons and grapes have been sidelined! You can see from the pictures how much i have deteriorated - at the beginning i was using the spoon to eat and by yesterday I had given up on that and just used my fingers - today I even let mummy feed me!!

However, despite a sore throat putting me off my food we have still been busy as generally i have been feeling happy when i have something to take my mind off it. We went to our first playgroup at the Canadian School on Friday, it was a very busy morning and i was very tired when we left but we had fun. My favourite toys were the big wendy house and the baby doll and pushchair - the other children were all really nice and played with me too - i am the baby of the group and the eldest is nearly 3 so we had a good mix.

We had a nice relaxing weekend after all the activities during the week. Daddy played football (twice) and got very wet and muddy on Sunday, luckily mummy and I arrived at the shopping mall just in time and stayed dry!!

This week we have done all of our usual activities of music, gym, swimming and mum's group - phew! The gym was nice this week as we caught up with Josh and Isobel who both live in our condo - so that was nice. We also met up with Michael and Mary (the twins) they have found out they are moving to London at the end of the year - so we were sharing tips!! And Dave was back at swimming this week, so I was able to do a backward flying somersault and an aeroplane dive - aah!!! Not sure that will have done my throat and nose any good - mmm maybe that explains the illness!!

The other pictures are of me trying to escape my bath (half undressed) I really like bath time, but i love making mummy chase me around the house first - ha ha!!! The other is me stealing daddy's crisps - I managed to get them out of the cupboard and mummy said "Eleanor they are daddy's, put them back whilst I get yours" - this was followed quite promptly by my reply - a giant crunching noise as I bit into them!!! And then mummy got the blame for eating all the crisps - although I did only have two, so not sure where the rest went!!!

Well think that is all my news for this week. I am still racing around on my car (when mummy changes it from a walker - as you can see in the picture sometimes she won't and i have to try and do it myself!!) and I also like mummy's piggy back rides around the house, especially when she runs into the wall at the end!!!

Well better go I need to go to bed and get my sleep so that I am fully recovered for another action packed week,

Big hugs to all (no kisses this week, do not want to spread my germs!!!)

Love always

El x

Getting caught!!

2009-05-07T03:58:00.000-07:00

Thursday 7th May 2009

Hello All!!!

Well the week started nice and quietly with a bank holiday (Labour Day) on Friday, so daddy was at home - yeah!!! We had a quiet day we went to the nursery (as in plants not babies) and daddy bought some Thyme (which we have not killed yet!!) and then we went to the Botanical Gardens for a lovely lunch. There were lots of doggies and birds there (2 of my favourite non-food related things) and a lovely lady let me stroke her doggy - i was a bit scared at first, but quickly patted him and then moved my hand away as he felt all fluffy and weird!!! I was then promptly ordered to wash my hands before i started chewing them in an attempt to stop my mouth hurting where the nasty huge teeth at the back are trying to appear - boo hiss!!!

Saturday was mega-exciting!!! Daddy went to play football in the morning and mummy and I went to Cold Storage (the supermarket) to buy cream for daddy's curry (which was worth it as it was very yummy!) and then after lunch and a nap, we went to Ikea and Giant (another supermarket) - how exciting can a 15 month olds life be!!! Mummy was very brave and drove all the way home from Ikea as well - I think i prefer daddy's driving though.

Sunday was nice we had a chilled morning and then in the afternoon Cara and her mummy and daddy came round to play. I had lots of fun showing off all of my very noisy toys and it is fair to say that Cara and I work quite well as a team emptying every drawer, shelf and box in sight!!!

The week days have been really busy as well. We had music on Monday (a lot quieter as some of the bigger ones have moved up) but there is a new girl called Imogen who has started and is the same age as me. Then on Tuesday we went to the gym - I had my first proper go on a slide which was really good fun (normally i attempt to climb up them, rather than slide down them!) and I went on a swing too (and did not fall off this one Grandma). There was also a big trampoline which i went on, but i was not brave enough to stand and bounce, so I just crawled on it whilst mummy bounced it. Wednesday was swimming - we had Coach Annabel this week, as Dave is on holiday. She was very nice though, although Ingrid was not happy and stropped throughout the lesson, because it was not "swimming Dave!" Finally today we went to the East Coast coffee morning and played with all the toys - I also had my first taste of Pretzel, it was very yummy!!!

I had a nice cuddle with daddy on Sunday, when we sat and watched Episode 2 of In the Night Garden. If you have not seen it yet, it is definitely worth a watch, i think daddy enjoyed it as he kept waving at the tv and saying Hello Iggle-Piggle/ Upsy-Daisy/ Makka-Pakka!! Strange man!!!

New food of the week is Rice Krispies - to be honest, I am not that keen they were a bit soggy, but the supermarket had run out of Cheerios, so we had no choice. However, my lovely mummy went all the way to the other supermarket to pick some up after swimming, so we were soon back to the normal breakfast - my weetabix, followed by half of mummy's cheerios. this morning i also polished off half of the english muffin with jam on that daddy did not eat!!!

Finally I hope that you enjoy this weeks pictures. The first one is of me helping mummy to clean, the rest are related to me getting caught doing things. One was trying to put mummy's socks on, then getting my crisps out of the cupboard and finally trying to decide which one of the many nappies I have would go best with my pyjamas - mummy reckons that they are all the same - just goes to show how much she knows!!!!

Well big hugs to all and see you later

Eleanor xxx

Cheeky monkeys!!

2009-04-30T05:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday 30th May 2009

Well I need to start this week's blog with some "shout outs!" - so here goes, in date order: Welcome to the world Hannah Rose O'Malley, a new playmate for me when we go and visit Sean and Marie in Coventry, Happy 1st birthday to Ben and 30th birthday to Vicky in Hong Kong and happy 1st birthday to Henry and Julia (31 not 1) in England!! Phew - a busy week for mummy and the post office!!

Well other than sending out well wishes to people we have had a busy week this week. We went to the zoo on Saturday and saw lots of different animals. My favourite by far was the baboons - they were great fun and i spent ages watching them through the glass, they were very playful and one started throwing up sand at me!!! We also saw some elephants, tigers, rhinos and otters. However it was so hot we left at lunchtime, so we are going to have to go back to see all the other animals - never mind!!!

On Sunday we headed down to the East Coast to meet Harriet, Phil and Cara for Sunday drinks. There was a big storm before we got there, which cooled the air slightly. Cara and I did a fantastic job of entertaining everyone in the nearby vicinity, which left the grown-ups to talk about boring stuff!!!

We did the usual music and swimming this week, which was fun. Olly at music has graduated now to the bigger boy class which is sad, but the teacher says that i should be able to join him next term - yeah!! His mummy says that it is a lot harder as not only do you have to hit the instruments when the teacher stops the music you need to pass on the baton!!! I think this will help me when it comes to pass the parcel though!!

We also met up with some more babies this week - Tuesday we went to meet hannah and Charlotte, they are heading to HK on holiday, so we passed on lots of tips. We also got to play on Thomas the tank - i giggled the whole way round, it was Charlotte's first attempt at rides, but she seemed to enjoy it once she worked out what was going on!! Then this afternoon we headed over to Cara's house for a girly afternoon of playing, there were loads of fun toys and windows for us to put handprints all over (sorry Harriet) and also some yummy cakes and sausage rolls!!

I hope you like this week's pictures - there is me at the zoo, me helping daddy pass the balance test and helping mummy catch hula hoops on the Wii Fit, me in my lovely outfit and getting stuck on the bean bag (mummy thought it was a better idea to take a picture of me shouting to get off, rather than actually helping me get off).

Well, think mummy has got an action packed week planned for us next week and we have a bank holiday for labour day here, so i am sure there will be lots of stories next week.

That's all for now

Love to everyone

Eleanor xxx

Walking Solo!

2009-04-23T04:48:00.000-07:00

Playing peekaboo with the camera

The Easter bunny and look at me go!!!

Thursday 23rd April

Happy St George's Day, to everyone reading in England. Hope you are all well.

Big news of the week is that I am now officially walking. I have slowly been building up my confidence over the last two weeks and on Sunday watching the Grand Prix I got so excited (when the safety car eventually went in) that i started walking round and round the coffee table. I am still sometimes crawling and like to know that there is something nearby to hold onto, but I am happily walking as much as possible. As a result I have banged my head twice this week and have two rather large bruises on my bottom!! I thought that nappies would provide protection, but apparently not!!

It has been very very hot for the last week and so mummy has been letting me run around naked in the house. As part of this mummy and daddy bought me a potty at the weekend. It is a great toy - it is fantastic for climbing on (although i keep getting my foot stuck in it) and really useful for pushing around the lounge, mummy seems to think that it might be a comfy seat but i am not too sure about that one!

We received an easter package this week from Rhidian and Lizzy, it had teabags and chocolate in for mummy and daddy and some easter bunny ears and a pop up pinocchio for me (i have enclosed a picture) they are very cool - thank you.

New food of the week was spicy arrabiata pasta - hot but yummy and when we went out for sunday brunch with some of daddy's football team, i had some more pineapple juice which i love - although mummy thinks it might make me slightly hyper, i did sleep the whole way home in the car.

Well i hope that you like this weeks pictures and I will be in touch again next week, until then toodle-pip!!

Eleanor xx

Easter

2009-04-16T05:22:00.000-07:00

1. Now why did I get bought a walker? 2. Me doing my Oasis impersonation

The many faces of Eleanor - 1. Mmm, is that a camera that looks interesting, 2. I want it now!!, 3. Okay, I'm not going to get it so feign indifference "Whatever!!"

Thursday 16th April 2009

Well this weekend was Easter, however we could not find any Easter eggs (sad face) but we did get some yummy M&S chocolate instead (smiley face). We had a three day weekend in Singapore to celebrate Easter and we spent most of it chilling. On Friday we had a nice walk on the East Coast and went for some lunch at the pub(!), on Saturday we went for a drive and had a nice lunch in Holland Village (yummy pasta for me and i gobbled down lots of Bruschetta too) and then on Sunday daddy cooked us a lovely roast dinner (lamb as it was Easter!)

We did our music on Monday as well which was nice (no boat rides, but we did some dancing instead!), we missed swimming on weds as i was sleeping, because I had another injection on Tuesday (sad face), although i was very good and only cried when she stabbed me! I now weigh 12.70 kg (about 28lbs) and am 82.5 cms tall - so still at the top of all my charts. Mummy has finally worked out why when we do the aeroplane game at music and after half an hour of swimming lessons her arms ache when everyone else seems okay!!

I am getting better at walking - now up to about 12 steps - when i can be bothered, which now i have proved myself is not very often! i will walk to mummy sometimes, but if i think she is standing too far away, i crawl most of the way and then stand and walk the last 3 steps!!! Mummy says that i am getting cheekier - i still love shaking my head and smiling, i also like creeping up behind mummy when she is sitting on the floor and hitting her back until she picks me up and gives me a piggy back, dive bombing the bean bag is another big hit (sometimes with mummy still on it!) Speaking of which i earned my first war wound this week - i have a lovely big bruise on my forehead from when i was trying to crawl away from the tickle monster and hit my head on the ball popper when she got me as i was laughing too much - needless to say the laughter soon turned to tears, but a chocolate button soon sorted that one out. However, when i walked up to the fridge later and pretended to cry, I did not get a chocolate button, mummy just laughed at me - need to work on my acting skills i think!!!!

New food this week - mulligatawny chicken (yuk), chicken nuggets and Chinese sauce (yuck) beef burger in a bun (yummy, until i got to the salad bit, when i started to lose interest!!)

Finally, today we caught up with some east coast mummies that we have not seen for a while which was nice and i managed to learn a bit of climbing, we also caught up with the twins earlier in the week - Michael was asleep in his pushchair, but i thought that he was pretending, so started tickling his toes(!!!), mummy was not impressed, but luckily for me he was (and remained) fast asleep!! Not sure why I could not wake Michael up, but when daddy is sleeping it is okay for me to go and leap on him and tickle his toes if they are sticking out of the end of the bed - must check that one with mummy!!

Anyway think that was the week that was,

speak soon

Eleanor xx

Walking

2009-04-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

Playing on the Wii Fit, my attempt at arty photography

helping daddy to open his birthday presents, posing!!

Thursday 9th April 2009

The week started sadly with grandma and grandad heading back to the cold of the UK. Before they left though, we had a last chance at a walk down by the sea and a swim in the pool. I also decided to give them a leaving present in the form of me walking on my own!!! I managed two whole steps (mainly because I was being nosey and did not realise!). I am now very proudly up to 10 steps and still practicing - I am gaining in confidence all the time, so watch this space for further updates!!

The other big news of the week was that it was daddy's birthday - I have enclosed pictures of me helping daddy opening his presents (he needed quite a bit of help!!) We had a lovely day shopping in electrical shops and had a nice lunch as well.

Other than that it has been a quiet week as i was recovering from the last two weeks. Mummy has been quite pleased that I have slept in until after 8am a couple of mornings, we have been to music and swimming - music was good fun as we did blanket boats again - this time whilst the teacher was explaining how it worked i had headed over to the blanket and laid on it ready to go - so we did a practical explanation!!! We also managed to catch up with Charlotte and her mummy and grabbed a quick lunch with daddy!

I have added grapes to my list of fruits I love at the minute and have finally been converted on to bread - although i am still quite fussy - german dough bread i like (mummy says it is a bit like malt loaf) and I am loving toast when i can dip it into my soup! mmm yummy!!

In my role as escape artist, mummy was quite amazed that I managed one morning to have escaped from my sleeping bag - she still is not entirely sure how i managed it, but was quite impressed!

Oh well am sure that there will be lots more updates and adventures in the life of Eleanor next week. Until then, kisses and hugs to all and have a lovely Easter weekend

El xx

Holidays

2009-04-03T07:07:00.000-07:00

My new swimming costume, oops caught on camera (i did not eat that big bit of chocolate cake!), paddling in Bintan

Playing hide and seek, being Humpty Dumpty!

Thursday 2nd April 2009

We had a lovely time over on Bintan, we stayed in a nice villa and there was a big swimming pool with bubbles and slopes and walls to play Humpty Dumpty on - this is where we spent most of the holiday. I managed to do lots of walking and swimming, but was a bit upset that there were no bananas and yoghurts for breakfast (mummy was going to smuggle some out for lunch!) The villa we stayed in had curly-wurly stairs which i loved going up and down, although the adults were a little more worried about them, probably not the easiest stairs for a 14 month old!

We came home to Singapore on Saturday and did some more exploring - we went to Little India, Chinatown, Fort Canning Park and the Botanical Gardens as well as swimming and music - phew! I have definitely been tired by bedtime (as have Grandma and Grandad!) I have been trying to walk as much as possible and am now brave enough to walk one handed (some of the time) and I am happy standing on my own for quite a while now. I have also been practicing my climbing and have found my cot and the coffee table a good height to give me a bunk up!!

This paragraph is devoted to all the naughty things i have learnt this week - drinking the froth off the top of latte's, shaking my head and smiling when i have done or am about to do something mischevious, running into the walls in the padded lift, swallowing water in the swimming pool and then squirting it out of my mouth (cannot do this yet, but it is only a matter of time!), eating chocolate muffins, prawn crackers. Am sure there are more but cannot remember at the minute!!

I have learnt to say 2 more words this week - I like it - about Grandma's chocolate biscuit and bye bye! Although i have not repeated them yet, but watch this space!! Well I hope that you like my pictures, Grandma and Grandad leave tomorrow so next week will probably be quieter but it is daddy's birthday on Saturday, so I am sure we will have a busy weekend.

Take care and I will update you again soon

kisses (mouth open, teeth baring ones)

From Eleanor xxx

Visitors and tourists

2009-03-29T04:40:00.000-07:00

Thursday 26th March 2009

We had a nice start to the week and met Hannah and Charlotte for a catch up at Tanglin. Mummy and I arrived late as the traffic was so bad - it took nearly an hour!!! Other than that the start of the week was full of jobs - as we had some important visitors arriving on Sunday - Grandma and Grandad Fallas. We went to the airport to meet them on Sunday and they arrived to glorious sunshine - yippee!!

I have had a great week entertaining them and showing them all of my toys. Grandad seems to be particularly keen on the xylopiano and grandma likes my stackers. i have done loads of walking this week with them and am loving exploring everywhere. We went to Raffles Hotel, across to Sentosa on the train and had a lovely walk in the East Coast. We went to the museum of Singapore and there were loads and loads of stairs to walk up and down which was fab, we also went into the sea and had a paddle which i loved - i did not want to get out.

I am loving my walker and it is one of the first things i reach for now out of all my toys - mummy converted it into a ride-on toy this week and grandad had me racing up and down the lounge doing handbrake turns - it was great fun, but we can only do it a few times as it tires grandad out.

Anyway we are heading out to Bintan for a little holiday tonight and I am looking forward to it, we are staying in a villa and there is a big pool for us to play on, we have to catch the ferry there, but it is not that far. Will update you all next week on our further adventures as i am sure that there will be many. I am standing quite well now and becoming less wobbly, so hopefully with a bit more practice i will be up and walking on my own soon as well.

Speak soon and take care

Love

Eleanor x

St Patrick and all things green!

2009-03-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

1. playing on my xylopiano, 2. on my beanbag, 3. breakfast with daddy, 4. on mummy's wii fit, 5. helping mummy with the cleaning

Thursday 19th March 2009

Another very wet week in Singapore - when will it stop raining!!

We started the week off with a play date, we were due to go for coffee but Conrad and his mummy were poorly and the weather was horrible, so we went round to Jenny and Charlotte's house instead. Charlotte has lots of fun toys and their flat has steps which lead to the dining room which i had loads of fun climbing! I also had a babysitter again on Friday as mummy and daddy put their posh frocks on and went to a ball, for St Patrick's Day. I did not miss all of the fun though as we went out to the pub for the St Patrick's Day parade on Sunday. Needless to say it rained all afternoon, so we did not get to see the parade, we did catch a bit of the live music and Irish dancing though. I was obviously dressed all in green for the occasion!!

I finally got my birthday present from mummy and daddy at the weekend - a big bright green bean bag. It is lots of fun and my favourite game has been running up to it (with mummy) and then throwing myself on it. I also love it when mummy sits on it and i can creep up and jump on her!! Hope you like the pictures.

I am loving walking with my walker and whilst mummy was trying to sort out my pushchair at the front door this morning, I managed to escape down the hallway past her!! Ha ha - silly mummy! It is also helping me to reach places i could not get to before - such as the higher shelves in the fridge and the cupboards. It also makes a fantastic noise when i run it into the front door repeatedly - poor door and poor mummy's head!!

New food this week includes daddy's veggie soup and mummy's tuna pasta bakey thing - mmm delicious!! No new words yet, but i do like to repeat "tickly under there" at the end of round and round the garden.

I still have a bit of a runny nose, but it was better for me to go swimming and the sun stayed out all day too - yeah! Poor mummy has not been feeling well this week though, she when i remember i have been trying to give her lots of awh's and kisses. A few bites did sneak in as well, but we discovered two new big nasty teeth at the back of my mouth today, so i have been forgiven!!!

Well had better say bye for now, we have lots of tidying up to do before the VIP's arrive this weekend.

Kisses to all

Eleanor Mary xx

Football and rain

2009-03-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

1. On my way 2. Oops nearly crashed 3. Yeah, I made it!!!!

Thursday 12th March 2009

We had a nice weekend - consisting of shopping and football. Mummy has been busy trying to find a nice ball dress for the St Patrick's Day Ball this weekend and daddy was obviously the one playing football - although I was giving it my best shot on the sidelines. My nice new shoes are covered in mud now as I refused to sit under the umbrella and watch the football, when I could be happy kicking a football around in the mud and rain. I nearly got signed up!!

I have now perfected kisses and give daddy a kiss every morning before he heads off to work - occasionally mummy gets one too, but not very often!! I have now added another word to my dictionary - we have daddy, awh (which means hug), hiya, there, that and now toes!! We also have mummy but i am only able to say this by screaming it at the minute, so mummy is not including it.

I love water and was very happy playing with the water fountain at football and making a mess. I also love the one at the condo and enjoy brushing my teeth and dipping it into the tap water. And obviously swimming in the pool - daddy came in with us at the weekend which was good fun. Another item with water that i have discovered this week is the toilet!! I have been driving mummy mental all week as whenever the bathroom door is left open, I head straight for the toilet and try and stick my hands in it. As this usually is followed by my putting the water from my hands onto my face, mummy is not too keen!!!

I am getting closer and closer to walking on my own now. I have attached pictures of me and my walk along toy, which I love pushing around. I also love steps and poor mummy had to spend half an hour with me walking up and down the steps at the entrance to the condo. There are only 6 steps and i soon realised that if we got to the top mummy tried to make me walk around the pool and if we got to the bottom she tried heading into the condo - so I decided the best thing to do was just walk up and down the middle three steps for half an hour!! Mummy does not think this is quite as exciting as i do - and thinks that sometimes I am too clever!!

Oops! Nearly forgot the other big thing that happened this week - it was mummy's birthday on Monday!! I think she had a nice day - we went to Kindermusik class, which has to be one of the most fun things to do on your birthday!. I bought mummy a book and a cd (of toddler songs so we can sing together!) and daddy bought mummy a Wii Fit, she seemed very pleased with it, but I think she might have missed the subtle hint from daddy (shhh - do not say anything!!)

Well that I think was this week. Big hugs to all and Happy Birthday to Auntie Kate!!

Love always

Eleanor (aka - trouble according to my mummy!)

Swings and swims

2009-03-05T05:01:00.000-08:00

Thursday 5th March 2009

I have finally got over my upset tummy and have ventured further afield this week. I had a brilliant time at swimming and really enjoyed myself, kept wanting more swims and was more than happy to be passed over to Dave. We also made it to the East Coast meet up this week, for the first time and made some new friends which was nice - including some boys - there seems to be far more girls in Singapore than boys!!

Mummy managed to trick me into standing up on my own this week - I managed about 8 seconds before i realised and panicked!! I am getting more and more confident though and spend most of the day on my feet, holding onto something or someone! I am also happy moving around on my own with my walker now and use that to get me to more places.

As well as my rice and pasta dishes, mummy made me some fishcakes this week, which i gobbled down they were lovely!!

It has been very wet here for the last few weeks and between the very hot sunshine and the rain we have not been able to go swimming in the pool, however we made it out today and i got to test drive my new float (aka Eleanor's surfboard), which was fab. I also enjoy walking up and down the steps of the swimming pool and splashing mummy.

Finally, I went on my first swing this week. The condo swings are sideways ones, but I met a friend Josh who showed me how to use them, I was a little bit scared and holding on, but Josh's mum said he was the same at the beginning, so with a bit more practice I am sure i will get the hang of it. I will try and post a picture at some point.

Anyway, must dash, got naps and things to get done,

take care and "speak" soon

Eleanor xx

Peace and Quiet

2009-02-26T04:10:00.000-08:00

Thursday 26th February 2009

We have had a quiet week this week, which has been nice. We went out at the weekend and climbed the highest peak in Singapore a massive 163 metres high!!! Ha ha, although it was quite a direct route up and it started raining as soon as we got to the top. We saw some monkeys, but managed to avoid all the other wildlife.

I have been busy eating this week and have included some pictures. My new favourite of the week is melon and I have also had pancakes (as it was Shrove Tuesday), I have included a picture.

I am still busy trying to walk on my own, but am much faster crawling around. I love standing though and my favourite past time is standing at the hall table emptying it of all the purses, phones, sunglass cases etc that are on there and then emptying the contents of them all over the floor - happy days!! I have added a picture of me emptying daddy's wallet - think i am trying to help him do some online shopping!

Well that is all from me this week I am afraid. Take care and speak soon

Eleanor xx

Catching up

2009-02-21T04:43:00.000-08:00

Thursday 19th February 2009

Another fun and busy week catching up with people. On Friday morning we had coffee with Conrad and Charlotte and their mummies and then in the afternoon we headed off to Mia's first birthday party. It was very good fun and she had a very yummy cake!! Then on Sunday we met up with Cameron and Jen who were in town from Hong Kong, it was lovely to see them and chat about their wedding in September and all the things we can do when we head out to Sydney. We also met up with Jinny and Kirsty on Weds and I got another birthday present, it is a xylopiano and makes lots of noise - thankyou Jinny and Ranesh, mummy and daddy are enjoying playing with it too!!

I have managed to pick up a cold this week again and have a poorly tummy, which could be due to the fact that I had my jabs on Tuesday. I was very brave though and only cried when the needle went in, as soon as it was done I was my usual happy and smiley self again.

I have also met 2 babies this week that are nearly the same size as me but a month younger. This is very rare in Singapore as all the babies I have met have been smaller than me and everyone keeps telling me that I am so tall!!

My favourite food of the week is my meat and special rice dinner. It is minced beef, tomatoes, pepper, onion, carrots, garlic, rice and mummy's secret ingredient - Worcestershire sauce, mm yummy!! I also sat and helped daddy eat his chicken, bacon and avocado salad, was not that keen on the lettuce, but loved the raw onion and bacon (oops bit naughty!!)

Well I think that was this week done and dusted. No major skills learnt this week, I am still practicing walking and using my spoon and mummy's fork and chopsticks!!

Hope all is well with you all and speak next week

Love Eleanor xx

Head banging!

2009-02-13T03:54:00.000-08:00

Thursday 12th February 2009

Another busy and exciting week this week. We started it off the best way with coffee and friends, as we headed up to Orchard to meet up with Hannah and Charlotte. It was lovely to catch up with them both and Charlotte has now started swimming too and enjoys it, so we can compare notes and maybe start diving in competitions soon!!

We had a lovely weekend. Saturday was jobs day but on Sunday we headed up to Fort Canning Park and wandered around the park and went for lunch across the road at Clarke Quay. one of the pictures is of me on a cannon that is in the park!!

I had a nightmare at music class on Monday though. I am enjoying wandering about and i love pulling up on everything, however sometimes I pull up on things that are not as stable and end up falling over. Anyway, I pulled up on the door as some of the bigger (walking) children were doing it but i got carried away and ended up banging my head, it made a really big noise, but i was better after a mummy cuddle. Then when i was crawling on the floor one of the bigger girls walked into me (as similar to me she is not used to moving around and checking where you are going) however her hands were in the same place as my head and it resulted in her pulling my hair - ouch!! Not a successful afternoon!

We had a great time at swimming though, Michael was back in the pool too and we did a lot of swims and got to play Humpty Dumpty off the edge of the swimming pool. On wednesday night we went out to meet Graham and Luise who were over on holiday from Hong Kong. We had a lovely dinner and I got to stay up until half past ten!!! Needless to say I fell asleep in the taxi on the way home!

I have improved my technological ability - i can now answer the phone and say hiya daddy!! I have also set a reminder to go off at 9am everyday just so mummy knows what the time is! Not sure how impressed she is with it though. I have enclosed a picture of my new shoes as well this week - am loving walking and standing at any opportunity given - the table by the front door that holds all the keys, mobile phones and wallets is my fave to pull up on and throw around the floor!

Cannot think of anything else new and exciting to tell you. Will let you all know when I am up and walking properly - mummy's back hopes that it is sooner rather than later!

Anyway TTFN

Eleanor xx

Getting around

2009-02-05T03:06:00.000-08:00

Thursday 5th February 2009

Well things have quietened down slightly again now and this week has been quite peaceful - helped by the fact that daddy has been in Japan for most of the week!!!

We had an exciting weekend - daddy finally got his car, after many many weeks of looking and searching we have leased a car, which means that we had to go shopping for a new car seat for me. Mummy and daddy were very impressed to learn that although I cried whenever I was in it in England, the one in Singapore seems to make me sleep!! I also got treated to my first ever pair of big girl shoes - we found a Clarks shoes and my feet are an impressive 4.5F. My shoes are very pretty and although I have not wore them yet, I am sure they will come out next week, as I am determined to walk anywhere that i can.

My other trick of the week involves eating!! I have been able to use the spoon and put it in my mouth for ages, however I was never sure how the food got on the end of it. This week thanks to mummy's big bowl, spoon and cheerio's it has all become clear, so now I am happily feeding myself (well 50% of the time, sometimes it seems to get lost between the bowl and my mouth - i think mummy must be sneaking off with it!) I have also learnt a new word that I can use in context - (besides da-da) and that is yum!!!

As usual we have been swimming and music making this week. I am now showing my independence big style in music and sat quite happily dishing out all the instruments to the rest of the group this week - well I am an expert at emptying any containers or shelves now so I thought i should put my skill to some use. I have attached pictures from my swimming class last week with daddy - in the second one you cannot see me, but I am in David's hands, so at the bottom of the pool!!

Other than that I have spent the week perfecting my crawling (am super speedy now), opening and closing doors and trying to climb on anything (as yet I have not managed it without help). Mummy thinks it is funny that when I concentrate I have started sticking out my tongue - however it was not as funny when I fell over and bit my tongue - tears and cuddles followed and I have a lovely big mark on my tongue still!!

Well I am going to say night night and I look forward to updating you on all of my adventures next week,

Big sloppy kisses to all

Eleanor Mary xx

Parties, birthdays, New Year and visitors

2009-01-29T05:43:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2009-01-22T02:43:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-01-22T02:32:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-08T06:41:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-01T03:48:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-01T03:05:00.000-08:00

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

Christmas in Singapore

2008-12-30T18:14:00.000-08:00

Thursday 18th December 2008

This week has been another quiet week as I am still feeling unwell. I started with a fever again last Thursday and I am just about feeling better now. So, me and mummy have been keeping away from other babies so that I do not pass the lurgy on and so that I am better ready for the 14 hour flight this evening!! This has meant no swimming, no music, no playgroups and no coffee for mummy!!

The main event of the week was on Sunday when we had our Singapore christmas. The weather was lovely and warm which is not like Christmas, but it was a bit rainy, which apparently is normal. I had quite a few presents under the tree, which Santa had delivered early for me, although it was a slow process as I had to open one and go back to bed for a sleep as I was not well. The first present I opened had come all the way from Auntie Noelle in England and was a dressing gown for when I get out of the pool so I am snuggly and warm - although mummy has packed it to go to the UK as she says I will need it there. I also got presents from both of my grandparents - a walk on/ride on toy from the northern ones, which I helped daddy put together as you can see in the pictures and a ball popper from the southern ones, which is hilarious as it means mummy has to run around the lounge chasing balls, whilst I sit and point!! I got some other presents from mummy and daddy as well, but I will fill you in on them as I start playing with them - I have been to unwell to play properly this week.

The other main event was on Tuesday and a visit to the doctors (again). The verdict is a sore throat and ears and explains why I have not been eating. The lovely doctor said that I am allowed jelly and ice cream to make me feel better though - yummy!! We also bumped into Isobel there, who was having her jabs before flying off to the US for Christmas - so that was nice to catch up before we left.

Anyway, we fly off this evening. I am feeling better thanks to my magic medicine and am hoping to sleep for the whole flight!! Bring on the woolly jumpers and see you all soon,

Eleanor xx

Christmas and bank holidays

2008-12-12T01:35:00.000-08:00

Thursday 11th December 2008

We had a long bank holiday weekend which was nice. We went out to buy a Christmas Tree and decorated it at the weekend, mummy and daddy placed it on a box so that I cannot get at it, but I have shown no interest in it whatsoever - although when the presents started appearing that was a different matter - all that crinkly paper!! Mummy also bought me a snow globe which is fun and Great Grandma and Grandad sent me a bauble which we have placed on the tree.

We added to our Christmas fun by heading up to Orchard Road and seeing all of the lights, the theme is a sweetie wonderland, it was very pretty. On Monday we headed out to Sentosa, a small island south of Singapore mainland. We went out on the train and came home on the cable cars which was fun. We went to Silosa beach for lunch and then headed to Underwater World to see the fishes - it was however a typical bank holiday and rained all day, mummy and daddy were even concerned that I might need to put a jumper on!!

On Tuesday I went to Charlottes birthday party which was fun, and we played with lots of toys whilst the mummies drank tea!! Then on Wednesday we went round to Ava's for tea and toys, which was good fun too, she has a pussy cat so I was practicing being gentle for when I see Snaggle at Christmas. In the afternoon we went swimming again, although I did not enjoy it very much as mummy discovered this morning when I woke up and was unwell again. I am trying my hardest to be better before we head back to the UK but in the meantime am getting lots of mummy and daddy cuddles to make me feel better.

I have learnt a few skills this week as well. I managed last week to sit up in my cot by myself which shocked mummy when she walked in, however I managed to shock daddy more by standing up when he walked in to get me after my nap!!!

Anyway must dash, time for tea and my bath

Speak soon

Els x

Edited to add - this weeks pictures are me doing my blog(!), at Charlotte's house, me and mummy on the tram at Sentosa and me and daddy hanging out in Orchard Road looking at the pretty lights.

Feeling sorry for myself (and mummy)

2008-12-05T04:04:00.000-08:00

Thursday 4th December 2008

Hi All,

Well a bit of a bad week this week. The week began okay as daddy returned from his travels on Friday. But baby signs was cancelled on Sat as Joyce was ill, so we went out and finally bought some furniture for our balcony. Sunday daddy played football over at Turf City, so me and mummy had a very long leisurely lunch at Horse City (next door). However, this is where the problem began as I got into trouble with mummy for refusing to go to sleep at all all day!!!

Then on Monday, I went back to bed before breakfast which is unusual, then after breakfast and then again before lunch and mummy finally worked out that I was poorly when she got me out of bed and realised I had a temperature and was warm enough to heat the whole of the UK in the snowy weather!! Daddy came home from work to collect his suitcase before heading off to China and between the pair of them they attempted to take my temperature - ha ha very funny, I was not happy at all about them trying to stick things in my ear! They finally worked out it was 38.8, which is hotter than normal - poor me!! My temperature remained until weds morning, but I am still not really well and am far more clingy than normal and believe it or not I am off my food!!!! Except for weetabix, banana and yoghurt, which i am just about managing to munch down.

It does mean though that I have missed my last music class of the term, a play morning at one of the other babies houses (who lives in Seaview so it was quite handy), my swimming lesson and a Christmas Party. We did sneak out for a quick coffee with Hannah and Charlotte though - otherwise I think mummy might have gone mental!!!

Daddy returned home from his travels today though, so missed most of me being ill, although he did keep ringing mummy to check on me and it is a bank holiday this weekend, so I get to spend more time with my daddy - yippee!!! Hopefully, I will be back to normal soon as I have my first birthday party to go to next week - chocolate and cake, mmm think I can feel another illness coming on, watch this space.....

Ellie xx

PS This weeks photos are of 1)me practicing being a worm, 2)in the coffee shop, 3)opening my advent calender (mummy said I was too poorly to eat the chocolates, so she helped me out!!) and 4)trying to work out how to hang the baubles on the Christmas Tree!!

Pebble Bay, photos and terror!

2008-11-27T17:31:00.000-08:00

Thursday 27th November 2008

We had a fun start to the week as we headed over to Pebble Bay (another Condo on the East Coast) to see Jinny. She had lots of lovely cake for mummy and lots of noisy pans and spoons for me. Ranesh had a big signed England shirt on the wall and this was my favourite thing in the room, i was amazed by it (but don't tell daddy!!) Then we walked over the bridge to the Indoor Stadium where Kylie is playing on Monday - how exciting!! We had to rush home for dinner though as mummy and daddy were going out with Sandy (from Hong Kong) and I had a babysitter again. It was the same lady as last time which was nice and I met her before I went to bed this time and was a very good girl and stayed sleeping all night!!

On Sunday we had some professional photos taken which was good fun. I got to play with the Christmas tree and some presents which I loved (especially the rectangular box in coloured stripy paper!!) It was very hard deciding which pictures to have but we got a nice one of the 3 of us, one of me and daddy playing, one of me pulling mummy's hair and some of me on my own. They are all very good!! Then on Sunday night daddy flew off to Seoul and is currently in Hong Kong as I write this. So it has been me and mummy on our own this week.

We had a nice time at Kindermusik on Monday and i was less grumpy at my swimming lesson this week. I still was not over excited by it all, but I did two swims down to the bottom of the pool and 2 swims to mummy. It has rained less this week as well, so the class after us got to swim too!!

Me and mummy have been swimming a couple of times in our pool and we went for a walk down to the beach as well which was nice. Today we went to a playgym to meet the twins, it was not as exciting as I hoped as there were lots of big kids in the gym bit so we stayed on the mats outside playing with the balls, although it did encourage me to start crawling a little bit more conventionally than the commando crawling I am still doing.

Mummy says that I have turned into a terror this week - not sure what she means, I think I have just become more inquisitive!! Everything is fair game for me to play with and mummy is amazed at the things I manage to reach from the confines of my pushchair or when she has put me somewhere "safe" how quickly I can move to investigate things. I have learnt to turn the lights on, open the dvd drawers and cupboard where the sky box is, pull my books of the bookshelf - although I keep trying to pull myself up on it and am not quite there yet and as soon as I hear the fridge door open I am there like a bullet!!!

This weeks pictures show me practicing for the photo shoot, reading in bed, the mess I make and reading my Christmas cards!!

Take care and see you all soon,

Big kisses

Eleanor xx

Getting around and growing bigger!!

2008-11-20T17:36:00.000-08:00

Thursday 20th November 2008

The week started off with a visit to daddy at work on Friday - just to check that he is working hard and then mummy and I had coffee (well milk) near his work. I had loads of fun as I stood on the comfy chairs and leant against the rail and stood waving at everybody as they went past, lots of people waved back and stopped for a chat - hours of fun. Not sure who I get the need to be centre of attention from?!!

We had a quiet weekend as daddy was busy studying for his exams, so me and mummy entertained ourselves and then came home to test daddy!! We did pop out to the shops though in our search for summer clothes, nice recipes and garden furniture and we had lunch at the German sausage shop!!!

I missed baby signs this week, but we did get to go to music and swimming class. music was good fun, and we did some walking, climbing and jumping to the music which was fun. Swimming was not so good, i started crying as soon as we got there and only did 2 little swims as i was too tired to play properly - David nicknamed me Little Miss Grumpy this week:-(

The reason I was so tired was that on Tuesday we had our East Coast playgroup again, Mia was there and Ava and two new babies which was really nice and we were there for ages playing and chatting (mummy got her money's worth from her cup of coffee!!!)

I now have 5 teeth (mummy says I am lopsided) 3 at the top and 2 at the bottom. I really have not enjoyed the top teeth arriving and obviously have another one on the way to even it out, so am not happy at the minute. Although I am having more fun eating now I have more teeth so I suppose there is a plus side.

I am still commando-crawling my way around (as the photos show) but I have managed to get myself onto all fours, i then just figure as it is easier to move on my belly I may as well fall down and belly shuffle forwards!!

Finally I had my developmental check this week. The lady said that I was doing very well and tested my reflexes and joints (she was impressed with how flexible i was - really not sure where i get that one from at all) and thinks i should start pilates!!! She also measured me and weighed me. I am 78cms tall and 23lbs (10.56kg). This puts me at the top of the charts for weight and off the scale for my height!!! As mummy keeps saying it is all the sunshine and rain here that makes me grow!!!! So all is good with me -yeah!!!

Love and kisses to all and see you in 4 weeks

Eleanor xx

Teeth, food and Penguins

2008-11-14T06:49:00.000-08:00

Thursday 13th November 2008

We had baby signs again this weekend which was good - we were sleeping!! Afterwards we went to look around cars and have a lovely lunch at Boat Quay. Sunday we had a nice chilling out day around the house which was fun. Daddy was very impressed that I have now made friends with Gertrude as the pictures at the top show.

I am still busy drooling everywhere and biting on things, mummy tried to get a picture of my teeth, but only managed to get the bottom two, whilst I was busy making a mess eating my breadstick. I am really enjoying my food and getting better all the time at chewing lumps - I have had pizza potatoes this week (they were okay but not as exciting as they sound), but otherwise having a healthy diet of meat and veg - yummy. I am enjoying some of my finger food now - especially my baby crisps - mummy shouted at me tonight as i put one in whole and then tried adding the second one straight away! Hee hee. I am also managing to feed myself - kind of!! I help mummy with my desserts now - mummy does 3 spoons and i do the fourth one and 9/10 times i get it in my mouth (with a bit of mess on the way in).

I am getting too independent though mummy says as this morning when we were eating breakfast mummy stopped feeding me to have a mouthful of her cereal and when she turned back to me i had taken the spoon out of the bowl and already put it in my mouth!! I can also brush my own teeth now. And I have the Fallas security gene - when anyone leaves I watch them go down the corridor, close the door behind them, try to turn the lock and then check the spy hole to make sure they have gone!!!

We met up with Charlotte again this week which was nice, she was busy teething too, so we compared notes!! We also made it to swimming, we had not been for ages and we were lucky as the thunder struck just as we were singing our last song! I also managed this week to kick whilst i was swimming underwater to mummy - yeah for me!!!

Oh well that was this week I think. Will let you know what we get up to next week - I am slowly learning more and more about Santa Claus and I have now seen loads of Christmas Trees (even in people's houses - in November?!), although to be honest not sure what all the fuss is about. Oh exciting news though, mummy and I went to Ikea this week too - it is a really big one with a huge restaurant and a big play area - now that is exciting!!!!

Kisses for now

Eleanor xx

PS We have also been busy making plans - we have booked our flights to the UK, train tickets to Yorkshire and flights to Hong Kong - all very exciting, so we will see you all very soon, wherever you may be!!!!

Signing, singing and witches!!

2008-11-06T05:50:00.000-08:00

Thursday 6th November 2008

We have had a quieter week this week, which has been quite nice. We have had halloween and as the picture at the top shows I dressed up as a witch - I am casting a spell in the picture. Mummy could not find me a hat that was small enough for my head, but the dress was very nice (thank you Caitlin).

We started our baby signs class at the weekend and mummy and daddy have been trying their best to teach me the signs for milk, eat, drink, all done and bib. They are doing quite well, but i am choosing to ignore them for the time being - they will only got over excited when they think that I am trying to sign to them. Also when i wave it is similar to the sign for milk, so it is all getting very confusing and we have only done one week!!!

We made it to mass again on Sunday, although we nearly could not get in, it was that busy that the car park was so full we could not get the pushchair through!! It was nice to have a bit of singing though, as well as my music class and singing whilst I wait for the bath to run in the shower attachment I think that i am quite musical (not sure where that skill comes from!)

The other pictures at the top are of me chilling out on my playmat with my fave book at the minute and wrecking my playmat in one of my more destructive moments?!! I think I am about to get a couple more teeth (to add to the 4 I already have) as I am biting on everything I can find (although i am being good and not biting mummy unless I am desperate) and sticking my tongue out all the time!!

Other than that things have been quiet - we have had lots of rain and huge thunderstorms this week, so we have only been swimming once and our class was cancelled on weds. We did music on Monday though which was good fun as we got the huge xylophones out to play on.

Anyway will say bye for now and will speak to you all next week

Love Ellie xx

PS Hope that you had a nice birthday Grandad and are not missing all those naughty boys and girls now that you have retired xx

Coffee, swimming and more coffee!!!

2008-10-30T05:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday 30th October 2008

Hi All,

A very busy week in the McGovern household. We had a busy day on Friday doing a big supermarket shop - mummy was cooking a stuffed lamb dish as we had a friend staying over. So on Saturday morning I woke up to say hello to Jo - who I knew in Hong Kong (and is mentioned in an earlier blog, if you were paying attention, as she bought me George!!!) Anyway, mummy went off to get her haircut and me, daddy and Jo went for coffee and then we all went out to Dempsey Hill for some brunch. Daddy went off to play football in the Citibank Olympics - he won a silver medal and also played in the frisbee final, Jo headed off to the airport and me and mummy went home to chill and pig out on the choccies that Jo bought us (thankyou Jo!!)

It was a bank holiday weekend in Singapore because it is Deepavali (Diwali as we would say), so we had a long weekend with daddy which was nice. We went to Turf City on Sunday to see the farm animals, but we went to the wrong bit so ended up looking at cars instead!! Then on Monday we headed out to Vivo City with thoughts about heading off to Sentosa Island and seeing some fishes - but we ended up being attracted by the bright lights of the shops and did not make it out of the shopping centre. We went to a Brazilian restaurant for lunch though - which was all you can eat meat - mummy and daddy enjoyed it, but they tried feeding me my lunch of Cauliflower Cheese and carrot - in a place called Carnivore (!!) needless to say I refused to eat anything (except for my yoghurt which i never refuse!)

Speaking of meat, I have had two beef dishes this week, both of which were lovely. My beef hot pot was lumpy and i ate it with no complaints and i even managed bolognaise with pasta (i have refused pasta before) so mummy is very happy.

We missed our music class this week as it was a bank holiday, but mummy has been playing the songs to me at home. On Tuesday we headed out to the River to meet Hannah and Charlotte. They are from the UK and Charlotte is 11 months old, but she was born very early and should actually be a day younger than me. We are both very similar in the things we are learning to do, so it was nice to play, chat and compare notes!! On Wednesday we had swimming which was really good fun, me and David went swimming to the bottom of the pool to pick up sticks, I did a bit of choking when i got back to mummy as i think i got too excited and drank some of the water, but everyone was very impressed that I managed that on my 4th lesson. Then today we went out with some more babies - Ava and Oscar who are both 4 months old and Mia who we have met before who is a few weeks younger than me. It was quite nice being the oldest (as most of the classes i go to i am the youngest) although mummy said that it means i have to be on my best behaviour as I am setting an example!!!

This weeks photo's are of me dressed up as Tigger in the outfit that Anna and Mark bought for me. Me in my new swimsuit getting ready to go swimming - it is an O'Neills one with the proper pull cord at the back - surfer chick!! The last one is of me and daddy on Bank Holiday Monday playing with my new toy - am not sure that daddy was all that interested in it!!

Hope you are still all enjoying hearing about everything I am getting up to in Singapore and that it is not getting too cold for you all "back home".

Sunshiney smiles to all

Eleanor xx

Teeth

2008-10-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

Thursday 23rd October 2008

We have had another busy week. We met up with more Hong Kong people on Saturday night, we headed out to Robertson Walk to meet Lou who daddy used to play football with and his wife and daughter. It was a really nice evening and we did not get home until 10.30 - I was very good all night, mummy and daddy thought that I might go to sleep in my pram, but no chance, i was having too much fun!! We also went swimming at the weekend which is always fun and I enjoyed splashing around in the pool.

I have tried some more food this week. Daddy made me some beef and it was really scrummy think that it might be my favourite food so far. I also had a pea and courgette soup, which looks very disgusting but tastes really nice. I also had some really nice bread when we were out for dinner, mummy keeps giving me bread and i keep saying no - but the nice bread in the restaurant i really loved - think that i might have expensive tastes!!

My two front teeth have just about arrived, we can see them in my mouth and they are nearly the whole way through. I have started brushing my teeth this week as well, I watched daddy on Sunday and then copied him (although mummy helped me). I have nice banana and strawberry flavour toothpaste and i think daddy was a bit jealous!!

I am still busy singing and swimming, both of which I am really enjoying. Mummy is really improving her drumming skills, I just keep laughing at her and eating the sticks, but when I am bored of eating I do join in. I am enjoying the bouncy ball/horseriding bit now as well. My swimming is improving as well, although I am not kicking yet, I am going deeper under water now and David actually let me go this week so that i "swam" towards mummy!!

Enjoy this weeks pictures. They are of me playing peekaboo, me brushing my teeth and me getting ready to go out for a walk - with my factor 50 sun lotion on, sunhat, muslin covering me and hood up - no chance of that nasty sun getting me!!

take care and big kisses to all

Eleanor xx

Daddy

2008-10-15T06:39:00.000-07:00

Thursday 16th October

Daddy returned from his travels at the weekend which was lovely. It was so nice to see him again and I have spent the whole week following him around and saying dada-dada constantly, much to mummy's annoyance.

On Monday we had some more visitors, Rhydian and Elizabeth came to stay for a couple of days. They arrived after I had gone to bed and I was a bit shocked when I was eating my weetabix quite happily and a big ginger welsh man suddenly appeared!!! However, he did make me laugh and played with all of my toys (mummy checked my toy bucket before he left to make sure they were all still there!!) The picture at the top shows me with Rhydian and Elizabeth before they flew off to KL and Borneo to see the orangutans.

I have been busy with singing and swimming again. We started a new music topic this week and the group seem really nice, Maurice (my German friend is still in the same group which is nice) We played with bouncy balls, triangles and drums - I liked the noise of the triangle but enjoyed eating the beater more!! Swimming was really good fun as well - I went fully under the water this week with David holding me and I was really good and enjoyed most of the class.

Unfortunately my teeth are really hurting at the minute and I have ended up crying during my lunch and dinner as I am hungry and love my food, but it hurts my teeth so I do not know what to do!! I have also been causing problems for mummy as i managed to change the computer screen to zoom so the screen kept moving around and then i ripped a key off the keypad - ooops!! I also managed to send a text to daddy without mummy knowing - think i might have picked up a techno-gene from somewhere.

Well that was this week I think. Hope you enjoy the pictures

Ellie xx

Singing and swimming

2008-10-08T06:04:00.000-07:00

Thursday 9th October 2008

We have had a slightly busier week this week. As well as the usual coffee and malls, we have started a couple of new classes.

On Monday afternoon we started Kindermusik class. This was really good fun as we sang songs and played with different instruments, we used maracas (like giant lollipops and i enjoyed eating them) and drums with mallets (again big sticks with lollipop ends) and we also bounced in time to the music on a bouncy ball. We hid under the parachute at the end and our mummies had to come and find us. I made friend with a german boy - he is slightly bigger than me and kept walking up to me and making me giggle - we kept hugging each other (but don't tell daddy!!) We start a new topic next Monday, called Rhythm of the Day, so there will be lots of new songs to sing.

We have also started Aquaducks on Wednesday. I love being in the swimming pool and it was nice to meet some other babies in the pool as well who are the same age as me. I am the youngest in the class of 5, but i think i did quite well. I was splashing with Hannah in the pool, she has just turned one, but we are the same height as each other!!! The instructor is really nice, he is called Dave, (mummy says he looks like Wentworth Miller!!) and he played some fun games with us, we went on a speedboat (float) and played Humpty Dumpty by jumping off the side of the pool into the water!! Some of the bigger babies, swam (very briefly) under the water to their mummies, but i just whizzed through the water to mummy, for now!!!

Other news. I am now facing forwards in my pushchair, as mummy was fed up of me twisting round the whole time when i was facing her. I have now had minestrone soup, which I love lots and lots, shepherds pie (without the shepherds which i am not that keen on yet) and chicken and vegetable gratin, which i really love.

I am still chewing on everything in sight and biting mummy all the time, but there is still no sign of those elusive front two teeth. Fingers crossed they will arrive soon as my mouth is really sore - my frozen teething rings are definitely my favourite toy at the moment.

Anyway, will say bye for now. Daddy is home on Saturday, so I am sure he will update you in the next blog on how grown up I am now!!

love to all

Eleanor xxx

Fast cars and beaches

2008-10-02T06:06:00.000-07:00

Thursday 2nd October

Mummy and I have been visiting more shopping malls in an attempt to find things and keep in the nice cool air con this week. Although we have been good and have not spent too much of daddy's hard earned money whilst he is away. Largely because all the shops are now getting their winter clothes in - winter in Singapore?! 30 degrees - anyone for tights and woolly jumpers!!

Anyway, we had the Grand Prix this weekend. We listened from the balcony but could not hear any of the cars. We did however meet up with Rob and Vicky from Hong Kong who were in town for the GP. It was lovely to catch up and I have attached a photo of our afternoon coffee session.

It has rained this week in the late afternoons which has stopped us from making it out into the pool - we managed friday and that was it. However we did make it down to the beach today to meet up with Jadie and baby Mia. Mia is only 3 weeks younger than me and one of my friends from HK who has moved out to Singapore as well. It was lovely to catch up and I had my first experience of sand - not quite sure what all the fuss is about and yes Uncle Jonathan I agree, it is just annoying when it all gets stuck between your toes!!

Mummy has been busy cooking this week, so I have tried corn chowder, vegetable broth and macaroni cheese. I have also had some bread and butter, but was not that keen on it and spat it out. Apple yoghurt has also been added to my list of puddings. I love my food and mummy is a bit worried about how quickly I gobble it all down - she usually cannot get the food on the spoon before I am sitting with my mouth open awaiting the next lot!! (unless it is something nasty she is trying to feed me - like pasta and veg - yuck!!)

Well, will say bye bye for now.

Speak to you all next week

kisses

El x

How clever!!

2008-09-29T05:45:00.001-07:00

Clearly from the stick figure images it is obvious I have inherited mummy's drawing ability. In case you are wondering Max is the teddy bear dog daddy bought for me and yes he is the same size as me!!! I am a bit unsure about Daddy's clothing - he appears to be wearing shorts - the Singapore office is much more chilled out than London in terms of clothing, but think this might be going too far!!!

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Penguins and dogs

2008-09-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

Thursday 25th September 2008

It is still nice and warm in Singapore which is good as it is giving me lots of opportunity to play in the pool, which I am really enjoying. On the downside it does mean mummy plastering me in Factor 50 sun lotion before we go out everyday and much to mummy's displeasure my legs are still browner than hers!!!

Daddy jetted off to the UK and Greece on Sunday night, but before he left we had a nice weekend playing in the apartment and pool. We went shopping and bought a bounce-back Penguin called Gertrude which I am very scared of and cry when i see it, hopefully by the time daddy gets back we will have made friends. Daddy did also get me (and mummy) some flowers and a doggy bear called Max who is lovely, he is big and fluffy and I enjoy stroking his nose, he also has big floppy ears like Jasper dog, although mummy says Max is better behaved.

After weeks (months?!) of refusing to nap regularly during the day, mummy finally took action with me this week after I fell asleep in my soup. I am now trying to have a morning nap and afternoon nap in my cot and am getting better at it - I have now managed it twice and am much happier by dinner time as a result. Especially when mummy serves her yummy leek and potato soup. She did however try giving me green veg and pasta the other day which was disgusting - mummy made it the night before and had some herself (which she did not think was nice) and then served it to me for lunch - yuck!! I am now enjoying my fish that daddy made for me though and thought the leek and courgette soup was good (once mummy made it thicker) even though it did send me to sleep.

We have been for lunch and coffee and cake this week with the non-RBS WAG's and baby Anya (who is not really a baby as she is a year older than me). We have also met some twins who are the same age as me, so I am looking forward to meeting up with them soon for a play and crawling session.

Other than that it has been a quiet week of practicing sitting without falling over and getting faster and faster with my belly shuffles, I made it all the way under the dining room table this week from my playmat. I have also been practicing standing up and can now stand holding onto the coffee table for 3 seconds before i start leaning and mummy has to straighten me up again!!!

This week sees the Grand Prix in Singapore and mummy has some new recipes up her sleeve for me, starting with Chicken Risotto, so I will update you next week with how I get on (already I am looking forward to the Chef returning from Europe, can my little tummy cope with 2 more weeks of mummy's cooking???!!!)

Lots of love

Ellie x

Chilling out (or trying to in this heat!)

2008-09-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

Thursday 18th May

I am having lots of fun learning new skills everyday. I am sitting up well, but still need a bit of practice. I am also wriggling my way in all kinds of directions - I am very speedy and moving around on my tummy in big circles and can now propel myself forwards using my legs and arms but end up on my tummy at the end of each move. So kind of getting the idea of crawling just need to concentrate on keeping my tummy off the floor - this might be an issue with all of the food that I am eating though.

I am starting to enjoy the fish that daddy cooked for me at the weekend - was not sure to start with and am enjoying my soup for tea that mummy made for me. I have managed to eat my first baby size rice cake as well, but other than that am filling up nicely on chicken and lamb, porridge, weetabix, fruit and yoghurts.

I am trying to burn the calories though by going swimming lots and lots. The pool at the apartments is lovely and we go for a dip at the end of most days to cool down after spending the day in the heat. Other than swimming we have still been busy sorting out our house and trying to find our way around Singapore.

The other big news of the week is that finally we have teeth!!! My bottom two have appeared as small but very sharp white bumps. It is very strange but they definitely have their uses. Although I have bit mummy a couple of times - oops!! Daddy is sensibly keeping his fingers away from my mouth.

I am also enjoying being out and about as everybody wants to speak to me. We are getting known in the local coffee shops and keep meeting other babies and children who really make me giggle!! It is a bit strange walking down the street and having people yelling "baby baby" at you, but so far everyone seems to love me and people are very helpful with mummy when she is lugging everything around with her!!

Oh well hope you like the pictures - the web gallery is broken at the minute, but hopefully it will be working soon and you can see better what we are getting up to.

Take care and be in touch again soon

Eleanor xx

Our new home

2008-09-13T05:59:00.000-07:00

Thursday 11th September

Yippee - we have moved into our new home. It has been a very busy weekend where we worked out where things were going and what boxes all of my toys were in, but it is starting to feel like home. We also managed to get the internet and cable, so hopefully my blogs should be more up to date now. Although mummy has been writing them down in her notebook each week - I know I am clever and can type but writing is a little beyond me at the minute!!

We have spent the week investigating the local area and have made ourselves known in the local supermarket and coffee shops! We also tested out the swimming pool in the apartment, it is huge and great fun. I splashed lots and lots and ever since have been soaking mummy every bath time as I keep forgetting we are not in the pool.

I am getting hugely better at sitting up now. Mummy bought me some soft floor mats, so that I can sit on the floor and play safely and comfortably and I am really enjoying it, although I still prefer standing all the time. The picture at the top shows me on my playmat.

I am still really enjoying my food, as the other picture shows and love playing in my high chair, especially with my yoghurt pots and empty bowls. I keep trying to play with the full bowls but mummy won't let me!

It is lovely to be back in my proper cot and I am sleeping much better now, although not perfectly as my teeth are trying to appear and they are hurting me. I am being very brave though and keep trying to forget.

Well had better say bye for now, take care

Love Ellie xx

Moving House

2008-09-13T05:52:00.000-07:00

Thursday 4th September

Well the week started much the same as the others -shopping! Daddy is now all kitted out to go back to work. We had a nice weekend, we headed out to the beach on Sunday and had a lovely walk along the path and went for Sunday lunch.

On Monday Daddy went back to work and mummy and I had a lovely walk and then went swimming which I really enjoyed - lots of splashing!!

On Weds we picked up the keys to our new apartment - very exciting. My bedroom is my biggest yet and has a big wardrobe to hang up all of my girly dresses.

I am finally starting to enjoy daddy's lamb hotpot and am loving my porridge on a morning. I am also getting much better at sitting up and can nearly sit and play with my toys, but am a bit too wobbly to do it all on my own.

The picture at the top shows mummy and I having Sunday lunch and me and mummy chilling in the serviced apartment. All our things arrive tomorrow so I am looking forward to playing with some new (old) toys again.

Bye for now

Eleanor x

House hunts and tourists

2008-09-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

Thursday 28th August

The week started out like a day in Hong Kong - daddy put his suit on and went into work and me and mummy went for coffee and a look around the shops. Daddy is easing himself in gently and only went to work for a couple of hours and then met us for lunch. We now all have visas so we can officially live in Singapore.

The weekend was a washout - it rained and rained and rained. We were supposed to go to Callum and Kirsty's for a BBQ but they had to postpone it until Sunday and then eventually gave up.

On Sunday we went to the East Coast, which is where we have seen an apartment we like so we decided to explore. There is a shopping mall and a hawker market and it is near to the beach, so it seemed really nice. We also caught the bus from daddy's work to the apartment - it stops outside both so no excuses for being late!!

On Monday we finally picked an apartment. We looked at 5 in one complex before mummy and daddy decided on the original one we saw last week. On Tuesday we were tourists for the day and went on an amphibious boat tour of Singapore. As ever I was the centre of attention again - if it is possible Singaporeans love babies more than Hong Kongers. I also got a duck whistle which daddy keeps blowing to make me giggle.

On Weds we went for lunch with some other Singapore WAG's, Jinny and Kirsty, which was really nice.

It has rained all week in Singapore, however poor Hong Kong had a typhoon on Friday, so we shouldn't complain. Mummy and daddy are slightly worried though as our box of belongings left Hong Kong on Thursday and Typhoon Nuri arrived on Friday, think our things might arrive soggy!!

Anyway will keep you posted. Next week daddy goes back to work and we my have moved house so some normality may return,

Love and kisses

El x

PS This weeks new food: Weetabix, Porridge, Lamb Hotpot and Rice Cakes

Bon Voyage!

2008-08-27T05:01:00.000-07:00

Thursday 21st August

On Friday we left our house in DB after the delivery men had come to take everything away. We moved into the Conrad Hotel for the weekend which was very nice. We had our leaving drinks at the GBar on the top of IFC, the view was spectacular and clear. It was lovely to see everyone before we left. Mummy and I stayed out until 10.30pm!! and daddy was allowed out even later!

For our last day in Hong Kong we headed down to Stanley on the south coast and then on Sunday we said goodbye to Hong Kong and headed off to Singapore. It was very sad to leave Hong Kong (my birthplace - how cool!!) but also very exciting. We are staying in a serviced apartment near to the river, it is very nice and has a fun playroom and a swimming pool.

We have spent most of the week either looking for apartments or wondering around shopping malls (well we are in Asia!). We have a lovely agent called Germaine who has shown us around lots and lots of apartments in different parts of Singapore and we have come up with a shortlist so fingers crossed by the next post we should have a new home! Here's hoping we manage to stay there longer than my current record of 3 months.

I have had an exciting week of eating! Mummy found some Ella's kitchen pouches which are yummy and full of organic veg for me to have on my travels. I am still enjoying breakfast and have tried oat cereal now, I have also had my first mashed up banana and yoghurt for lunch. Daddy made me some chicken casserole as well which is very very yummy - it had chicken, onions and garlic in (as well as other veg) which was all new for me, but I gobbled it down.

I am still practicing changing positions and I am slowly getting stronger at pushing up as the picture at the top shows. I can also stand very briefly on my own and a bit longer if I am holding on to something.

Well that is all the news from Singapore for now - we have not had much chance to explore yet but will update you when we do.

Take care
Love Eleanor xx

Bye bye Hong Kong

2008-08-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday 14th August 2008

This was our last full week in Hong Kong and mummy and daddy have been very busy sorting things out for the big move.

We had a lovely day on Sunday as lots of people came over from the main island to DB for our bye bye lunch. The picture is of me and Chris at the bye bye lunch. It was really nice to catch up with everyone and have a day chilling out by the sea. Then on Monday we met the WAG's that were in town to say bye bye to them and have our last afternoon tea, we went to the 4 Seasons again as this was our favourite!!

On Tuesday we spent the day on the main island doing lots of jobs and shopping. We also had to get daddy a new passport, as his had run out of room after only 2 years!! I have been jet setting a bit over the last 6 months but think that I might have a long way to go to compete with daddy.

I have had lots of fun eating this week. I have added broccoli to my lunch times now which is really yummy. I am also on 3 meals a day now and am having fruit and yoghurt for my breakfast which I really love - yummy!!!

I am still practicing sitting up and getting stronger everyday, although when mummy and daddy try to pull me up to sit I always try to stand up instead - far better as I can see more! I am also getting better and managing to pull the velcro of my nappies and undo them, usually at the wrong time, but never mind!

Mummy had her hair cut this week in the hope that I would not be able to pull it, however I am very determined and can still just about reach it. I also went to the doctors with mummy and daddy - and I got my own back, as they had to have their travel jabs before Singapore and I had already had mine done - hee hee. Daddy had 2, but poor mummy had to have 4! I gave them lots of hugs afterwards, but kept hugging mummy too hard and hurting her arm.

Today we had the removal men in to pack away all of our things and we have a house surrounded by boxes, they even packed up mummy and daddy's lightbox and sofa!!! This will be my last night in my nice cot for a while, but I am sure it will be exciting to get all our belongings back in Singapore.

Well my next post will be from Singapore. See you there!

Ellie xx

Weather

2008-08-06T07:10:00.001-07:00

Thursday 7th August 2008

Yet another busy week. On Friday we had a family day out to the Museum of Coastal Defence on HK island. It is near North Point and right on the eastern edge of the island and was quite exciting as we had not been to that part of the island yet. I had a lovely time going around the rooms in my Bjorn (but think that I might have fallen asleep at one point).

We have had quite a chilling out week. The weather has been lovely, so we have made the most of it and headed down to the pool quite a bit. I love the water now and really enjoying splashing daddy - although I always end up splashing myself as well, never mind!

I am still enjoying my purees, even the courgette and I am slowly gobbling more and more down. Mummy insists that I do not need to make so much noise when I eat, but I think all the "yummy" noises and trying to snort bits up my nose that have missed my mouth, make the whole dinner experience much more fun!! Mummy has also let me have a bit of her toast, which i was not that keen on (far too bitty and crumbly), but I did have a little bit of her strawberry and really enjoyed that. Think I am definitely a sweet, not savoury, baby.

Mummy and I had our lunch with the WAG's on Monday which was really nice, it was Italian. I did fall asleep but some nasty people on the table next to us scraped there chairs really loudly when they left and woke me up - nasty people!

On Wednesday, we woke up to scary weather. We had a typhoon number 8 which means it is very windy and rainy and everything shuts down, even the ferry so we were marooned on the island!!! Although it sounds scary, it was actually quite boring as we were stuck indoors for most of the day.

I have been busy learning new skills as well this week. I am now getting very good at rolling over from my tummy to my back, which is nice when I am sleeping as it means I am much comfier. I am also getting much better at sitting up, although I still need to be supported I can sit for a few seconds before I wobble too much one way and slowly fall over!! I managed 13 seconds today, which was an Ellie record.

On a negative note this week, my teeth have decided to make the final push for freedom and they are hurting me lots. I have been chewing on everything and anything and we are all hoping that they fully appear soon, as otherwise I am worried that my thumb might disappear from too much chewing!!

Finally, mummy and daddy went out tonight for their anniversary, so I stayed at home with the babysitter. I had a really nice night and only woke up briefly once to say hello! Mummy and daddy had a lovely long relaxing meal at Caprice on the main island So all in all a successful evening.

The pictures show me chilling out with mummy and daddy and attempting to take myself out for a walk in the Bjorn, when I got too bored waiting for mummy and daddy to get ready!! Well next week is our last in Hong Kong, so I am sure it will be manic and a little sad, although it will be exciting to be moving on to live in my second country at the grand old age of 6 and a half months!!

Kisses to all,
Eleanor xx

PS Hope you are all managing to watch the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony tomorrow night, I will be in bed but am going to watch the highlights so I can work out what discipline to enter in the 2020 games - is there a gold medal for messiest eater?!

2008-07-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

Thursday 31st July 2008

Another busy week. We started it off with coffee and cakes with the WAG's that are in town on Friday. It was nice to see Luise again and see Becca before she heads off to the UK to become Mrs Stokes. We went to Cova and had blueberry cheesecake for old times sake!! It was also daddy's last official day in the office today, I am looking forward to spending lots of time with him over the next few weeks.

On Saturday daddy finally got a chance to use his barbeque again, when Vicky and Rob came to visit. I was very excited too and decided not to go to bed at night until they had left - very naughty, but did have a lie in the next day. We had a very chilled Sunday - we went to the clubhouse for coffee and took the Sunday papers with us - mummy says this is how every Sunday should be!! The picture at the top is of me and daddy reading a magazine over coffee in the clubhouse.

We have spent most of the week trying to complete jobs and sort things out for Singapore. We went into Central on Tuesday and daddy picked up his new glasses - he looks very good. I also managed to embarrass mummy by vomiting carrot sick on her - she had to go to M&S to buy some more trousers as we were on our way to the bank to set up a Singapore account. Hee hee - add to this the fact that she has a bruise on her cheek, where I went to kiss her and sucked really hard instead!!! And the fact that she thinks she is beginning to get bald patches as I keep pulling her hair at every opportunity.

I have had a fabulous eating week! I am now on 2 meals a day and get very excited when I am put in my high chair. I still have not moved on from the staples of sweet potato, carrots, apples and pears, but am having a lot more food and mummy is mixing it with rice to make sure my tummy is filled. I am really very good and getting the spoon in my mouth now, although I occasionally end up with some on my forehead, ears, hair and eyes - oops! The picture at the top shows clearly how good my table manners are. I am also starting to drink from my cup, but much prefer it when mummy takes the top off and lets me drink it like a grown up or if we are out and about and I am allowed it straight from the bottle!! Generally do not drink much (if any) but enjoy pretending.

I have also found a new toy to play with. I have my own games on the computer, now when I hit mummy's keyboard creatures pop up saying "Peakaboo" or my favourite is the "All aboard" game where I can move the train and tractor across the screen by hitting buttons. These get mummy very confused as sometimes I hit buttons that make her screen go bigger or changes the layout and she cannot work out how I did it!! How embarrassing at 6 months old I am more computer literate than my mummy!

Well it is still very hot here (good practice for Singapore) so am going to go and chill in my nice air conditioned bedroom. Speak soon

Eleanor x

1/2 year birthday

2008-07-25T05:39:00.000-07:00

Thursday 24th July 2008

On Friday we were busy catching up with a few people. We had coffee with Sarah & Oshie in the morning, then in the afternoon we visited daddy at work and went to see Andy and Ling. We then went for a drink with Steve, so were quite busy.

We had a peaceful weekend. Daddy had a football tournament in the afternoon, so I went to watch, it was so hot though, we left before the end. On Sunday we had a lazy day in DB. We went swimming again during the week and I am enjoying it more and more, especially when we are in the outdoor pool. If mummy and daddy remember the camera I will try to post some pics next week.

It is my 6 month birthday today (gosh how time flies). Yesterday I had to go for my check up with the doctor and more jabs (sad face), however, I am now 16lbs in weight (on the 50th centile, which is up a little bit from before) and I am 69cms tall (on the 97th centile), so the doctor was very pleased with me. Now I have turned 6 months, we are starting solid foods in style, am still not overly keen on anything except baby rice, mummy even tried tempting me with some apple puree, but it was very sweet and made me pull funny faces. Well we will see what happens next week, think we are moving on to having lunch and dinner - yeah lots more messiness!

Daddy has his last day in the office tomorrow, so will be at home more for the next few weeks until we move to Singapore. I tend to eat more when daddy feeds me, so we might do better, although he is a lot bossier than mummy, he does make me giggle lots though!

Speak soon

Ellie x

Pandas & Bumps

2008-07-17T05:37:00.000-07:00

Thursday 17th July 2008

We had a nice weekend with Umesh and Lisa. For some reason, daddy and Umesh had slightly sore heads on Friday morning, but we got up and headed off to Ocean Park for the day. We went to see the very cute baby pandas, who were lovely and as we came out people were wanting to take my picture too (apparently I am very cute!!) We also saw the jellyfish, seals and dolphins - it was a very nice sunny day too so that was fun. We had a very chilled out weekend after Umesh and Lisa headed off on their travels.

It was another quiet week as well as everybody seems to be back in the UK. The sun has come out though and it is really really hot and sunny again. On Tuesday, me and mummy went swimming, we went in the outdoor pool and I loved it today. We walked under the seals that squirt water and played with the bubbles in the pool too. I did however scream when we had to get out, but that was just because I wanted to keep playing.

I think I am finally over my jetlag, although mummy is still trying to convince herself that I am not, as my new get up and stay up time is now between 8 and 9, rather than 10 or 11!! I am sometimes kind and sleep for an hour or two at lunchtime, but this is still a bit hit and miss. I like to try and keep mummy on her toes.

On Wednesday mummy took me to the doctors as we were playing on the bed and I managed to fall off when I was trying to reach for Jeremy Bear. I landed face down on the wooden floor and cried lots, mummy gave me a huge cuddle and that made me feel better, but we still went to the doctor's as my forehead was a little bit sore and puffy. The doctor checked my eyes, ears and throat and said that I was obviously keen to get moving and mummy would have to keep a tighter hold on me. I am nearly sitting up on my own though and daddy was laughing at me the other day as I was laid in my cot sticking my bottom up in the air and trying to wriggle forwards. I will keep you informed on my future moving adventures - hopefully none will result in another trip to the doctors!

Finally, on the food front - I am still loving baby rice and really enjoying feeding myself. I had a bit of an upset tummy at the weekend, so mummy just gave me milk, but this week as well as my rice I have had some more carrot a bit more watered down - still not impressed and some sweet potato that mummy mixed with some milk and this was far better, although she did trick me as I saw the milk and opened wide ready for rice and got a bit of a shock when I realised it was something different! Mummy is trying to hold off on the sweeter things for a while until I like the veggies, as she thinks I might develop her sweet tooth, however I think she will back down before I do, so watch this space for some lovely apples and pears!!

Well, will speak again next week. I have now caught up with my weekly blogs now we are back in Hong Kong and the internet is working, sorry for the delay in the last few posts.

Love Eleanor x

When in China ...

2008-07-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

Thursday 10th July

Well the weaning began this weekend. I had baby rice twice (mummy thought that this was a good idea as we are in China and it is their staple food). I really enjoyed it as long as I was allowed to hold the spoon - it is great to finally be able to put things in my mouth without mummy and daddy saying "Oh Eleanor!" However, mummy went and spoilt it on Tuesday by giving me cold orange goo (aka carrot), I was not taken with it at all and pulled a face before it even went in my mouth. It was a bit too lumpy, so mummy said she will add more water/milk before we try it again - so back to the baby rice on Weds again - mmm yummy!! The only good thing about the carrot was that as it is bright orange it made loads and loads of mess - especially when I dropped my spoon on the floor!!

On Saturday we had a HOT day with NO rain - finally!! So after lunch in the plaza we headed off to the swimming pool. As it was so hot we went in the indoor pool and I got to use my rubber ring seat which was nice with daddy whizzing me around the pool. I am still not certain that I like the water but I am beginning to be a bit less worried about sinking!!

On Tuesday we went for lunch with WAG Jan. She came over to DB to visit us which was very nice. It is still very rainy though so we had to sit indoors, but we had a nice Italian and then showed Jan around the Plaza. She is heading back to the UK for a couple of weeks, so we are hoping that she takes all this rain with her!!

Finally today we had some visitors. Umesh and Lisa arrived on the train from China. We went to meet them in Kowloon and had to get a bus to Sunny Bay, then the MTR to Kowloon Station - which was exciting as neither of these journeys we had done before. However, when we got to Kowloon we discovered that when the website says Kowloon it actually meant one of the many stations in Kowloon, so we had to get a taxi out to Hung Hom!! It was really nice to see them though and they are staying with us until Saturday when they jet off to Kuala Lumpur - I will let you know what we get up to in next weeks blog.

Bye for now

Ellie x

Rain, rain go away!!

2008-07-12T04:44:00.000-07:00

Thursday 3rd July 2008

We have arrived back in Hong Kong now and despite the whole of June being very very wet here, it appears the rain is going to continue into July. It is very wet!!! We had a relaxing weekend around the house and went out for dinner in the plaza as well, whilst we readjusted to the jet lag. It was not too bad, although I have been waking up in the night, I am usually quite good at going back to sleep again.

I have also moved into my proper pushchair now. I was a bit too big for my carrycot, but did not like the pushchair before so have been whizzing around in the car seat. However, now I am bigger I like the pushchair as I can see where we are going - it is very fancy and I can sit up or recline in it and choose whether to face mummy or look out at the rest of the world!! The picture shows me and George getting ready to go out to play.

On Monday Daddy went back to work and me and mummy went out in the rain, to meet Kirsty for coffee as she was visiting from Singapore. Afterwards we went out for lunch with the WAG's before they all head back to the UK for their summer holidays.

On Tuesday Daddy stayed at home as it was a bank holiday in Hong Kong. We went out shopping for things for me and came back with a lovely high chair. Mummy and daddy are going to start trying to give me mushed up food soon as they think that because I put everything in my mouth, it might be a good idea to start practicing with things that should go in my mouth!!

Our news of the week is that we are on the move again!!! We are heading to Singapore to live for a while as daddy has got a new job over there. This is very exciting as I liked Singapore when we went to visit, although it will be very sad to leave Hong Kong and our friends, we are sure that they will pop over and visit us once in a while and I am sure we will be back in Hong Kong at some point.

Well I am off to practice sitting in my highchair - I will fill you in next week on my food likes and dislikes.

Eleanor xx