Monday, April 28, 2008

New Bicycle and a Long Sunday

About lunchtime on Sunday Craig was taken to the new home of one his Mum's cousins. His cousin Soit-Jade was there too.


Soit-Jade's little sister was also in attendance. She's looking much more lively than the last time Craig saw her. He still isn't very interested in playing with her.


Craig spent most of his time snacking; first on fruit and then on a very, very sweet kind of soup.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangyuan


So, even though Craig went home with his parents to take a nap, he couldn't fall asleep. With so much sugar in his bloodstream, he was very lively and not at all sleepy. Craig's parents decided that it was time to take Craig out on the new bicycle that they had bought earlier that day and ride to a riverside park not far away.

When they arrived, out came a small soccer ball. A small problem arose because this park is about as well kept as other parks in Taipei. That means, as you can see in the picture below, big ruts in the grass have been left by track marks from some heavy vehicle that make it impossible for a little boy to walk safely let alone play with a ball.


Not surprisingly, Craig headed for the flat footpath.


He was much happier playing there.


But the lack of nap meant that he soon became tired. Playing with the dirt became desirable because it doesn't roll away. He even tasted it, much to his Mum's displeasure.


It can collect on your face if you are not careful.


Craig began to cry from tiredness and his parents went to look for somewhere to rest.


It even began to rain lightly so they were very happy when they found a hotel that rented rooms for three hours for NT$300. Craig was asleep well before he hit the bed.



While Craig napped, his parents watched The Pursuit of Happyness.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pursuit_of_Happyness
Craig's Dad thought that he's very lucky to be able to provide Craig with a much more comfortable place to nap than the restroom at a train station like the poor man in the movie.

Craig woke up almost exactly as the movie was finishing so he and his parents went back to the park for a while.


They had a really nice time there but soon it was time to go home and have pizza delivered for dinner.


Craig's Mum had to be quick to cut up the chicken pieces for Craig that were leftover from his dinner at Fridays the night before. He looks calm in this picture but he became impatient very soon after it was taken.


Soon, Craig's tummy was full and he had a chicken bone to chew on. Life doesn't get much better than that.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

It's Saturday Again

On Saturday morning, Craig and his Dad went to meet Mum for lunch again, just the same as they had done the last two weekends in a row.


Craig required a certain amount of entertainment while his parents ate lunch.


And, since his preferred entertainment includes holding things in his hands it's sometimes difficult for him to feed himself.


After his early afternoon nap, Craig went with his parents to the small park near home. His Mum tried to get him to play with his ball.


But he went back to the rocking-penguin. He actually had more fun than this photo suggests.


He also had fun throwing his ball over the tiny wall that surrounds the park. His dad had to go and get it back ..... that's probably why he liked doing that.


And, he spent some time on a small blue slide. There's a tube slide on the side of the same bit of jungle-gym equipment and he had some fun sliding down it but ....


It really was very crowded and some of the bigger kids were not very considerate.


So, while Craig's Mum went back home to teach mathematics (tutoring at home has advantages and disadvantages), Craig and his Dad went to TGI Fridays for dinner!

Craig had a children's meal that included chicken fingers and fries. Some of the fries were extremely long.


But Craig was hungry.


And soon it was gone.


Because dinner was finished pretty quickly and Craig's Mum had to teach for two hours, Craig and his Dad took the Fridays' balloon and went to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall again. There's no pictures of that because Craig ran around much too quickly for his Dad's camera to catch him.

Two Parks

The first picture here has nothing to do with the title. (Yeah, I know you didn't need to be told that.) Craig's Dad just thought it would be a good idea to show how happy Craig becomes when he sits on his Dad's shoulders. It's a non-stop giggle for Craig and his Dad thinks it's a lot easier to carry him like that because he's about ten and a half kilos now!


Friday was a beautiful warm day and Craig went to the very small park that is quite close to his home. He doesn't often go there because it's almost always crowded with bigger kids. But this time Craig was there in the middle of the day so he had more space than usual. He quite likes the blue rocking horse (penguin?).


Craig treated the penguin to a full inspection.


Before riding it like it was a motorcycle.


In the late afternoon, Craig went to the bigger park that is further from home but that is much safer for a small boy to play in. His Dad was at work so Craig went with his Mum. She took a good picture of Craig playing on a 4-way see-saw with a girl who was just a little bit bigger than him.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Happy Saturday

This was a very good day for Craig and his parents. It started the same as the week before with Craig's Mum attending her Chi Gong class after which Craig and his Dad came to meet her for lunch. They sat outdoors at a nice cafe even though it was quite windy.


Craig preferred sitting in a big chair like an adult rather than in his pram.


The lady that owns the cafe has a daughter whose bicycle is left in an open area just above the cafe. It was too big for Craig.


Luckily Craig has his ball to play with.


It was nice big area for a 1-year-old to play in.


When they sat back down the lady gave Craig some little toys to play with and he quite liked them.


After returning home for a nap Craig was taken out to play again in the late afternoon. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall has a tiny piece of lawn!!!


Sometimes Craig took his time deciding what to do with the ball. It is a bit big for kicking if you are only 77cm tall.


He stopped for a drink quite often too.


But as soon as he had handed his cup back to Mum the games were on again.


In fact, there was a little sign on the lawn suggesting that ball games were not a good idea but Craig's Dad is sure that Craig didn't hurt the grass at all.


Craig's Dad asked Craig's Mum to take a picture with Taipei 101 in the background.


It was hard to take a photo that could capture the peaceful atmosphere of an end-of-weekend afternoon. It was really very nice.


Craig's parents then found that there is a second floor cafe that offers a buffet dinner. So, they decided to give it a try. Craig's Mum had brought Craig's bowl from home for just such an eventuality.

Surprisingly, Craig decided he wanted to try to use chopsticks. Not surprisingly, he soon gave up and started to use his hands.


The chopsticks were good for playing games though.


After dinner, Craig found that standing on the blue lights fixed in the steps was a fun thing to do.


Instead of taking the MRT, Craig's parents decided to walk home. It was too far for Craig to walk on his short little legs so his Dad had to pick him up. Craig really enjoyed riding on his Dad's shoulders. It was the first time he'd been allowed to do that and it's just a shame a better camera wasn't on hand to capture the moment.

Outdoor Lunch

Craig's Mum likes to take Craig outside during the day but there aren't many places to take a tiny boy. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is just two stops away from home on the MRT and Craig really likes riding on the MRT.


His new ball gives him something to play with as well.


For the whole of last week, Craig's Dad worked in the mornings (yes, that's unusual for him) and then, on most days, Craig's Mum will bring to have lunch at an outdoor area beside Taipei Arena. It's very close to Craig's Dad's office.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_Arena


Craig's Dad even helps with feeding the boy before going off to do his regular job at the TV station.