Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Bicycle Riding and More

Saturday was a beeyootifooll sunny day, perfect for bicycle riding. After riding to the riverside park, Craig's Mum even had a go at riding the big bike with Craig on the back. She did a great job and Craig looked pretty happy too.


The first stop was the sandpit at Neihu Sports Park. At first he was happy to play by himself.


Then he began sliding his tiny bum across the sand towards some other children.


Craig didn't actually play with the other kids. He just came up close and observed their game.



Eventually, Craig's Dad came along to play as well.


It was very warm in the sandpit but that was OK because the weather had been pretty cool all week.


After lunch at KFC Craig was taken to the tiny park not far away to do some climbing.
To encourage Craig to climb, Craig's Dad would take Craig's spade and put on top of the little platform where he could see it.


When Craig picked up the ball, it went up on top of the platform.


Craig climbed up the rope webbing close to a dozen times.


As soon as he reached the bottom of the slide he ran away to a rocking animal to rest. But, Craig's Mum and Dad took the ball and began kicking it. Normally, Craig joins in that game very quickly but on this day he spent some time just standing still holding the ball.


He seemed to be trying to make a decision about what to do next.


Eventually, the ball was put on the ground and kicked.


And then picked up again. He was probably concerned that Craig's Dad would put it back on the platform again. He didn't want to climb up the rope web any more.


So, he went back to the rocking animal and held on tight to the ball.


After all that exercise it was no surprise that he needed a nap on the way home. Craig's Mum supplied her long-sleeved t-shirt as a pillow.


Dinner was at TGI Fridays. Craig was very hungry. Before leaving home to go out for dinner he let his Mum and Dad know that he has learned the name of the restaurant, by standing beside the front door and repeating it loudly before they left. Upon arrival, he arranged his placemat and other items just so while waiting impatiently for his food.


After dinner, Craig's Mum had to rush home to teach math. Meanwhile Craig and Craig's Dad went for walk to the MRT station to watch trains.


Craig enjoyed that enough to sit happily for more than half an hour until it was time to go home and get ready for bed.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Delays, Delays and More Delays

Craig's Dad's computer is suffering some severe virus trouble. He's hoping to educate himself enough to fix it himself but you never know. He might need to call a computer expert......

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Saturday in the Park

Craig's Dad awoke on Saturday morning to be faced by a very happy Craig. It was pretty scary.


Craig's Mum was teaching in the front room. So, after breakfast, Craig spent most of the morning at his new table.


It was a beautiful sunny day. So, at about 3:30pm, Craig was put in his little bicycle seat and taken to the riverside park.


The first place they stopped was a funny little space that had just one rocking animal. Craig didn't care, one was all he needed.


The little party of three then moved on to the Neihu Sports Park. They've been there before but it was some time ago. Craig was really just toddling and that time they travelled by car.

It had been a good 20 minutes or more in the child's seat for Craig and he was super happy when he was allowed out. He ran at least five laps around the jungle gym before starting to play.



Craig was a little bit tentative about playing on the slide when other kids were right beside him.


But eventually he did some sliding.


After a little while, Craig found a concrete pipe that led to a nearby sandpit! He immediately sat down and began to make friends with two bigger kids.


It's quite a big sandpit and lots of parents were happy to get down and dig in the sand with their children.


Craig's Mum kept an eye on Craig through the tunnel. (She was also trying to hide from the camera. Maybe because she was wearing bicycle shorts for the very first time!)


Craig really likes playing in the sand. When the other two kids left he was happy to stay and play by himself.


But, it was getting close to sunset and the temperature was dropping quickly.


Although Craig delayed as long as he could and protested quite a lot before being put back on the bicycle, he was actually very quiet on the trip home. And, once he arrived home he was happy at his new desk again.


"Drawing" is now his new favourite activity.


Not long later, it was time for a warm bath, dinner and bed.

Visitors and New Furniture for Craig

On Friday, Craig's Mum's friend Yating and her two lovely little children came to visit.


Lunch was had at a tiny cafe across the street from the park nearest home.


It really is tiny. Three adults and three children took up all of the cafe's outdoor seating.

There's no pictures of what they did in the afternoon because Craig's Dad had to go to work.

Earlier the same day, Craig's parents had been shopping at Ikea for something special for Craig. He now has his own little table and chairs in the middle of the living room.

Bitan

Last Thursday was another chance to extend his travels to somewhere new. Craig's Dad suggested the Bitan Scenic Area, because he had read here that it had been renovated recently.

The weather was sunny and beautiful when Craig and his parents left home but overcast and cool when they arrived at their destination.


As usual, once Craig sees a large open space, he begins to run! Craig's Mum is very good at giving chase and preventing disasters.


The first thing they saw (after the view and the wide-open space) was a group of kindergarten children doing some outdoor exercise.


Craig's Mum was pretty hungry so the next thing to do was eat. Although it was 1:30 in the afternoon the only place selling food was a pizza/pasta place.


Craig enjoyed the chicken pieces and chips while his parents had pasta.


Craig's Dad surprised Craig's Mum when he tried to take a picture of the kindergarterners going home across the suspension bridge.


So, Craig's Dad tried to take a nicer picture straight away.


Craig then took his parents for a long-ish walk up to the end of the (ahem) Scenic Area where there is a very cute little ferry that serves people living just across the river.


Unfortunately, Craig's Dad's camera decided it didn't want to work. Probably because it got rained on ..... So he didn't take many pictures of the much nicer restaurant that had nice long sofas. Craig and his parents stopped there to avoid the rain for awhile. Just one picture was taken with Craig's Mum's phone and that was Craig coloring in on the back of the restaurant's customer satisfaction survey.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Walking in the Rain

Although Saturday dawned clear and sunny, around mid-morning clouds covered the sky and heavy rain began falling. Craig's parents thought that made it the perfect day to try out Craig's new raincoat.

Craig was very bored at home and had begun to try and play with things he knows he should not touch, like Craig's Mum's computer.


So, it was straight downstairs and on with the raincoat.


Craig was very keen to get outside.


But Craig's Dad wanted one more picture because he wasn't sure if he would able to take any more once they were out in the rain.


Craig's Dad had a golf umbrella and Craig's Mum had Craig's tiny umbrella because Craig didn't want to use it. They only walked as far as the park nearest home, about 100 meters from the front door. Once there, they found shelter under a spot that a had a flat, perspex roof but no walls.


There was virtually no wind so the rain was falling directly down.


Craig seemed to really enjoy walking around in the rain.



Craig's Dad managed to take a few photos and even a short video before putting his camera/phone back into his pocket where it could stay dry. The perspex roof had plenty of leaks and, as you can see, it was raining very hard.


The rubber boots worked excellently, Craig's feet were perfectly dry when he got home after about 30 minutes walking around. However, the raincoat only worked OK. It's main problem seemed to be that the pockets allow water in at the top and then they drain through mesh into the inside of the raincoat!!! Someone in the design department needs a stern talking to ...... Craig's pants were soaked but the raincoat looks so good that it will almost certainly get used again when it's not raining quite so hard.