4 more sleeps ...

... and hopefully at least half a sleep on the plane home!

Callum and I are winging our way back to NZ next week. We'll be leaving Singapore on Monday night and arriving in good old Chur Chur on Tuesday morning. Still need to call home and figure out who's coming to meet us! Hopefully the mid morning arrival won't put anyone off.

We've been pretty busy here lately with Dad visiting and then just attempting to get back into "real life" - catching up with friends, catching up on shopping and catching up on sleep before we come home.

Last weekend we went to Boomerang Bar again to watch the ABs wallop the Wallabies in the third Bledisloe Cup match. Callum seems to be our lucky charm being 3 from 3 vs Aussie at the Boomerang Bar. Mike doesn't like to talk about the games against the Springboks.

Later that night we entertained some friends, Chris and Karensa, who recently got engaged on a trip to the UK. We ordered in a load of meat from The Butcher, including baby back ribs in char sui sauce. YUM they were DELICIOUS and we will definitely be ordering them again! Mike did another great job on our new BBQ. It really is awesome having our own outdoor space and BBQ now that we're in our new place! We finished the night off with a closely fought game of Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture. Unfortunately the boys took the trophy at the last minute answering the final question of, "Which pop star is the father of Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II?"

This week Callum and I have been busy looking after our neighbour who is confined to bedrest at the moment, 5 months into her second pregnancy. We're hoping the resting up does the trick and they have a happy ending like we did in December. We've also been out for coffee with an old friend who has recently returned to Singapore and is ALSO pregnant. She is using Dr Paul (my ob/gyn) on our recommendation and was saying yesterday he still remembers us ;) Today's outing was lunch with the girls, a last catch up before we desert them all for Godzone.

Tonight Mike is out schmoozing (haha) at a work function, Callum is tucked up in bed and fast asleep and I am heading that way myself with a new book to read and a cup of tea ready to go upstairs.

Can't wait to come home soon! xxx

Callum's first bike ride!

East Coast Park this afternoon ...

 

 

 

 

Part II

And then we went across the road to Brotzeit for a beer!

 

 

 

Raffles

We took Grandad to Raffles for a Sling (and some yummy cocktail nuts).

 

 

 

 

Grandad visits Singapore

Some pics of Callum from the past week while Grandad has been in town ...

Callum's face every time Grandad leaves the room

 

Marmite cruskits again

 

Bad photo, but look where I ended up

 

Pigging out down Satay St

 

Calling all Kiwis

We're coming home!!

Just for a vist.. but Callum and Sarah will be arriving in Christchurch on September 29. Mike arrives on October 8th and we'll be attending Victoria and Paul's wedding on October 10th while Aunty Julia and Callum spend some quality time together. The following day (11/10) we'll all head up to Nelson and then ferry over to Wellington on October 13th. After 5 days there we fly up to Auckland for a bit of an explore around up north.

Can't wait to see you all!

Mike's back at work tomorrow after his 4 day weekend. Not sure what Callum will make of our day tomorrow, it will be a bit quiet just the two of us again. Busy week ahead though - music class on Wednesday, curry night for tea, lunch with the girls on Thursday and THEN .... GRANDAD ARRIVES! Yay!

Better go and get Mr Squealy-Pants into the bath before bedtime... see ya x

The Jersey

We decided it was time to pull out the Big Guns for this week's Bledisloe match. Callum wore his ABs jersey for the very first time. He was too small a month ago for the last game and although it's still pretty roomy at least it won't be mistaken for a dress.

Callum works on his rubgy photo pose

 

Chilling at Boomerang bar

 

My Mum is so cool

 

I see your beer Dad ...

 

It's all so exciting...

Callum is sitting up really well on his own now. Here's a video from this morning...



Mike's got a 4 day weekend this weekend so today we took Callum out for dim sum and shopping at the new ION Orchard. Tomorrow we're off to Boomerang Bar for the next installment of the Bledisloe Cup. Let's hope Callum keeps up his winning streak vs Australia!!!

Lunch time!

Today I had some crackers, broccoli & zucchini with cheese and apple & mango rice pudding for lunch. What a feast!

Teeth!

I have two! And possibly four more on the way as well. Poor Mummy and Daddy huh.

Almost EIGHT months

My Mummy is a slack blogger. Sorry, you will have to wait till my fine motor skills improve a bit before I can keep you more up to date.

It's nearly my 8 month birthday. I've been busy since the last update - I've found my feet, my thumb and I can even sit up! I met my Aunty Julia in Thailand (she seemed to drink a lot of beer...) and my Aunty Jelaine and Uncle Tez back here at home. Then I went on ANOTHER plane to Bali. We stayed in a nice big villa and I went swimming every day.

I really like my new house. Mummy takes me walking in my pram nearly every day. There are lots of very old ladies who like to clap at me and try to pinch my cheeks. My new room is great, I have all my things from my old room and some new things too. Mummy gets a bit frustrated having to come up the stairs to help me find my dummy though I think. She only just realised I can put it back in my mouth all by myself.. now I'll need to think of another reason to get her up here!

Soon my Grandad John will be coming to visit. I can't wait. We're going to go cycling on the East Coast. Apparently it's a big deal because Mummy had to wait till I could sit up.

I've also met a new friend. He seems to pop up in the funniest places - in the bathroom before my shower, under my play gym... even in the lift sometimes! He's pretty funny though, I like talking to him. He makes me laugh.

Shaking my Sillies Out

I love dancing!!!

More Swimming

At Nina's on the weekend...

Almost 5 months now...

We're gearing up to move into our new house this week so things are busy busy here in Singapore. The movers are coming tomorrow to pack everything up - except the beds - and Friday is the big day. Mike's got the day off work to supervise and Callum and I are off to Aunty Nina's for the day to keep out of the way.

Speaking of Aunty Nina .. we went round to the Griffiths' for a BBQ on the weekend and the Mummies Master Plan is working well ... Callum and Maia are soooo cute together. Not sure whether Maia is really that aware of Callum (apart from when he pulled her hair) but they held hands under the playgym .. must be love!

In other news, Julia and I are counting down the days till our trip to Phuket. I can't wait to introduce Callum to his Aunty, not long to go now! Julia's coming back here to visit for a week and then the day she leaves Callum's other Aunty arrives (with Tez, Caden and Elliot) for a couple of days in Singapore and then we're all off to Bali to meet up with Cam, Sam and Gus for a few days' rest (! huh!) and relaxation.

I've just put Callum down for his first nap of the day. This morning we are off to Mums & Babies yoga and this afternoon we'll be having a nice relax at home before the next couple of days' chaos.

Chatterbox

Water Baby

We took Callum for his first swim at Easter weekend. First in our pool at home on Saturday and then round to Sanjay and Rupa's place on Sunday afternoon. Callum loves the water! We knew he enjoyed bath time but were a little surprised the cooler pool water was such a hit. Now we've got to get as much swimming in as possible before we move next month...


Look at my cool swim nappy

This is pretty cool

No, really, I'm feeling a bit cool Daddy!

Family shot

Callum and Tom

Tom sharing with Callum ...

Callum really misses his buddy Tom now that he's moved to the UK with his Mum and Dad. OK, maybe Mummy just misses having Auntie Ali around for tea and biscuits ;) But we miss Tom and his cheeky grin too!

Maia Iris Boo Griffiths

Callum met a new friend this afternoon... wee Maia was born on Monday night, weighing 3.07kg. Isn't she adorable?!




Callum gets some cuddles from Uncle Giles

Callum's never been bigger than his friends before!

And one more of the real star of the afternoon ...

Worth her weight in gold ....

I left Callum at home with Elly yesterday morning so I could get the groceries done in peace. (I'm loving Fair Price Finest by the way!)

On my way home I sent Elly an SMS checking that all was well. She replied, "Callum's had a bath."

Huh?? Well, I had a pretty good guess at why. Here's what I missed out on while I was out shopping ....

Cutie Pie

Introducing ...

.. Ninny! Alex's wee grandson Asher can't say Lynnette so in Australia Mum is known as Ninny. Since she doesn't want to be known as Nana, Grandma or Granny, Mum has now decided that she will be Ninny to her grandkids. Cute!

Callum has had a great time getting to know Ninny. He had a rough few weeks in the lead up to Mum arriving and when she was first here. A few visits to the osteo and some diet changes for mummy later and Callum is a new baby! Possibly also coz he has suddenly gotten HUGE too? Who knows, but we'll take it, it's lovely having a happy, calm baby again.

Here's a few photos from the past few weeks (sorry we've been slack at posting!)

High Tea at the Fullerton on Thursday

Callum's new Babysitter - he loves it!


Satay Street dinner on Tuesday night

Getting to know each other when Mum first arrived in Feb.

Checking in

Been a bit frantic here recently. Callum has decided to celebrate being in positive numbers by flagging the lovely sleeping/eating routine he was in and spending lots of time crying because of wind or being overtired :S Lucky he's cute!

We're all hanging out for Mum and Alex's arrival this Saturday. Lots planned already, most importantly a HAIR CUT and eye brow shape for me. But also looking forward to showing them round Singapore and of course the big introduction to the First Grandchild ;)

Callum and I are off to a sleep management workshop this afternoon and if he's coping OK after that we'll head over to Chinatown to say hi to all his Aunties at Cayen (the lovely ladies who made my wedding dress and my maternity wardrobe which I never got to wear!).

We had Arndria visiting over the weekend so spent Sunday afternoon introducing her to dim sum and shopping in Singapore as well as the Thaipusam festival here in Little India. Was a very busy afternoon and quite eventful .. but you will have to wait for the full story - right now I have to get a wee boy ready for an outing!

Asleep after an afternoon out at Brotzeit..

Almost 8 weeks old ...

... on Sunday!

Happy Due Date Callum!!

February 3rd was sposed to be my expected due date. Someone should've told Callum that I suppose! I can't believe we have an 8 week old baby, I really thought I would still be in for the long haul at this point and willing to have him pulled out my nose. Good boy, Callum, for coming early and not making me wait.

I'll be taking Callum to the Well Baby clinic tomorrow for a weigh in and measure. Will be good to see how he's doing now that he is "meant" to be here. No more "minus" days/weeks, Callum finally has an adjusted age .. it was too weird saying "minus 2 weeks" before. Now he is just ZERO. Oh dear, that sounds a bit mean!

We've had a busy few days. A BBQ on Saturday night to celebrate Callum's due date. Callum was the star of the show and slept right through it of course. Actually, he did wake up screaming for a feed just before 8 o'clock. If any of the guys were getting ideas about settling down and having kids I'm sure that made them real excited about the prospect. Callum was his usual cute self the rest of the time though and slept really well that night.

On Sunday Callum and Mike had some Boy Time at home while I went out for brunch (they were invited too! But we thought Callum might need some down time at home for a change). It was so nice to get out and do something indulgent (rather than getting out to do the groceries) but I did miss Callum. Was nice to get home although I did feel pretty guilty as Callum had had a rubbish nap and Mike spent most of their Boy Time trying to settle Callum to sleep.

Looking forward to the first wave of visitors this weekend - Arndria is coming through Singapore with her mum and dad on their way to Thailand. Not staying here with us but it will be nice to see a friendly face from HOME and to be able to show Callum off :)

This morning we're having a quiet one at home, looking forward to a visit from Aunty Nina this afternoon. I think we're going to take it easy and watch a movie!

Here's Callum asleep in his sleeping bag yesterday (thanks Nina!)

Amazing..

What will Callum's kids look like I wonder ...

http://www.ktvu.com/news/18608582/detail.html

Nursery tour Part II

Cute name train from Desiree!

The view from the bedroom door.

A nursery tour

Christmas pressie from Nan and Grandad Byrne

Wall stickers

Change table and cot. Callum doesn't sleep in here yet and the bedding won't be staying!

Another angle (not a very good pic though!)