the funnies

A few of my friends do a really good job of recording funny things their kids say and do. Whenever something Tatum says makes me laugh, I always seem to think "I'll never forget that" but by the time I'm trying to tell Brennan about it that night I've already forgotten! So I've tried to follow the example of these friends and write down some of the amusing happenings more often. Here are some of them from the last three or four months.

[looking down at the tennis courts from our balcony after some rain] T: Why did the baseball track get sprayed." Um...almost?

T: Where is daddy daddy? Daddy is a stinker. A silly stinker. [This was while we were waiting for Brennan to get home from work one day.]

T:We need to clean up before daddy sees this messy, messy living room.
Me: We sure do
T: We sure sure do

[talking about the letter 'd'] T: It's pretty tricky for me but I can do it.

[One day we went to a park on the coast and we took our kite but there was no kite flying allowed. A few days later I was headed to another park with the kids and I told Tatum we weren't going to bring the kite because I wasn't sure if we could fly it at this park either. The following conversation happened as soon as we saw the first sign at the park.]
T: That sign says 'you.can.fly.kites.at.this.park.'
Me:You can read?
T: Yes, I can read my scriptures and signs.
[I guess I still seemed skeptical, because when we passed another sign she continued.]
T:That sign says you can fly your kite here even with not instructions.

[We were on our way home late one night and remembered we were out of apples. But then realized the grocery store wasn't open because of a public holiday.]
T: But I really love apples. And do we have any apples? No!!

Me: Tatum look at the orangutans!
T: Mom, those are monkeys. Don't call them orangutans.

T: Declan be like uhhhh, what you doing there?

T: (big sigh) I can't find any shoes that match my dress! [She is very concerned with matching.]

A prayer she said one night:
Thank you that Declan can have nice hair. Thank you that I can like it like that. Thank you that we could have pancakes. Thank you that we could clean up and that Declan could get all the cards and help.

She says 'maybe' instead of 'I mean'.  So if she starts to say something to me but says daddy first on accident she will say "daddy, I-maybe, mommy, I....." Every time.

[One day I was feeling a little smothered and said something about needing some space.]
T: Here I can give you some space. Because I love you. (Way to make me feel guilty about demanding some space!)

[One day Tatum got caught with something out of Brennan's night stand. I can't remember what it was. Probably his passport.]
B: You shouldn't take things from my drawer.
T: Yeah but it wasn't naughty it was an accident.
Brennan pulls a weird face but says nothing.
T; You're silly daddy don't say those things every time.

[Declan was screaming because Brennan got mad at him about something. Tatum was out on the porch but heard him and comes running inside.]
T: Awwwww. It's okay. (Kisses him on the head and then goes to find Brennan.)
T: Daddy you need to be nice to Declan!

[Tatum is scared to death of the vacuum and we kind of like to torment her (especially me). This was after I chased her one night.]
T: She almost vacuumed me!
B: She almost vacuumed you?! What would have happened?
T: (sadly) She wouldn't have a Tatum anymore.

I cannot remember the premise of this one.
B: Tatum she just is, so back off. (referring to me)
T: No you back off daddy. I'm telling mommy a question.

[Tatum had just used her bathroom. Earlier it was a huge mess, made by Declan.]
T: Mom you did a great job in the bathroom with Declan!

[Declan was screaming a lot one morning. For no identifiable reason, so I had basically given up.]
T: (throws herself on the couch quite dramatically and sighs) It's hard having a brother.

Pasir Ris Park

Here's another post I've had started for awhile, but never got around to finishing. Quite some time ago my sister told me she wanted to see more pictures of just some of the everyday places we go and things we do. We were headed to Pasir Ris Park that day so I grabbed the camera on my way out and took some pictures.

There are plenty of playgrounds nearby but this is the only full-fledged park close to us. It's about a mile walk and we usually go there at least once a week. Tatum typically rides her bike and I usually curse the fact that I don't have my bike with a baby seat on it. It would sure make the trip more pleasant.

Driving the hydroplane.

Riding on the edge.

We always take a lunch. So much better than making a mess at home. And if Declan falls asleep in the stroller on the walk home, which he often does, I can just put him right to bed.

It's hard to see but there is a fuzzy creature crawling through the sand that the kids found fascinating.

When we aren't there with friends I make Tatum swing in the baby swings to make it easier to push them both.

The zip line is pretty fun.

We have found this piece of equipment at several playgrounds here. Tatum always wants to do it and it always frustrates her beyond belief. This day she randomly decided to conquer her fear and managed to master it. She wanted to take a video to show grandma. :)

swimming fun

It is really hot in Singapore. And there are three pools at our condo. Need I say more? We spend a lot of time in the water.  I took the camera down quite awhile ago and took some pictures and videos and then never published the post. Now that I finally am, it is pretty inaccurate as to what our time in the water really looks like these days. 

We bought this float for Declan and he was never really a huge fan. His hatred for it got worse and worse until it finally got a hole, saving us all. 

We ordered a puddle jumper for Tatum on Amazon. These things are seriously the greatest invention ever. We had water wings for her but it just wasn't quite enough, her face would dip in the water and she hated it. The puddle jumper totally gave her the ability to gain confidence in the water. In no time the water wings were fine for her and we could use the puddle jumper for Declan. 

Check out that form! :)

These videos are a bit out of order. This first one is from just last week. Tatum has been getting better and better at her "swim lessons" (disguised as playing with dad in the pool). She totally surprised us last week by swimming the width of the pool without floaties! I have never been very good at swimming. I dropped out of swim lessons around level 3. I blamed my ears (they hurt if I go very deep in the water, still do) but I was also kind of just a huge chicken. So I'm happy to think I might be able to avoid passing that on to my children!

These next two are from the day we took the camera out a couple months ago.

When we are down at the pool, I often think that we will never again swim as often as we do right now. There are certain perks to this life.

Kallang Wave Mall

Back in April sometime we discovered the most amazing place in Singapore. Seriously, it is my favorite. Someone hosted a playgroup at the splash pad at Kallang Wave Mall and it was awesome. It is a huge splash pad, with a wading pool, four or five water slides and even a lazy river (the splash pad is free, but the lazy river now costs like a dollar or two for a day pass, so amazing!). The splash pad itself is great, but really the best part about it is the mall right by it that is nice AND empty! I have never been to an empty mall in Singapore. They are always swarming. And the best part about this mall is the huge grocery store in it, with aisles actually wide enough for two carts to pass each other and little carts for kids to push! Can you see why it is my favorite place?! It's not all that close to Brennan's work, but if we had to do it all over again I think I would demand that we live close to Kallang. :) Grocery shopping would be 100% better at this place. Take the kids to the splash pad, get them all worn out. Then shop at the big aisled, un-busy store. Ahhhhh. Sounds so nice.

After falling in love with this place at playgroup we went back again with Brennan. Here are a few pictures.

Even the view is nice.

Declan climbed up the stairs and then he was so mad because we wouldn't help him get back down.

Watching for Tatum to come down the slide. He could have watched her come down that slide for hours. And I could have watched him watch her. Sometimes Brennan would go down and then he would get a really big splash. It was hilarious.

We got dinner at the Cheese Steak Shop afterward. The food wasn't bad but the best part was the kids corner they had. My, how your priorities change once you have kids. The food didn't have to be amazing because we were so ecstatic that the kids were entertained while we ate.

Ahh, Kallang Wave Mall. I need more of you in my life. If you are in Singapore and you haven't been, go. You won't regret it.

labor day weekend: musical chairs, marina barrage, Singa and friends

We had another long weekend a couple weeks ago. I'm telling you, all these public holidays are the bomb! We kept our adventures pretty low key. On Friday we thought we would go to Istana, which is the house of the President of Singapore and they open it up to the public on a few public holidays every year. Unfortunately, we didn't realize how extremely well attended it would be. The line was crazy long and it was crazy hot. We waited for awhile and then decided to bag it. 

Instead, we headed to the Esplanade for a little picnic and view.

From there we headed to a little fair at the Singapore Flyer. It wasn't all that impressive (this day was really full of a lot of let-downs). But there was a radio station hosting a giant game of musical chairs and Brennan decided to join in on the fun.

The kids were mesmerized. :)

Brennan is right in the center, blue shorts, coral shirt, big dork. :)

I don't actually think anyone wants to watch a video of Brennan playing musical chairs. I don't even want to. I just took a video to show the lovely Chinese pop music we got to listen to the entire time. It didn't get old at all. 

Brennan made it all the way to the final round (the main prize was actually amazing) but then he was knocked out first in that round. What a disappointment!  ;)

We had promised Tatum a splash pad and as we headed that direction a storm rolled in. Par for the course for the day. The storm never really got to us, but they still closed down the main splash pad at Gardens by the Bay. We remembered there were some fountains further down at the Marina Barrage and as luck would have it there is no one monitoring it or closing it for lightening in the distance. It actually worked out for the best because this one was virtually empty and not nearly as large, crazy and scary for the kids as the other one.

Tatum even got to play with her new umbrella. Thanks Grandma!

On Saturday we did our very common tennis and swimming routine. And then we walked to the Downtown East mall to see a performance by Singa and friends (Singa is Singapore's kindness bear).

Declan was equally amazed and frightened by the bears.

The performance was about as cheesy as you would expect. Kind of funny because of all the "Singlish".

They handed us some tickets when we go there for a "meet and greet" afterward. So the kids and I got to go on stage and take a picture haha. Declan would have been just as happy to not have been given that opportunity. He was panicked.

Kind of a random assortment of activites this weekend.  Mostly lots of failed ideas. We are making memories, folks, just making memories.

Declan at 18 months

Last Saturday Declan hit the 18 month mark. Most often as a mom, I find myself wanting time to slow down and I'm not wishing for my kids to grow up faster. But man I have been waiting for this day for the last 6 or 7 months. :) At our church 18 months is when the kids start going to nursery during the second two hours. Let me tell you, trying to keep this kid relatively quiet and still for THREE hours is totally impossible and exhausting. He has become increasingly attached to me so I was a little worried that transitioning to nursery was going to be a chore. He did awesome though! With any luck that will continue. I peeked in through the window after Sunday School and he was sitting up to the table for snack time and he just looked so grown up! After looking forward to this day for so long, I was suddenly so sad! It didn't last long of course, but man watching your kids grow up is so fun and exciting and so sad too.

Here are some recent pictures of the little mister.

And some things I want to remember about Declan at 18 months:

- Still obsessed with dogs. The whole world stops if we see a dog from our apartment, or on a walk, or at the park, etc.

-He loves balls. The people on the first floor have a whole basket of tennis balls outside their apartment. We pass their place every time we go swimming or for a walk and every time he has to stop and point it out until you say "oh yeah, balls." Sometimes he will get past them before he remembers and he has to turn around and go back.

-He is most ticklish on his back.

-He can usually be found with his finger in his belly button. What a weirdo.

-For the last couple of weeks there has been some papa/dada confusion. They are two words on his fairly short list but when he sees Brennan coming home from the balcony he will start saying "papa! papa!" until I correct him. And then when we see my dad on facetime he will point and say "dada!" He already seems to be figuring this one out though.

-At nap time and bedtime, we hold him and sing a couple of songs by his crib before laying him down. The way that I just naturally lay him down then is with his head on my left side. At some point he decided he has a preference on which way he lays so he will scramble around after we lay him down so his head is on the other end. I don't know why, but it totally cracks me up. Probably because of the way he just looks up and smiles like he is so proud of himself. Then you have to cover him with one of his thin muslin blankets. One time they were both out of his room so I tried to just use the thicker blanket that was right there and he was not having it.

-He has learned to tattle. It's amazing how quickly they learn things like that. When Tatum does something he doesn't like he comes running real fast and REAL loud to make sure I know he has been wronged. :)

-He loves babies and kids but always runs right up to them and immediately tries to touch their face. I'm pretty sure that isn't always appreciated.

-He has started voluntarily holding my hand while we walk occasionally. It's basically my favorite thing.

-Whenever it's time for a blessing on the food or family prayers he immediately folds his arms and then in his little voice goes "blbadkfndfadfad;jfadkja" really quickly, mumbly and high pitched. It makes me laugh every darn time.

-He loves to read. He insists on being on your lap while you read, he can't sit next to you. But he really could be read to all day.

-Seems to be going on a bit of a hunger strike lately. He basically never eats dinner and it's not rare for him to skip one of his other meals too.

-Every time Brennan puts him to bed he sings the same two songs. They have become some magical sleeping songs for Declan. He can sing them to him in the pool, in the stroller, on the train, on the bus, anywhere it will make him fall asleep. It's kind of awesome. :)

-When he sees an Anna or Elsa toy he will sing "let it go, let it go". It's obviously not enunciated perfectly but the tune is right. I'm not sure how he picked up on that since we have only seen the movie once in the last 6 months. Kids are so absorbent.

-Words: animal sounds, ball, dada, papa, all gone, booo (book), dooo (Duke), bay (bear), baby, go, mi (milk)

-He likes to share with Tatum and then get praise for it. We must always raise the pitch of our voices when we tell him good job. Now he will do something nice to Tatum and then come over to us and in this really high voice say "awwww......akldfjaldkjfadkjf". He will keep doing it until we recognize him for his efforts. And sometimes one of us just isn't enough. I will say something to him and then he goes to find Brennan and does the same thing. It's adorable.

Declan is a joy! (not always, of course, but overall we like having him around ;))