My little banana monster

Luca is into Banana Banana Banana right now. He can demolish a whole large one in no time.

I wonder...

So much went on during his 2nd year.

-He became a big brother right after he turned 2 - baby Luca arrived in early June.

-Had his first stitches in HK while we were on holiday - 3 stitches on his left eyebrow.

-Did it again! Cut open his chin - 8 stitches this time...

-Stated JIS nursery unicorn class in September.

-The All Blacks won the World Cup (I had to slip this in for my Aussie friends)

-Daddy got a new job and moved to Singapore in November.

-We packed all our things in the container and said good bye to our Brunei life in Feb. 

-Had a big holiday in Japan with his cousins.

-Moved to Singapore (still looking for a permanent apartment but we are half settled here).

What will this year bring for Oliver :) 

Happy Birthday Oliver

Our precious baby boy turned 3 today!! (Well... he thinks he is FIVE)

He was already awake lying down on his bed when we started singing Happy Birthday to him - very impressed to see some more presents to open on his actual birthday as he had his birthday party on Sunday last week in Brunei. (Thank you Lucas & Linnea!). 

Check this out Luca!!

We had some pancakes for breakfast. Unfortunately daddy had to dash off to work  :( 

So mummy got to spend all day with her two boys. We unpacked some of the presents he got from his Brunei friends.  We decided to try make this helicopter. This was the first time we built LEGO (not Duplo) - it was quite a challenge!

He spent all day playing with all his lovely new toys. Thank you everyone :)

Happy birthday Oliver!

Marina bay excursion

Yesterday we took a bus into Marina Bay to explore the area and familiarise ourselves so that we can take our visitors there in July. 

Oliver was very excited to be on a double decker bus and going to see the Lion and Boat on the building (Marina Bay Sands hotel).

They can see so much from the top deck:

We got off at Suntec City and looked for place to eat lunch. There were so many nice looking restaurants there (I guess everywhere in Singapore...) it took us a while to decide where to eat. In the end we had some Dim Sum which was just what we needed. 

We found a koi pond in the complex - pretty cool ha?

Oliver got to feed them some food:

It took us 20min or so to get to where we wanted to be but finally we found what we were looking for.

Marina Bay Sands - Amazing building 

Oliver checking out the Merlion:

Me! Taken by Oliver:

We went through this funky walkway to get into the hotel complex. 

It was very impressive inside too. Very nice with lots of natural light. There were lots of nice looking shops and restaurants and even a skating rink!

When my sister's family visits in July we get to stay in the hotel. We can then swim in the rooftop pool and have a go at the casino! Very exciting!! 

Back to our Singapore routine

Going to the swimming pool with daddy is great fun!

And having dinner at our regular Italian made us feel at home :) 

For the next couple of weeks we will be in Singapore then heading back to Japan again sometime in June until just before the visitors (we cannot wait to see you Merryn and Dennis!!) arrive in July.

Everyday life continued...

The rest of our stay went really fast. Having continued our normal routine kept us very very busy! 

On Monday I had Zumbaaaaaaa!

Playdate with Malik in the afternoon:

Tuesday was a big day for Oliver. He got to go to his school once again and spend two hours in the classroom with all his friends. He was just sooooo excited! 

As usual simpang bro and sis took care of him :)

We were there nice and early:

Straight away got into the activities:

This week the children in nursery were studying space. They had lots of lovely displays and story books and even got to watch a real space shuttle take off on the screen.

He loved the snack time - his ate all of his sandwich :)

His friends went away for PE class - Quick Oliver! get on your favourite ride ons!!

As you can guess it was very hard to convince Oliver to leave the school. He was just too happy there. I really hope we will settle here in Singapore very soon and find a nice school for him to go. 

It was non stop after the school visit - We went to join the Craft Crew and had a lovely catch up and lunch. Then spent our afternoon having a playdate one last time. 

By the time we got home Oliver was fast asleep and it was already dinner time. It was our last dinner at the Watson's so I offered to make sushi for dinner. Lucky I had a great assistant :) 

I had to make sure I had every opportunity to catch up with my friends. On Wednesday morning after school drop off we went to the Empire just like we used to do for a nice breakfast with Isabel and Oscar. It was so lovely!

I made sure I dropped by the Empire Deli to pick up my favourite roast beef sandwich for lunch. The shop lady who always served me was very happy to see me and was wondering why she hasn't seen me for a long time. 

We got home and enjoyed the lovely sandwich with Nathan and Boel and suddenly it was already time to leave Brunei... 

It was a short visit but we totally enjoyed being back. Oliver is already sad he doesn't have his friends and familiar surroundings. But I am sure we will be coming back to visit our wonderful friends in the very near future :) See you soon everyone! Thank you so much for having us xxx

Movie night and sleepovers

Oh well we couldn't waste our time being sad - the weekend was here and it was time for (slightly) late nights and sleepovers. Of course they got popcorn and sweets to go with it!

Friday night was Linnea's turn to have Oliver sleeping over in her room and Lucas on Saturday. It was the easiest sleepover as I was staying downstairs. No problems at all - they all slept through.  Downside? They were a wee bit too excited the following morning and wanting to know if Luca was already awake at 5:55 am.

Back in our simpang

After a week of stay at the Feran's we moved to the Watson's residence for the rest of our stay. 

We weren't sure how it will affect the boys being back in Brunei and staying in our old simpang where they can see their very loved house next door. 

I am sure Luca noticed something was very familiar... 

On the other hand Oliver was very confused and couldn't understand why he couldn't go back to his house. I told him someone else needed the house so we gave it up for them. And showed him there are different cars parked in the carport, so it is not our house anymore... 

He was trying to convince me (even now) that the house is not taken... bless him. He really loved our house and our life in Brunei. Made us all so sad :(

I was feeling quite sad too. Seeing Oliver so upset and realising how wonderful our life was during our time in Brunei.  It is very close but we don't belong here anymore... 

Back in the Abode of Peace

When I was climbing the mountain, Matthew and our boys arrived in Brunei ahead of me. Thanks to wonderful friends, the return to Brunei was very easy for the boys.

The kids were well settled at the Feran's residence:



Enjoyed a playdate with Mina & Helen:



Even got to go to a play center with Lucas & Lucy:





They were busy busy busy! Not a problem without their mummy :)

Pretty certificate