Bonding in Bangkok

It was approximately 3 weeks ago, my wife informed me that she will be going to Bangkok for a company retreat.  I toyed with the idea of going with her but surely I was not going to leave Nathaniel alone in Singapore!  So we came to one logical conclusion… all 3 of us will be going to the land of smiles!  As the day of departure drew nearer,  I started to imagine how it would be like for me to brave the fashion jungle(s) of Bangkok with Nathaniel in my arms, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy with the heat, the crowd and his approximately 10kg weight!  But I also knew this represented an excellent time for 3 of us to bond and to learn a little more about each other.  I was psyched up! It was going to be a wonderful trip for my family!

Packing wasn’t as straightforward as I thought it would be, it took me forever to decide if I should bring the stroller along as Nathaniel doesn’t really like siting in it and I wasn’t sure if the stroller would survive the terrain there.  But I thank God we decided to bring the stroller as it proved to be an arm saver in many occasions.   What I regretted bringing was my DSLR as I opted to use Yvonne’s compact most of the time.

In a nutshell, we shopped 4 hours on the first day upon arrival, 10 hours on the second day and 4 hours on the third!  We (she) raided Siam paragon, Siam Centre, Siam Discovery Centre, MBK, Platinum Plaza, Gaysorn, Central World and Chatuchak in the 4 days.  I ate about 4 dishes of pad thai, road side pork meatball noodles, mango sticky rice and a fabulous dish of Japanese, French fusion food. BUT the main event of this whole trip has got to be being with Nathaniel 24/7.

As working parents, such undisturbed time spent with our son was really what we needed to refresh us (plus we now also appreciated our helper a little more..).  I’m glad to say that at the end of 4 days, we have all learnt and grown to love one another a little more.  As the wife shopped, I thank God I had Nathaniel to keep me company as I talked to him, laughed with him, peek a booed with him, slept with him and watch him throw his little cute tantrums.  It was truly awesome, I honestly did not know so many facets of my son’s character even though we lived under the same roof all this while. 

Would I do this again? Yes, certainly, it was immense fun.  It doesn’t matter if Nathaniel will remember nothing of this trip in the future because I know the fun and family time we had in Bangkok will not return void. 

Thank you Lord for blessing us with these experiences.

Apologies if the slideshow above takes awhile to load, you can view the bigger version here:
http://www.yveon.com/albums/sawadee/

Walk On Video

Did a clip of Nathaniel walking.  He is pretty much doing this everyday now actually… Enjoy this clip starring Nathaniel and Kaizer as the official calefare!

11 months and walking

With each passing day, Nathaniel manages to muster enough strength to take that one extra step.  Now his record stands at about 30 steps of unaided walking.  Funny that I feel proud of this little boy’s development when it is supposed to be a natural progression, I feel proud and blessed nonetheless with each little milestone this little boy reaches. 

Nathaniel has also learnt the art of charming his way out of trouble.  When I give a stern “NO!” if he tries to touch something he isn’t supposed to, he would sometimes give that cheeky little smile of his and it usually works!  Where do they learn these things from?  He has also begun to like those little joyrides we find in the markets and coffeshops… According to my mum, she managed to make Nathaniel nod his head when she frustrated him by only allowing him to take the ride if he nodded his head (FYI, Nathaniel only shakes his head, he doesn’t nod).  He likes the rides that much!

So time flies, he is now 1 month shy of turning one… and besides getting a new haircut, we (well, only me actually) decided to get him a new little aquarium (with some guppies and a bunch of 垄沟鱼).  From the time of writing, we only have a handful left still alive.. and hopefully from the time of you reading, we will still have some alive!

We also decided to get him some toys as mummy grew really jealous that Nathaniel is getting more toys are our parents’ place. Hahaha.  So besides the silly tricycle, we got him a lion walker, a toy handphone and more balls in his little ball tent (and a mini soccer ball with liverpool print on it..hehe)!

Walking the Lion (press its nose and he sings!)

 
Come join me in my tent full of balls!!

Mummy has also been whipping up treats for this fast developing boy and last week’s goodie was strawberry and orange icicle.. which he ultimately enjoyed albeit some really cute expressions (due to the cold and sour taste!).

YIKES!

How time flies, last year this time, we were just getting hyped up about his arrival, and now he is walking/crawling by himself around the house..