West Coast Park

All of the sudden Ben's babble has started sounding different. I think he's intentionally working on words now and he's trying to repeat the sounds we make. It's hard to figure out what word he's trying to get out but it sure sounds like "duck". He does hear it a lot because he has several duck toys and he loves his ducks in the pool and bath, so that may be the first thing he wants to say.

I've been trying to get a picture of Ben standing on his own because he's getting a little better each day. He always looks a little surprised when he lets go of everything and he's still on his feet! This was the most I could get out of him at the playground recently.


Ben has really become infatuated with drains lately. It doesn't matter if it has water running into it or not (although the moving water is extremely interesting), it needs to be investigated. Here's the one on our kitchen floor, perfect for inserting little fingers, unfortunately...


Even more exciting is the one in our bathroom. Now we haven't figured out exactly what this this is, but it's definitely not a urinal! (And don't worry - it's been disinfected several times just in case) I think it's intended for washing feet since people wear sandals or go barefoot so much around here but I'm not sure. No matter what it's intended for, its only use right now is as a toy.


We all went to check out East Coast Park today and enjoy the sunshine. There isn't much in the way of beaches here but it is pretty interesting seeing all the tankers coming into the port here, which is one of the busiest in the world.


Ben and I were hanging out on the grass while Matt was waterskiing (more on that below). He thought that every single blade of grass needed to be taste tested...


...and he pouted a bit that I wouldn't let him eat all the leaves and twigs.


Sitting indian style on his own...too cute!


This is the ski place and it's a pretty great idea. They have a long cable running above a lagoon with ski handles at fixed intervals. You get ready on a platform at one end, grab your handles, and the cable pulls you around the lagoon and across jumps, if you're that daring. Matt skiied and wakeboarded and I just watched for now. Here Matt's all ready to go and waiting to get pulled out on the water.


Daddy waved hello to Ben every time he went past us and Ben would smile back at him.

The Dismount

I call this Ben's dismount:

Bathtime!

Ben just got tooth #5 and tooth #6 looks like it will come in any day now. His smile changes so quickly! He's really beginning to explore our condo on all fours and pull up on anything that looks like it will hold some weight. I think he's dying to walk but he's got to learn how to stand first. At least he's learning to fall on his bottom whenever he loses his balance so we don't have a baby with a black and blue face.

We went with some friends to another indoor playground today and this rocking horse was a hit. He also kept climbing up some steps into a gym area...don't ask me how he learned to navigate stairs since we don't have any, but the little guy is pretty quick on them.


Bathtime is one of the highlights of Ben's day! As soon as he hears the water running he takes off for the bathroom now. (I made these a little more modest so I don't have to explain to him later when I posted nude pictures of him on the internet!) It's too funny...I love how Ben can make me laugh even when he has no idea he's so entertaining.

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

We went back to the playground at the mall last week but Ben was much less excited this time. Apparently the ball pit is only filled in the afternoons so he was disappointed. The little bobby car was pretty interesting for a while.


No, Ben, you can't drive with your feet!


Definitely time to go home...


Today we decided to check out Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, one of the larger parks here on the island and home to the tallest "peak" in Singapore (164 meters above sea level). Ben was ready to get his pack horse moving!


Heading up the trail. It's a beautiful hike through the rain forest, but unfortunately the view from the top was all blocked by trees.


On our way back down.


Oh no! Looks like Ben just learned where his finger will fit...


Looking up at the beautiful trees. We got to enjoy lots of different plants and animals along the way.


These were definitely our favorite creatures - the long-tailed macaques.


They were so close to the trail (or on trees hanging over the trail) that Ben got a great first look at a real monkey.


Such cute little guys!

Explorer

Our little explorer is starting to discover all the interesting things around our house...I guess it's time to childproof!


We met some friends at an indoor playground yesterday. Thank goodness there are several malls with nice indoor play areas because when the sun is out in the afternoon our playground is just too hot.


Ben LOVED the ball pit! I couldn't get him to look away for a second to get a good picture. He seemed so amazed that he could crawl and move and just keep sinking.

Going...


....going....


.......gone!


A little admirer from the playground (with her mom's hand telling her not to touch the baby!)

One Year Later

It's amazing what a difference a year can make.

July 2, 2006 - 6 weeks old, 2 1/2 pounds


July 2, 2007 - 13 months old, nearly 19 pounds


What a little blessing!

New Maid

What will make a little boy crawl faster? A car, of course! Ben chased this thing around the minute he laid eyes on it.


Here's Ben walking along with our helper, Jocelyn. She has made our condo cleaner than I ever could have and it's so nice to know Ben is crawling around on clean floors every day. I think it also helps that people don't wear shoes in homes here so I don't worry about things getting tracked inside.


I'm starting to get used to seeing labels with several different languages on them, but sometimes the names still make me laugh. These Mamy Poko diapers are the best thing going here. They're almost the cheapest brand of diapers but they're nearly the exact thing as Pampers from home. The Pampers and Huggies here are really expensive, but they're terrible! The Huggies were so thick that Ben couldn't even bring his legs close together...what good is that?


Our happy boy...


When I walked in and saw this yesterday I knew it was time to take down the mobile. It also might explain a bruise on Ben's forehead at the exact height of the mobile base! Ben loved his little animals but I just don't think he needs to catch them.


Just in the last few days Ben has figured out how to pull up on things and has gotten really good at it quickly. He's still working on the balance once he's up, but he's discovered a whole new world just a few feet off the floor. He'll be cruising along the couch soon, I'm sure.