Christmas Day

Craig and Graham's Dad believes the lack of Christmas spirit in Taiwan has become more and more obvious over the years. Craig should be at that age where he has trouble sleeping on Christmas Eve and being super-excited about what Santa will bring but ..... it's very difficult to get that feeling going in Taipei.

But, that didn't mean Craig was unhappy about having just one present to open.

In fact, he seemed quite excited.

Craig also helped Graham open his one present. Graham wasn't too impressed with his Bob the Builder telephone. He soon went back to playing with the real telephone ... sigh.

Graham also liked the look of Craig's laptop. At breakfast, Craig kept it close by so that Graham couldn't touch it.

During breakfast Graham's interest in his toy started to rise.

The boys spent most of the afternoon outdoors at local parks. It had been raining almost every day leading up to Christmas so it was good to get them outdoors and save the toys for another day.

Craig's Christmas Show

Craig's kindergarten had its usual annual Christmas show last Wednesday. For the very first time Craig seemed to enjoy himself onstage. He was only accompanied by his Mum because Dad had to work. She did a great job of getting some footage of Craig singing and dancing even if some of the videos here were cut off early because of people getting in front of the camera. At least the kids look like they had fun.

A Christmas Tree

It has been said before on this blog that there's not a lot of Christmas cheer in Taiwan. It was only on Monday that Craig finally got the chance to help his Dad decorate the tree!

Craig did a great job.

Now, all it needs is presents!

Craig's First Football Lesson

In truth this was a long time coming. Craig's Dad had promised Craig that he could play football with some other kids ages ago. Craig really likes going anywhere with Dad but going to play football made him very happy.

Coach Ian has a very good routine. The little fellas do a proper warm-up before starting ball work.

And there is plenty of ball work. Craig had a great time. He didn't even notice when it started raining gently half way through the 1-hour session.

The only sad thing about the lesson was that Craig's Dad didn't take more photos and videos. But, the one and only video he did take gives a good idea of the types of games they play.

Hanging On The Telephone

Graham is becoming a delightful little boy. He still spands most mornings at home with Dad. That gives his Dad plenty of opportunity to take silly videos of him blowing rasberries.....


or "talking" on the phone.

Hula Girls

Last Saturday, the boys were awake early once again. The long walk to LA Cafe was rewarded with the chance to sit at one of the new outdoor sofas.

Craig and Graham's Dad may have been dressed a little bit too warmly for those moments when the sun came out but those moments were quite rare.

On the walk home there was a small surprise. Some Japanese ladies were performing as part of promoting Japan as a tourist destination for Taiwanese people. The ladies were not young but their dancing was elegant and graceful and a real pleasure to watch.

They appeared to be the people whose story was turned into a movie that was released a few years ago, Hula Girls.

Craig enjoyed the jungle gyms on the way home, just the way he always does.

On Sunday, the weather was cool but dry. Craig and Dad rode over to Neihu Sports Park. He had fun on the jungle gym....

and the slide.

Craig even had a good time kicking a soccer ball for a little while but Dad was too busy to take pictures. The atmosphere at Neihu Sports Park is very peaceful when no planes are flying directly overhead. In the late afternoon it's a really nice place to be.

Graham has got to that age where he insists on doing some things for himself. The fact that he makes a bit of mess is not a consideration. He's a very good boy, really.

After dinner Craig went out with Dad to a park again. He simply had too much energy and needed to run around, otherwise it might have difficult to get to sleep at bedtime.

Video Special

Here is a collection of videos that mostly feature Graham's new ability to walk. Many first attempts to video Graham walking were ruined by Craig. He became a bit jealous whenever Dad pointed his camera at Graham.



But, after a few days, Craig calmed down and allowed videos of Graham walking to be taken.


Graham still walks a bit like a drunken master kung fu fighter but he almost never falls and when he does he manages to simply sit down.

The last video in the collection is a brief take of Graham in a local shop playing on a bouncing toy. Little people giggling makes most people happy and Graham's giggles are no exception.

Craigs Goes to Work

Last Saturday saw the usual trips to local parks to give the boys a chance to play outdoors. Craig was not in a particularly silly mood but getting into Graham's pram was not as clever as he thought it was.

In the afternoon, after another trip on the MRT to Neihu, the boys had heaps of fun. Graham even decided to give climbing a try after seeing other kids not much bigger than him doing it first.

It's not an especially impressive jungle gym but the boys seem to like it.

On Sunday afternoon, Craig went to work with his Dad. At first he was very shy and wouldn't listen to anything that anyone said to him.

Dad's coworker Mandy wasn't able to get Craig to relax but Grace had obviously played with little children before.

Craig and Grace seemed to get on pretty well.

Being carried around was good but that developed into a tickle fight.

It looked like Grace had won tickle fights against little people before. Craig never had a chance but he didn't seem to mind. The alternative was getting bored watching his Dad work.

Life Could Be Worse

Last Thursday started out as a cool day that quickly warmed up. Craig had been dressed warmly in the morning but later, after kindy, refused to take off either of his two long-sleeved t-shirts. He even put the hood of the outer one over his head resulting in lots of sweat and some pretty messed-up hair. He seemed to like his new look, however.

The boys were awake relatively early on Saturday morning this week. That meant there was time to travel all the way to LA Cafe for brunch and be able to call it breakfast.

Mum was quite happy to be able to read the newspaper while Graham played his own little games. It was a very pleasant way to start the day.

But, during the walk home the early morning sunshine disappeared and dark, heavy clouds began to threaten. Craig only had time to play for a few minutes in one park before rain forced a mad dash home.

While Dad ran through the rain to get home, Graham fell asleep. He was quickly taken into the bedroom for a nap.

A late-ish lunch was had at the breakfast shop nearest home where Mum was quick to pick up another newspaper.

She wasn't too happy about all this taking of photos during one of her very few chances to relax. Craig thought it was all pretty funny.

Graham was ignoring that fun. He just wanted to get out of the pram. It doesn't show much in the photo but it actually started to pour down with rain while they sat there.

Fortunately, the rain stopped long enough later for an evening walk. Graham managed to find a place where he could get his hands really filthy.

Back at home there was only clean stuff to play with, Graham seemed to think that was boring.

On Sunday, Dad's job was to take the two boys out so that Mum could clean the floor at home in peace. The boys went all the way to Neihu where the boys had heaps of fun on one of their favourite little jungle gyms.

They had only stopped at Neihu because the sun was out when they were passing through. It was an unplanned stop but it worked out well. Graham and Craig were happy to be outdoors.

And their Mum was happy because she could have half a morning to herself. Not a bad result on what was otherwise a wet weekend.

Wet Weekend

The weather was wet near home last Saturday so the family went for a ride on the MRT to see if it was drier elsewhere. Luckily, the rain had stopped in Neihu. Graham had fun on one of his favourite jungle gyms.

The boys had plenty of fun playing while Mum went shopping. She doesn't get much chance to shop these days so she went a bit wild.

Later, after they'd returned home, Craig tried on one of Mum's two new jackets! It will be good in the cooler weather ahead.

The weather then turned wet again to keep the boys indoors for the rest of Saturday.

The ground was still wet when they went to the park on Sunday morning.

Craig was good about rocking gently on the see-saw. That's worth mentioning because usually he makes things too rough for his little brother.

He did get in Graham's way when he was crawling up the stairs for the slide but it's tough for Craig to be good to his brother for a long period of time.

On Sunday night Craig went shopping at Carrefour with Dad. Craig likes "driving" this little car/shopping trolley but he sometimes doesn't like looking at the camera when a photo is being taken.

Back at home Graham had taken sole possession of the portable DVD player. (He may have been sitting too close to the screen.)

The last thing that needed to be done before bed was the taking of a family photo. Craig needed a new photo for kindy.