Even though Jayden has moved away, we’re still getting the boys together for regular sleepovers. Here’s a look at some of the recent shenanigans they got up to.
They eat, they read, they goof around:
What’s a sleepover without science? Here they are carefully measuring the finger of Jayden’s daddy.
Here are the two pals, chatting and catching up by the pool at the start of a sleepover:
And yes, sometimes there are movies to watch.
Finally, after all this fun… it’s time to cuddle up in bed.
Second in our two-part series about little moments and events that took place in September.
On Thursday afternoons, after school and before taekwondo, Nyan took part in an art class held at his friend Nadia’s apartment, just across the swimming pool from us. It was one instructor, seven girls and Nyan. He was a little worried at first, we think, what with being the old boy there, but he quickly got over that and had a blast.
Over the summer, we saw The Lion King (the movie) for the first time, as well as a short live-action version of it at Hong Kong Disneyland. When we heard that the musical version was coming here, we snapped up tickets. No pictures of the performance itself, but here’s our hero (and his peeps) before the show. He loved it, by the way.
We were sad to see Jayden and his family move away in August, but one small consolation prize was inheriting their electric piano. Daddy’s had fun playing it, and Nyan has fun pounding the keys. We’re hoping it’ll spark some interest in actually learning to play. But for now, we have this.
We’ve seen before how Nyan sometimes hangs out at the local skatepark while bestie Jayden has a Sunday morning skateboarding lesson. But what exactly does Nyan *do* while hanging out there? Let’s see.
There’s a big undeveloped plot of land right next door – several trees and big swathes of grass. It’s a popular hangout and picnic spot on Sundays. It’s also a lot of fun for Nyan and Jonnie (Jayden’s little brother) to run around in.
Sometimes we pop over across the street to a shopping mall, where there’s a Starbucks that makes hot chocolate just the way Nyan likes it.
After Jayden finishes his lesson, he often joins in the fun at the grassy field next door:
An old university friend of Mommy’s came through Singapore with her husband and their daughter on a short trip. Livia is a few years younger than Nyan and very sweet. We met them at a restaurant and Nyan and Livia immediately hit it off like old pals.
They enjoyed posing for pictures.
And, while the adults sat around and chatted and tried to get the kids to eat….
… the kids ran around on the grassy hill outside the restaurant.
Then, as night fell, they just ran in circles around the restaurant.
Fun times! Nyan got to see Livia one last time at a local food court:
You may recall that Nyan’s school from last year closed down, so we had to enroll him in a new place for Year 3 (a.k.a. Second Grade in the U.S. system). We decided on a place called Eton House, not too far away. A couple of kids from his old school, including Nadia, also are going there now; so is Abi, his friend from his MMI preschool.
So we weren’t too worried about the transition. And sure enough, he’s taken to the new place like a fish to water.
We had an orientation session in his classroom, and with his new teacher, a few days before classes began.
Then it was the big day itself. We made him briefly pose for pictures before heading out:
The school itself was a bit packed with kids and parents, but it was well organized. As Nyan waited to head up to class, he hung out with Nadia. (You can also see Abi in some of the pictures. They’re in the same year, but in different classes. They still get to hang out a fair bit nowadays though, so that’s good!)
Then it was time for class. No tears or concerns here:
The first day was a success, by all accounts. When he got home, Jayden happened to be in the pool — his new school started a few days later — so Nyan and Nadia hung out with him poolside for a few.
The school isn’t too far away – about a mile or so, a 20 or 25 minute walk – but we signed up for the school bus service. It picks up him around 8am and drops him back around 4pm. Not bad. He’s got a uniform to wear each day, so every morning we take a lovely stroll past the pool downstairs on our way to the front gate of the condo complex, where the bus picks him up.
Some pictures of the morning routine, including a cameo from Mommy:
He’s enjoying the class so far, and seems to get along with his classmates and his teacher. Here are a couple of examples of some early work, and a picture of him doing his homework (he usually gets about 20 or 30 minutes of homework a week — nothing excessive, just about the right amount for his age, we’d say).
Remember all of Nyan’s pals from his MMI preschool days? We do too. A really fantastic group of kids. Everyone goes to different schools now, and as we feared, we rarely get to see anyone, though we do manage to run into random classmates and their parents around the neighborhood.
In July, the MMI parents decided to make the effort to get the kids — and the parents — back together, so one Sunday afternoon a bunch of us got together at Kyra and Chrysa’s place for a pool party.
Nyan, Adriana, Kyra and sister Chrysa, Valentina and sister Gabriella, Ming Xuan… did we forget anyone? A lot of kids were on vacation or whatnot, so turnout wasn’t what it could have been. But still, a fantastic time was had by all.
They spent a lot of time in the water.
And eating.
Oh, and yes, there was a hamster. (A new pet of Kyra and Chrysa; they brought the little critter down to show off to their friends.)
The parents had a good time too, catching up and snacking.
Long-time readers know Nyan’s bff Jayden and his younger brother Jonnie. They’re great kids, and Nyan and Jayden have been thick as thieves since the day they met down by the swimming pool back in late 2015.
Earlier this year, we learned the sad news that the family would be moving to the other side of the island. We had several months’ notice, which I guess made it a little easier. To be sure, we relished every moment. Here are some recent moments, like Nyan hanging out at Jayden’s house, often with Jonnie in tow.
Here’s Jayden wrapping a birthday present for Nyan:
One afternoon at our place, the boys were playing Jurassic World (we think) and Daddy took a surreptitious video.
We had lots of sleepovers all summer long, at both Jayden’s place and our place. (Sleepovers generally involve a lot of goofing around, some video-watching, some playing-in-the-tub, and lots of reading by both boys.)
You’ll be seeing more of Jayden and Jonnie in these blog pages, fear not.
We had a lot of fun in June 2018, as we’ve seen. Here are some more moments:
On the last day of school, classes let out at midday. In the afternoon, Mommy volunteered to take Nyan and Jayden to the Natural History Museum. Predictably, they had a blast.
Some random photos from the month:
Nyan, running around a play area at the airport while waiting for Mommy to land:
More photos:
Nyan and Jayden, goofing around one morning after a sleepover.
And still more pictures:
Proudly showing off the saw he made at Lego robotics:
The school year ended in mid-June, but Mommy and Daddy still had to work. Trying to work with Nyan around isn’t really all that conducive to actually, you know, getting anything done. So what to do? Send him to camp!
Nyan’s too young for any sort of overnight camp (if such a thing even exists in Singapore), but there are lots and lots and LOTS of day camps available, covering everything from language to sports to cooking to technology to flying airplanes (no, really. But only for older kids). So in between various travels, we signed Nyan up for a bunch of week-long all-day camps on topics including Mandarin, science, computer coding and math. The camps were a combination of fun and learning, which is perfect for our boy, who loves learning but is still a little boy who loves to have fun.
First up was a week of Mandarin at the mall down the road, to brush up on his Chinese. We think it was a success; he definitely had fun. Here’s Nyan and some of his camp-mates, burning off steam outside the learning center after a day of instruction.
To celebrate a job well done, on a couple days Daddy took Nyan to an indoor toy/play space in the same mall to play for a while. Nyan loved it.
Walking to the play place:
Playing with cars and trains:
Another day, we visited a trampoline-play place they had set up temporarily in the lobby of the mall. Nyan was joined by a couple of classmates.
Nyan was especially fond of his camp-mate Isabel, a girl a year younger, to the point where they insisted on a playdate the weekend after camp. Here they are, at camp and at play (including feeding Isabel’s baby sister):
He also spent time at a place called Camp Asia, which offered the rest of the courses.It was at a school campus a few miles from home, and each morning they sent a big bus to collect Nyan and dozens of other kids from around the neighborhood. Each afternoon, the same bus dropped them off.
His first week at Camp Asia was Science Camp. Jayden was in the same class, and the two young scientists learned about magnets, chemistry, astronomy and more. Here’s the activity book Nyan brought home after a day of learning about physics.
Finally: We were a little worried that he might not be that into Mandarin camp. That wasn’t the case, as you can see from all the fun he was having at the end of the day. But he was also in a very cheery mood on his way there, bright and early each morning. Check it:
One day in June, we got together with Kyle and his family for a fun-filled Sunday afternoon. We don’t see them often enough, but Nyan and Kyle always reconnect immediately and have a blast.
Here are the boys, goofing around.
We spent a little time at East Coast Park, catching bugs and listening to wild boars grunting in the jungle (heard them, didn’t see them). Kyle’s sister Kara is growing up nicely, and is developing a little bit of attitude, which she wasn’t afraid to show to Nyan!
The boys (and the girl) had a fun time playing various games and toys:
We ended the day with a very long, very energetic time in the pool. I think we were in the water for about two hours? Got home much later than planned, but it was well worth it.
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