Saturday: Tears and Beers

Saturday was a funny day - we went to gorgeous little Ava's first birthday party in Kennedy Town, where Bunky proceeded to burst into tears every 15-20 seconds.  Someone nudged him - tears and wailing.  Dropped a toy - tears and wailing.  Someone looked at him in a funny way - tears and wailing.  It was most uncharacteristic of the little munchkin, and we can only really put it down to it being a little bit loud for him.  Or he's a bit of a wuss.  Probably too early to definitively tell on that front. Anyway, a few photos of the beautiful little birthday girl (oh - that's George's curly hair on the left in the first photo...the only photo of him not crying):

.

.

.

In the evening we went to Sam and Mary's for pre-Christmas drinks. Had a lovely time and a great meal - and Sam and Mary had even organised a secret santa for everyone as well.  They're about to take Christmas Holidays closely followed by a short sabbatical holiday, so we won't see them again until around April next year.  We met some lovely people, including a Canadian vet whose cousin I worked with in Canada in 1997.  It's a small, small world...

.

.

.

Special guest photographer: Mummy

A few photos that Rachel sent me from her phone during her day with Bunky. Scribbles on the photos are obviously mine: .

Lunch at Chez Bunky

.

Helpfully rearranging things in the lounge

.

.

An afternoon in the sun

A few from this afternoon down at Cyberport - towards the end of the afternoon the lawns looked a little less green.  Mainly because Bunky ate most of the grass. .

.

.

A few random phone photos and a pre-breakfast window stare

A few completely random photos from my phone: .

I took this in near darkness - it's Ben and Poppy on the back of our couch.  Surely this can't be comfortable for poor little squashed Pop?

.

.

I couldn't resist - this is from one of the toilets of the Cathay Pacific plane we flew on over the weekend.  Is "choke" really the word they were looking for?

.

.

This is from this morning - it looks posed, but I promise it wasn't.  I just wanted Rachel to hold still, and for some reason they both ended up looking out the window.  It doesn't take much to get George's attention (birds, ships, pieces of toast and random dust particles are all rather exciting to him), but I'm not entirely sure what Rachel was looking at...

.

.

Morning monkey face

Not exactly sure what his face in the first one was for.  In the second he was deep in concentration, wondering whether he could actually get the little yellow tag on his trousers into his mouth (answer = yes). .

.

.

.

Singapore

On Sunday night we got back from a fantastic long weekend in Singapore - Bunky was pretty good on the flight over (although we had a few tense moments due to a delay in feeding him), but he was pretty sweet for the rest of the flight. Ditto on the way back - a bit scratchy to start with, but after dinner and a nice long nap (during which his Mummy watched a few trashy episodes of "Gossip Girl"), he was in great form at the end of the flight and during the landing. Bedtime was seriously late thanks to some slow baggage handling (he didn't get to bed until around 10pm) but that of course didn't stop his lordship from his usual wakeup shenanigans at 6:45am (a deep and meaningful discussion of world politics with his bedmate Flat Ted). I took a pile of photos and have posted few below - I would have liked to have taken a bit more time sorting and editing them, but I have already started receiving not-so-subtle messages regarding the absence of photos of George over the last four days.

The photos probably require no explanation - they are mostly of Paddy, Bella or George. I also took a few at the outdoor market where Kirstie occasionally sells clothes. We went there on Saturday morning, and naturally Rachel couldn't leave without buying his majesty a few little bits and pieces (including what she now calls his "Yoga Pants").

Thanks to the Challis clan for being such fantastic hosts, yet again.

Oh - and before I go... Happy Birthday to Uncle Sam in London! Hope you have a great birthday and we trust that Aunty Katy will spoil you rotten.

.

.

.

Happy Birthday Granny B!

A few quick photos of the little man, who had a tough day yesterday (a slightly elevated temperature combined with a massive sense of humour failure...) .

Posing on the window seat.  Daddy's mental note - taking a photo of George in white pyjamas sitting on a white cushion with a white backdrop is a pretty stupid idea

.

On the phone to Granny B for her morning birthday telephone call

.

.

Might not be much going on here over the next few days, as we're off to Singapore for a long weekend (flying out tomorrow morning).  Hopefully George is ok on the four hour day flight, but I guess we have the overhead lockers as a fallback position.

Just kidding.  Sort of.

.

.

Humpty Dumpy got cold tootsies

It's a bit colder out here in Hong Kong (or perhaps our blood has just thinned over the last five years), and it's time for the winter woollies to come out. Unfortunately, George got caught a little short on the sock front - plenty of shoes, but no socks for kicking about the house with (unless he can squeeze into his "up to one month old" socks).  As a result, he had a curious pair of Eskimo-like laced socks this morning - while showing them off,  he managed to do a Humpty Dumpty impersonation: .

HIs greatest discovery of the morning was that if the laces were untied, he could lean forward and eat them. He's so smart. Anyway, here's another from this morning - check it out, FOUR teeth.  He's like a little can opener with an afro:

.

.

We're so hot

Taken on the computer just before we went out for dinner for Rachel's birthday last night: .

.

.

Happy Birthday Rachel!

It's Rachel's birthday today!  Here is a photo of George wearing his mummy's hat in celebration (it was taken with her brand new birthday-phone): .

.

Oops - I didn't realise you could see my manky foot.  Sorry.

.

.

A few more from Saturday

Thought I'd share a few more from the birthday party last weekend, including one of Rachel and George taken before we left for the party: .

.

.

George eats hair

We had a lovely afternoon - after George's sleep and video Skype session with his grandmother, we went to the South side of the island and walked from Deepwater Bay to Repulse Bay (a pretty easy 25 minute stroll along the waterfront).  On the way back we stopped at the wonderful Coco Thai Restaurant, where Mummy and Daddy enjoyed some spring rolls and some chicken wrapped in pandan leaf, while George enjoyed some rice crackers (he seemed to enjoy them).  I didn't take my camera, but got this one of George eating his Mummy's hair just after we came home in the afternoon (I took it on my phone). .

.

I did however have my camera when we got home, and managed to take this photo of a rather gorgeous sunset.  Sunsets are coming a lot earlier these days - winter is almost upon us (for me that's a good thing, but Rachel doesn't like it as much).  That said, it was a mid 20 degree Celsius day to day - doesn't feel like winter at all...

.

.

.

A few photos from Hugo and Sophia's party

George attended another birthday party yesterday. This one was at a lovely park that we had never been to before - a few minutes up the road from The Peak.  It was a lovely afternoon, and George had great fun playing with his mates, eating random plastic toys, and munching on grass. A thoroughly relaxing and lovely afternoon - and certainly a park that we'll be visiting again now that the weather is coming right. .

.

.

Going, going... gone.

. .

.

Good morning!

.. .

A tiring weekend for the Bunkmeister

The weekend is almost over, and it was a busy one for Bunky.  Yesterday he had a bit of a Saturday morning swing session, before an afternoon with Daddy (while Mummy went shopping and doing errands).  Not really much photowise, but here is a shot from the swing time:

.

.

We had a quiet night - I watched the rugby with Cam while Rachel and George shot downstairs for the building's Halloween Party (George went as "a small child trying not to wear a shark-shaped hat").

Today we had brunch at Cam and Carolin's - had a great time, and George was in full "show off" mode when it came to his crawling. He also ate like a waste disposal unit, and managed to polish off a few baby-sized muffins after his lunch.  Little piglet.

Finally, today we went down to the monthly Pokfulam Market with Alice, Harry and little Michael (the only child in Hong Kong with hair more awesome than George's).  If the weather isn't too hot, then the Market presents a nice chance to lie on the grass and enjoy a bit of food and drink under the sun.  There were loads of people there this afternoon (certainly more than usual - the slightly milder weather might have pushed the numbers up), and I managed to take quite a few photos of our little group:

.

Harry, Michael, and some delicious sunflare

.

Clockwise: Harry with the boys, George with "Sophie La Giraffe", Alice with Michael and Harry

.

George the Phrenologist examining his friend Mikey (a different Michael with far less hair)

.

Clockwise from top left: Alice, Harry and Michael, Rachel with George, Michael looking angry

.

That's all from the weekend. It certainly was nice to be taking photos outside for a change.  Unfortunately the weather is still pretty warm despite it being November (it's usually perfect weather around now, but it's still rather hot under the sun at the moment), but still - it was nice to be outside all afternoon.

.

.

Conversations in marriage: Part 1

You have to guess which one is me

.

.

Mr Crawly Gigglypants

Mummy's day off today, so it's off to Stanley for a date with Keira. Anyway, a few photos from this morning:

Apparently turning taps on and off is hilarious

.

Investigating the wooden Black Cab that Keira gave him

.

.

And even more weekend photos

A couple of random photos:

What on earth could be keeping George transfixed during his ordinarily boisterous dinnertime?

.

A romantic long distance dinner date with his UK girlfriend Bella of course

.

Some good times with visiting Aunty Sarah...

.

...and some grumpy times

.

And finally some quiet time with Rachel (woah - check out Bunky's knee-fat)

.

.

A few random long weekend photos

We've had an up and down weekend - Raspy McCoughypants had a tough Saturday, but seems to have shaken off the worst of his chest gloop. He's in pretty awesome spirits, and as I type this he's fast asleep (touch wood - last night he screamed from 10pm to 11pm). He's had a full on weekend so far, with brunch at the Press Room on Saturday morning and then Sam B's birthday party today. Tomorrow's junk trip has been cancelled, but seeing as this weekend is "Grave Sweeping" weekend, we'll still try and get out somewhere (our street is next to the cemetery and looks like Disneyland on Grave Sweeping days. I've got some random photos - I've got a pile more (especially of Sarah K and Bunky yesterday), but here are the ones I've had a pick through so far:

A sight we need to get used to - Bunky wandering the lounge and dining floor area.

.

George and Rachel observing pass-the-parcel at Sam's party

.

The boys asleep in the spare room.  Seriously, I don't know how Ben sleeps like that.

.

The little man just before his bath tonight

.

.