Linna builds, we clap.

Do you think Linna enjoys being praised?! At 14-months, I think she's ready for the stage. Everything (even block-building) is a production, especially if she hears Mama's anticipation of saying "YAY!"...

Kid's shoes that drive me nuts.

Kids toys can be extremely annoying. They make animal noises, play loud "happy" songs, and often make repetitive sounds that are about enough to drive any parent completely nuts. However, children learn from these noises, sounds, and song, so as parents, we just "deal with it" and learn to tune the noises out.

BUT, whoever thought it would be a good idea to put one of the most ANNOYING squeaky sounds into a child's shoes, has to be completely INSANE! Today, I was taking my daughter to music class, and while we were in Singapore's MRT (train system), I heard this persistent squeaky noise. I thought it was just a kid playing with a squeaky stuffed animal, but no. I turned around to find a little girl walking behind me with a loud SQUEAK to each and every one of her tiny steps. That's right, everywhere this little girl walked, she squeaked (and yes, I turned around to take video).

Who may I ask does this squeaky shoe invention benefit? If child's parents weren't moments away from tearing their hair out, I sure was! For what reason would you ever put your child in a pair of shoes that make this persistent squeaking sound?!

I can tolerate those kid's shoes that light up when they walk. I actually think they're kind of cute. But the shoes that squeak. Ugh. They must have been invented by terrorists.

Please tell me that this is NOT a Minnesota thing.

Linna says bye.

Linna is all about saying "hi", but she really loves saying "bye". This is what she does every morning when AJ leaves for work. She gets a little grouchy in this video because she's all done with her breakfast, but she must have said "bye" a dozen times...

 

 

Remember when she just started to WAVE "goodbye"???

 

Little india.

 

A couple stops after Chinatown on the "Purple Line" of the SMRT, you will find Little India. We visited this little gem one evening when my parents were in Singapore a few weeks ago, leaving the baby at home with her Papa. Tonight, I was craving some curry, so Linna and I went on a search for it in Little India. Did we find a delicious curry?! Oh yes we DID!

Gold and jewels in the street markets.

Sign above the streets.

 

Much like Chinatown (only better in my opinion), Little India is a happenin' little night spot that's waiting for tourists to come and explore. When we first got off the MRT and hit the street, I was like, "Where is all the "Bollywood action?". As we walked a couple blocks further, we were greeted with bustling shops filled with brightly-colored fabrics, and sparkly merchandise. This was my kind of place!

Flower garlands.

Every street market we walked down, we found people making fresh, hand-made flower garlands that were absolutely gorgeous. I thought this was a "Hawaiian thing", but the flower garlands are one of the oldest surviving Indian traditional offering. We could smell the delicious curries and spices that the restaurants and shops were cooking too. I wanted to eat the air.

Instead of "Where's Waldo?", this is "Where's Dale Specken?"

When I visited with my parents, the first shop we stopped at had the beautiful fabrics with hand beading and crystals covering every inch. You could literally purchase a traditional Indian Saree in any style, fabric, texture, or color you can imagine. I found one that was a turquoise color with crystals covering it, and it was priced at about $180. I didn't think it was a bad price, but I decided not to get it for "practical" reasons. My mom and I, however, did find some beautiful dresses for Linna. I first thought "PAGEANTS" when I saw the dresses, but they really are darling and unlike anything I've found in the US. At $20-ish a piece, we bought two for Linna, and they literally fit her body like a glove. I'm hoping she doesn't grow out of them by the time we get home so we can have some photos taken of her in the dresses, and maybe where the red one for Christmas:)

The place we got Linna's dresses.

As Linna and I walkeded up and down the streets looking for a place with good (and not spicy) curry, we finally stumbled upon this little restaurant called Lagnaa on Upper Dickson Road. The only reason we stopped here was because there was a lovely woman out in front who came to ask us if we had questions about the menu. I told her we wanted a good chicken curry that wasn't spicy. She said, "Try the Butter Chicken Curry". Done.

Linna hanging out with one of Lagnaa's servers.
The man behind them is from Scottland.

I may or may not have gotten a little excited about the food
before I realized I should take a photo:)

This dish was probably one of the best curries I've ever had! It was so flavorful, and not at ALL spicy (I don't do spicy), but you can get the dishes to any level of "spicy" you'd like. Linna also had some of the chicken curry, but she REALLY loved the Papadum, which is a crispy bread made with lentils. The Papadum came with a mint dipping-sauce that was to DIE for. The nice woman who helped me select my meal also recommended their Lime Juice to drink. OMG yum! It was so refreshing, sweet, and ice cold. Linna sat so nicely in the chair next to me (they don't have highchairs because the restaurant can only fit about 25 people), while the ladies in the restaurant entertained her, and I devoured my delicious food.

Spice-level chart at Lagnaa.

"Mom, these Papadum are the size of my head!"

If anything brings us back to Little India, it will be this food! Not the Dengue Fever warnings all over the place...

These were everywhere in Little India. Yikes!

14 months.

It's getting more and more difficult to take these monthly
photos. She can't sit still! Cookie bribery works well.
 

Another month has passed, and until yesterday, our little bean wasn't walking. However, she did take a few steps on her own last night! We may or may not have had to bribe her with a cookie, but we're making progress:)

Since moving to Singapore, Linna has been around kids almost every day, so she's had colds on and off for the last two months. I kind of know what it's like to have a child in daycare now, although I know she could be coming down with much worse than just a cold. We've actually been dealing with an outbreak of Hand Foot & Mouth Disease in our condo complex in Singapore, but thankfully Linna hasn't gotten it.

It's so fun to see Linna interact with other kids. She's starting to speak to them in her baby gibberish, and I'm always trying to figure out what she's trying to tell them ("give me my toy back", "hello friend", etc.). She's learning how to share, what she should do when another kid takes the toy she was playing with, and how to "toughen up" (she's been bonked over the head with toys by a few kids in our play-groups).

Her vocabulary is quickly expanding too! Linna can say "yes", "ball", "baby" (this sounds more like "ba-bay"), "woah", "hi", "nigh nigh", "Bompa" (grandpa), and of course "mama", "dada", "papa", "nana", etc. Mostly though, she speaks in gibberish.

At her friend Seb's 3rd birthday party in Singapore.

Standing on her own.

Linna learned to feed herself with a spoon about a week ago. She loves bringing the food up to her mouth by herself, and if the spoon isn't working, she just uses her hands. Last week, we stopped giving Linna her bottle, and haven't had any problems with it so far. Linna eats three meals a day, plus snacks and water/juice, and an 8 oz. sippy cup of milk before bed. I put a little orange juice (I squeeze an actual orange into her water, because oranges are cheaper than "real" orange juice in Singapore) and prune juice in her water to keep her "regular" too. Her favorite food right now is yogurt mixed with a banana and granola, which is a great dish for self-feeding. She is eating SO much more than she was just a few months ago!

Linna is still taking two naps a day (sometimes one long nap if we're out and about), which I find makes her SO happy throughout the day. For a couple weeks, we got a little off schedule, and I realized how different Linna is without her naps. She's just a kid who needs sleep! She'll sleep about an hour and a half during each nap, and then sleeps from about 7:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. When we first moved to Singapore, she was waking up in the middle of the night to be coaxed back to sleep, but thank goodness that has stopped.



Hangin' with Papa.

Pool time.

Linna loves building with blocks, swimming, dancing to music, reading, and watching "Super Why" and Elmo on YouTube. She also enjoys taking everything she can off shelves and out of drawers. Linna is also very friendly, as she needs to wave and say "hi" to everyone we pass at the mall or on the street! I find myself wanting to ring people's necks when they don't wave back to her;)

Since Linna is slowly but surely growing a mullet, we're thinking about cutting her hair (just a trim) to shape it up a bit. It's so hard to part with her baby hair, but this mullet is getting out of control. We'll see if Mama and Papa Saigh can "grow a pair" and take Linna to get her first hair cut.

GLUED to her music class teacher.

We are very excited to get back to Minnesota, so Linna can see her family! She hasn't seen Grandma and Grandpa Saigh is almost three months. Very excited for the many reunions she'll have in November. The holidays will be pretty special this year:)

Think she'll be running by 15 months???

Linna's first steps.

The day has finally arrived. Linna has taken her first steps! The video is short, she looks like a little old lady with her butt sticking out, but she is definitely starting to walk. Here we go...

Chinatown.

Singapore Sam and Linna in Singapore's Chinatown.

If you want to sweat more than you've ever sweat in your life, feel extremely frustrated, lost and out of place... go to Singapore's Chinatown with a your child in a stroller. If you actually want to enjoy your experience there, go in the evening.

A few weeks ago, Linna and I hopped on the MRT, went two stops (about 3 minutes) from our apartment near HarbourFront, and we were in Singapore's Chinatown. We decided to go during the day, which was much too hot and muggy, but since we were there, we decided to explore.

Narrow walk-ways that are difficult to pass people
in with a stroller.

Loved the buildings where the shops are.

I pushed Linna around in the stroller through the street markets of Chinatown, and we found a lot of good deals. Postcards are SUPER cheap in Chinatown (like 5 for $1 or $2), so we stocked up, and I also got Linna a cute little Chinese outfit! The street markets weren't very packed with people since we went on a weekday, but it was so hot that we had to take our flushed little cheeks into an air conditioned store to cool off.

Inside this supermarket we stopped in to cool off, we saw all types of Chinese herbs, foods, drinks, etc. EVERYTHING is written in Chinese (obviously), so if you don't read the language you'll be lost just like we were. There's definitely a language barrier in Chinatown, so I didn't even bother to ask questions about the things I saw in the stores. I did find a bag of dehydrated pears for $4, so I bought them for Linna's snacks. She LOVES them!

Chinatown in the day.

Chinatown at night.

I looked everywhere for REAL Chinese hot & sour soup, because someone in Singapore told me that it's the best in Singapore. If you know me, I LOVE hot & sour soup! I asked everyone that I saw in the little food shops if they had it, and everyone looked at me like I was crazy. I had to wait until we went on our Babies at Sea Cruise to find hot & sour soup, which was worth the wait because it was AMAZING!

There's also a hawker food center and market as soon as you step of the MRT. There, Linna and I found some delicious lychee tea. It's a cold tea that is sweet, only $1, and a perfect refreshing treat after a long hot day. I've tried finding this tea elsewhere in Singapore, but failed. I guess I'll have to keep going back to Chinatown!

Chinese outfit I bought Linna in Chinatown for $15.

Delish.

When my parents were in town, the three of us visited Chinatown at night while AJ stayed home with Linna. I'm not sure if it was my time spent away from Linna, or the fact that we went to Chinatown at night, but this experience was MUCH more enjoyable. Plus, seeing all of the streets lit up with gorgeous lanterns and lights was incredible. My mom and I even watched a stray cat chase after (and catch) a cockroach in a dark alley.

Chinese woman making tea bags.

The food and market complex right off the MRT stop in Chinatown.

A lot of people will say that if you've seen one Chinatown, you've seen them all. I have to say that Singapore's Chinatown was different than NYC's Chinatown (the only other Chinatown I've been to) because Singapore's is much "cleaner" and smaller. I never feel "safe" in NYC's Chinatown, but I feel very safe in Singapore's. The sellers in NYC's Chinatown are much more annoying and pushy when it comes to getting you to buy something. In Singapore's Chinatown, they literally ask once and then leave you alone. If you're looking for good deals on things like postcards and little souvenir gifts, or just want to people-watch while enjoying a cold lychee tea, then Chinatown is a place to visit in Singapore. Just remember to go during the evening if you want to stay cool:)