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Birthday celebration

Over the years Wolfram and I have kept our birthday celebration to something simple with family or a few friends. Who wants to be reminded that's he's aging?

For Oskar's first birthday we had a small family celebration in the d day. Today we have invited our friends and colleagues in Singapore to celebrate with us. It's probably the only time where there will be more adults than kids. 

A bit before 3pm, the room was ready and the birthday boy was getting his energy boost.

Note that the giraffe looked much better in a warmer room. In the presence of strong airco the air inside is contracting making it look like it has a broken neck. We did not kill the giraffe!

A bit over 30 people came in the end. There were a few people who called sick in the morning. Not all people came at once so we could interact with all of them. Kids were running all over the place. It was so noisy sometimes we could not have a conversation. And someone mentioned that I should get used to it. That's pretty standard for a kid's birthday. Apparently for the following birthdays we will need to plan for activities and animations to entertain the kids. 

Wolfram took all the photos so I don't have anything to show but I can say this: Oskar was incredible. He really looked like he was enjoying himself walking around almost the whole time. The plastic plate and cups did help to entertain him. He interacted with almost everybody and gave plenty of smiles. He posed in many selfies meaning he's going to be all over Facebook. Although we said no gift almost everyone came with something. People were incredibly generous and Oskar received books, his first set of crayola, a dolphin for the pool, construction blocks, helicopter, train, water guns, a car wheel simulator and many more. Enough toys for us to bring a new one every month for the rest of year. Until next birthday I guess :)

This was a great day for all of us which we celebrated with a well deserved glass of champagne afterwards. 

Now we have 12 months to think and plan the next birthday party. What could we do for two year old?

Where do I push to get the music?

Nowhere it's MY phone!!!!

Seems Oskar will know how to operate an iPhone before writing or even talking.

In case there was any doubt on who his father is, this clarifies completely.

Now I have two boys crying at home when the battery of their phone is empty :)

38.5

That could have been the temperature of Oskar but no.

Well he did get fever again on Wednesday and we survived another round of high temperatures.

38.5 is the probability adjusted number of people who will come tomorrow to celebrate Oskar's first birthday. We invited our friends and colleagues and our little boy is very popular.

Today I baked for six hours and now when I look at the result of it I cannot help wonder whether this will be enough.

There will fruits on top but I fear the thought of not having enough food will haunt me tonight.

Tyrannosaurus

Wolfram has started to build the nanoblock gift I brought back from Japan. 

Please do not disturb a man at work :)

Rain check

22:30 sharp the concert started. It's Singapore after all. Robbie Williams was on stage singing his first song.

22:30 sharp that's also when the first drops of rain came down. We seeked protection under a tree but quickly the rain became heavier and heavier. So bad we had to leave by the second song.

Many powered through the rain. Robbie Williams did perform for the full 90minutes also under the rain. We were not that brave.

It was a massive mess to get back to the mrt because everybody was trying to escape the rain but we eventually made it. 

No concert and wet to the bones in freezing cold mrt. Last time I was so wet, it was Mulu park.

It's very likely we will be sick tomorrow.

Qualifying run

It's the event of the year in Singapore: the formula 1 Grand Prix. The only one at night time and they are pretty proud of it. I mentioned that this year we are going. I ordered the three-day passes (we needed two days but you either get one day or three) and a few weeks back we picked them up.

A vos marques!

Oskar had fever the past 24 hours (courtesy of the one year vaccination shot) and consequently we were exhausted. Who would not after an interrupted night and a whole day of cranky baby? Yet fever luckily went down in the afternoon and once he was asleep, we left the house.

Prêts!

A short mrt ride later, we were there! It took a bit of time to figure out the set up but by the time the qualifying run started we were nicely in one of the viewing stand.

Partez!

Those were packed with people because let's face it unless you are higher up there is not much to see. The cars are very low and the fences are blocking the view at ground level. It took some trying until we had a good position to see for me and for Wolfram to take pictures. I was traveling light with only my phone. Still I shot a couple of videos just for the memory.

The thing with Formula 1 is that there is not much to see. Basically you position yourself somewhere and you wait for the cars to pass in front of you. Given the speed at which they go, it's only in a curve that you have chances to really see the cars when they slow down. Otherwise, you see a car for a fraction of a second and rely on the big screens to tell you which one it was.