Three Came Home

I just finished a great book called Three Came Home by Agnes Newton Keith. It is the biographical account of a woman who survived a Japanese internment camp during WWII in Borneo. She and her fellow prisoners, including her husband and son, went through starvation, disease, and beatings among other things.

Being in Singapore I have learned more about the Pacific side of WWII and how people were treated in POW/internment camps in this area. I enjoyed the book in the sense that it was well written and a first hand account of what war can do to innocent people. It was hard to read the content of what Mrs. Keith went through, but I think it's better to know what really happened.

The biggest impression it made on me was that Mrs. Keith drew closer to God through this horrible time in her life. It would have been so easy to curse God and fall away, but she did not. Her faith grew throughout her 3 1/2 years in prison. While in captivity she shared her camp with nuns and she noted that they were happy because they had all they needed: God. (p. 95)

Her last few sentences are as follows:

Tears come. This is our son. He lives. God has been good.

Plus her thoughts on war and her enemies is insightful. Here is a quote from a side note at the beginning of her book:

The Japanese in this book are as war made them, not as God did, and the same for the rest of us. We are not pleasant people here, for the story of war is always the story of hate; it makes no difference with whom one fights. The hate destroys you spiritually as the fighting destroys you bodily.

On the last page of her book she makes this statement:

I believe that: While we have more than we need on this continent [N. America] and others die for want of it, there can be no lasting peace. When we work as hard in peacetime to make this world decent to live in, as in wartime we work to kill, the world will be decent, and the causes for which men fight will be gone.

I think this book is worth a read.

Bird Park

Since we have been in Singapore we have only been to the bird park a handful of times. (Probably since we don't have a membership.) Today we went back and enjoyed a wonderful morning with some friends among the birds.

The three older girls (Savannah, Sophie and Elyse) checking out the pelicans.

The beautiful Waterfall Aviary

This is the best we could do with having the older girls pose for a picture. 2 out of 3 looking at the camera, not bad.

Where to next?

The Water at VivoCity

Elyse and I go to VivoCity/Harbour Front every week for Gymboree, but Elyse hasn't played in the water there since we moved to Singapore. Today we (the three of us) went with the agenda of looking at double strollers and playing in the water. I found a double stroller that could work for a mere S$735 (I think we might go another route) and Elyse enjoyed playing in the water. She seems all grown up since the last time she was there. You can click here to see her at 14 months playing in the water.

To Cate From Elyse

Bollywood!

Last night Toby and I went to a musical extravaganza at the Esplanade Theatre called The Merchants of Bollywood. It was amazing! For those who don't know, Bollywood is like the Hollywood of India in the sense that it makes tons of movies. Bollywood has it's own style that has become a style all of its own. It is hard to describe. It's bright, colorful, and energetic to say the least. It's hard to believe that the dancers were standing, let along dancing, at the end of the show. I wouldn't have made it past the first Act. This performance paid tribute to different Bollywood films and also told a real life story of one choreographer who left her hometown- with the disapproval of her grandfather- to pursue her dreams in Bollywood. I recommend you check out the link and see some of the videos yourself.

I had such a good time. I had a smile on my face most of the performance and Toby did too. The crowd even got into it by clapping along. Thank you Mom and Dad for the great Christmas gift.

Friends at the Zoo

It is so great to have wonderful friends here in Singapore with kids very close to Elyse's age. It makes it so much fun to go out and about- of course it can cause drama too, but that's just part of having friends at any age.

Today we went to the zoo with our friends. This blog is focusing on our little wild animals (not the ones in the zoo).

Elyse with an Elephant mask

Elyse and Levi checking out the tigers

Caleb admiring the pygmy hippos

All of our "wild animals" (minus Miriam)

Gotta love the Ben and Jerry's Cow

I love the expression on Levi's face- pure joy

Elyse and Sofie

Hugs ( or cuddles for those from S. Africa)

Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom

For Christmas Toby and I got Elyse a play post office. Included in it were 2 people; one named Mr. Percy and one named Mrs. Morris. Elyse calls the man Percy, but when I asked her what the lady's name was she said Mrs. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and the name stuck. (For those who don't know, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a book about the alphabet.)

In addition to sharing a cute story, I wanted to show you Elyse's chipped tooth. If you can't see it in the first picture, check out the second one.

Mrs. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom:

Tiger

Now that Christmas is over and 2010 has begun, Singapore has started to replace the Christmas decorations with Chinese (or Lunar) New Year decorations. This year the celebration will be on February 14th and it will be ushering in the year of the tiger.

Unexpected Trip to the Dentist

For those of you who don't know, Elyse chipped her tooth yesterday. We were out running some errands yesterday at the mall. Elyse was running ahead of me, tripped and landed on the floor, apparently mouth first. There was a lot of blood and when I finally cleared it from her mouth I noticed her right top middle tooth was a bit chipped.

She was so upset! When she tried to comfort herself by sucking her thumb, it seemed to hurt even more so she just continued to cry. In between sobs she was saying "No going home" and "Get Miriam present." We had planned to buy a present for Elyse's friend and she still wanted to go shopping for it, but it didn't seem like Elyse was going to calm down. I decided to head home so she could have a popsicle and watch some TV to calm her down. On the platform waiting for the train, the only thing that calmed her was me singing songs, but by the time we got on the train she started to cry and say "no more singing," so I stopped and just endured the crying.

At home she did calm down, but didn't want to eat anything- including popsicles. She was like that until dinner- going from 10 to 6ish without eating- and then she began to eat which made me so happy.

Today we went to the dentist and I was expecting the worst- in terms of Elyse's reaction to a dentist. My fears were confirmed in the beginning. We walked in and she started to cry and say "No hairdryer." I don't know where she got the idea there would be a hairdryer at the dentist but it scared her. After a short while she calmed down and she began to play with all the toys in the waiting room. It was a great waiting room with a playhouse, books, puzzles, a Foosball table, video games and other random toys.

When it was our turn the dentist was very nice and kid oriented. He gave Elyse a toy to play with while he explained things to me and then he let Elyse hold his tiny mirror and count toy teeth and then her own teeth. It was then time for the real exam and she started shouting about a hairdryer again, but when she noticed the TV on the ceiling, she calmed down again. She was great. She opened her mouth and let the dentist examine her teeth. I was very proud of her.

In the end the dentist saw that her two front teeth were a little loose and she had a cut on her gum in addition to her cut lip and chipped tooth. After hearing all the options and discussing it with the dentist, we are not going to do anything except give her a diet of soft foods for a week, continue to keep it clean, look for infection and then go back in a month. One bonus side effect is that she isn't sucking her thumb as much. I am hoping that continues. I haven't got any pictures yet, but you are sure to see her tooth since it will be in all her pictures until she looses it in about 3 years.

Scooting Along

We were fortunate to have Toby's parents visiting during Christmas. It is wonderful to have them so close. We had a great time hanging out, reading, visiting the zoo, eating peanut butter fudge, and of course celebrating Christmas together. They left on New Year's Eve. We are hoping to see them around Easter time. :)

On another note... We have had a this scooter in the closet for awhile. Pierce Denton had given it to us since he didn't use it anymore. It seemed like the right time to bring it out for Elyse to try. She was excited to try it out. She started out a bit shaky, but got better and better with each try.