Happy Birthday!

D's third birthday today. Happy birthday boy! And he had a lie in until 6am which was nice. Shame Z decided to get up with the joys of spring at 430 instead. She couldn't have been happier. We, on the other hand, could have been. No matter, when D arrived in the living he was chuffed to bits to see the balloon we had for him. The fact that it was attached to his brand new sparkly bike seemed to pass him by. Then a little sly smile came over his face. 'What's that bike daddy?', he said with all the coyness of a boy who knows exactly 'what's that bike'.
2 minutes later, to the howls of derision from Z who had already made up her mind that it was hers, he's on and riding. Amazingly well too for a boy just turned three. The apartment bares barely any scars from the ordeal and three hours later we set out on the open road..... of the complex. Well, don't run before you can cycle, eh (hmmm, something like that)?

Aside from birthday plans I've been spending plenty of time getting acquainted with the buses out here. Now I know some of you will think 'he's been there nearly six weeks!', but I was reliably informed that taking two kids and a buggy on a bus was a bad idea. And from what I've seen so far that advice was absolutely sound. The service itself is fantastic and in certain respects more convenient than getting on the MRT. But just don't get kids and a buggy involved! One child is OK as I've proved with D. It's easy and I've been taking him to nursery and back on one. But man alive does that bus driver take no prisoners once you step foot on the bus. No sooner have I 'tapped in' than he's off, auditioning for the upcoming Grand Prix I shouldn't wonder. I've taken to grabbing D around the midrift to stopping him sailing into the rear seats of the bus (or worse). Now with a buggy you're supposed to fold it up before you get on. Right! Then once you're on board you're grabbing two toddlers and 50kg of buggy unless you're looking to watch them career into the rear window. Yesterday a chap and his wife (I guess) got on with child still strapped into buggy. It took the driver (or captain as they're supposed to be known) a couple of stops to notice. Then all hell broke loose. As you can imagine I'm not fluent in Cantonese yet but, the gist of it was 'get that kid out of that buggy' to which the reply was 'I'd really rather not old fellow if its all the same to you. We're only going another couple of stops'. Which, as you can imagine, was fine by the driver so he replied 'OK, sorry to trouble you'. Rather loudly I thought. After which the woman and man rather hurriedly and very sheepishly pulled the young lad out of the buggy and closed it up. Maybe that wasn't what bus captain said after all!
So, you see, I won't be taking the kids on the bus, at the same time, in a buggy!