Present for a Day

I ordered this cute thing from what most people call the Asian version of Ebay, but I think it is more like Amazon.com. Anyways a lot of what we find online are things that were manufactured here but did not make it on the boat to the US or imported food from the US. This is one of the "did not make it on the boat" items. We were thrilled to get it for Dash and he was excited to play with it...AB was excited to take it from him. The day after Christmas I looked it up online because I wanted to see how much it would cost to buy in the US, and that is when I saw it. This item was recalled. In fact it is one of like 50 toys that were recalled in the US by Fisher-Price that were made in 2006 from this country for having toxic levels of lead paint. On the website it said if you have such and such numbers on the bottom of your toy, you are to discontinue use and return immediately. Yes, those numbers were on the bottom of DB's Elmo Jack-in-the-Box. Returning it was not an option, and since I know our trash is sorted through, and I feared someone wiping it off and giving it to another kid, I did the only thing I thought to do, I tried to smash it into pieces. Turns out it, other than the lead paint it was really well made. I hurt my hand before I eventually gave up and dropped it perfectly unmanned into our trash. Bye bye Elmo.

He will never even know Elmo was here...did I take him out again without wiping the food off of his face? Bad mommy.

Matching PJs

Before DB was born, I bought AB and DB some matching PJs at a after Christmas sale in the US - my favorite shopping time of the year. I love sales. Anyways, like any self respecting mom, I wanted a picture of them in their matching PJs. This is how it started out.

Below I am brusing AB's teeth. Usually this is done in the bathroom, but for some reason that evening she had her teeth brushed in bed. Already DB is seeing this as awesome playtime and is on his way to get us.

Once I handed over the pink Dora toothbrush, I decided to put DB in my lap for the pic as I did not think he would sit still on his own...

...or with me either, apparently.

If this is any indication of his energy level in the future, I am in trouble.

Eventually I put him back in my lap and this happened - cutest cry face ever.

It continued and AB added her two bits in.

Eventually he calmed down and although still slightly redfaced, he ended up looking more confused than anything. I decided this was the best we were going to get and gave up.

Clearly AB was happy about the forced photo opportunity ending. See DB coming? He was happy too.

It is playtime like this that reminds me why I wanted to have them closer in age.

Good kids.

Pacifier

I do not like pacifiers. They just seem like one other thing we will have to break the babies of at some point. Fortunately AB never cared for one and was able to self soothe quite easily. However DB loves it and cannot seem to get enough of it. When we are at home his pacifier is reserved for crib time only, but recently he has learned he can fish it out of his crib while playing in his room. To keep it from falling out of the crib I chained it to his elephant, so he cannot take it when him. If I do not take it from him, he will sit by his bed in order to keep it in his mouth for the enture duration of playtime. He is usually quite upset with me when I move it out of his reach, but in the long run I think it is best.

Mac and Cheese

Last week DB was introduced to Mac and Cheese and it is safe to say he is a fan. I think he ate more than his almost 3 year old sister. I cannot seem to leave things alone, and I could not give my baby purely processed cheese Mac and Cheese, so I of course added real cheese and cauliflower puree. No one in my family seems to notice the healthy addition and KB says it is his favorite Mac and Cheese ever. I wonder if he knew it was 2 months expired? Anyhoo. DB absolutely got a sink bath after this meal. It was everywhere...even in his ears.

See that one noodle, trying to make it in his mouth?

There it is!

I am not sure what that glare is about, but it is really cute.

You can almost see the cheesy cauliflower goodness dripping off of his dimply little hands.

We Paid for This?

Since our new apartment is without a bathtub and we have kids, it is necessary to for us to get one. I am sure DB is anxious to get into a tub and out of the kitche sink. Also, AB has a fear of falling down and of the hot water in the shower and it frequently results in a meltdown during shower time.

Two weeks before we moved into our new apartment we ordered a bathtub. It is simple but big enough for us to sit in without having to bend our legs. Like I have metioned earlier, doing rennovations here is slightly more complicated. WE are the contractors and finding someone to do the individual jobs is both challening and risky. So far we have been pretty lucky, but our luck apparently ran out with the bathtub guy. While I was in the capital with DB, KB and AB were at home while the "bathroom" guy "installed" our bathtub. His only job was to prop the tub up on some bricks, cement the bricks in place and build a tile wall around it. Really, we could do this except I figured an expert would be better at it. We were wrong...I absolutely in all serriousness think I could have done a better job than this guy. On the positive side, KB said he was a really nice guy.

Anyhoo. Now we have to pay another guy to come and smash up this wall and build another one. Our bathroom has been this way for about 2 weeks, but it will be worth the wait once we get it done right. Fortunately we have another bathroom to take showers in. It is not exactly a kid friendly bathroom, but right now we are happy to have 2 bathrooms or we would be in trouble.

We have heard a new bathroom guy is coming tomorrow and I have heard good things about him. I am hopeful that this time next week we will be able to take nice warm baths in our lovely new tub.

I really think these pictures give a good dipiction of what I saw when I first walked in our bathroom after returning from the capital. Most homes in this country have exposed water pipes in the bathroom. They are quite ugly, but very practical. It allows for cheap and relatively easy rennovations.

It is like the hill-billies of bathtubs. It is missing one of its front teeth.

Recovered

These pics where taken the evening DB and I returned from his hospital visit in the capital. Sometime while AB was 1 year old she learned that we think it is cute when she gets inside of this bucket and sometimes take pictures of it. She often now climbs into it and says, "take a picture?"

AB was happy to have us home.

DB was happy to see his daddy...

...and other than being a little bit thinner, none of us could tell DB was ill enough for a trip to the capital two days earlier.