Stinkers

Since bragging about how fast blogger is when you upgrade your account, blogger has somehow blocked me from accessing my previous posts and has thus prevented me from fixing my embarrassing typos on my last post - some of my 3 followers might have seen them.  I promise I really do know the difference between "every" and "very."  So, please just look past my typos.  You can tell what I mean, mint, meant...whatever. 

School

I have been absent.  I have been busy, but I have also been a bit lazy.  It seems I used up all of my free-of-charge space on Blogger to post pictures, so although it took a grand total of 10 minutes to upgrade my account, that step was enough to keep me from posting for more than a month.  Slightly shameful, I know.  However it seems when you upgrade your Google/Blogger account they also speed up the download process.  If I had known that, I would have upgraded years ago.

 

Back in September AB started attending a brand new local preschool. Many schools are not allowed to accept foreigners, but thankfully AB's school welcomed her.  We felt AB needed to attend preschool so she could begin to really develop her language abilities and needed to learn how to make friends.  She has greatly enjoyed her time at school and has impressed me with her new local language abilities. 

 



Usually there is a security guard to open the gate for students each morning.  However on the first day of school the Head Mistress greeted each student herself.  It was not a big undertaking since it was considered a "soft opening" and only 5 students were slotted to attend that day. 

On the left is our Zhou Mei, but the lady in the dress is the Head Mistress. 

These are AB's teachers. They dress alike every single day. 

 

Halloween has become a new hip holiday here in East Asia, so AB's school hosted a Halloween party to keep up with the times.  Costumes are not in abundance here, and what we do have is usually what has been sent from the US.  AB has fancy princess dresses (of course) and this cheerleading uniform.  Before anyone gets nasty about what AB's uniform says, I will say I did not buy this uniform. It was given to AB.  If it was up to me she would be wearing a UMHB purple and gold uniform - so BAAA to any of you who say nasty things about her wearing a Texas University uniform...

 



 

With that said, I still continue my stance of not actually buying either of these clearly University of Texas costumes.  They did not even come from the same person and neither of the people who gifted them with the costumes attended UT.  They just thought they were cute.  You would think I was obsessed with UT with what my kids are wearing.  

 

Even you Aggies have to admit they look cute no matter what.  

 

 

At the Halloween party they played games, including musical chairs.  The girl in the white wedding dress is named "Girl Girl" and she is AB's best friend at school.  I like this little girl.  She does not get scared by AB's foreign mom and dad.  Some of the other kids run away when they see us. 

 



 

This was AB's first experience with musical chairs and she did not quite grasp the concept.  She was quickly eliminated in the first couple rounds.  This is why I love AB so much - I told her she could not play anymore because she did not sit in a chair fast enough, they took her chair away  and now there are not enough chairs.  AB must have thought this was silly problem for which had an easy solution because she ran into her classroom, brought out a chair and tried to reinsert herself into the game.  Her innocence is precious.  I, and a couple other parents of the younger kids, helped our kids out during the second game.  Although she did not win, she made it until there were 4 chairs left. 

This what DB did during the party.  He played with toys and sounded off his car alarm scream whenever the old grandmas tried to pick him up.  I really do not have to worry about strangers messing with my DB.  They back away as soon as he gets going.  

Still Attached



Guess what my DB is STILL in love with?

 



 

His pacifier.  Apparently he will not self-wean himself from it as I had hoped, and I will have to ruthlessly take it from him after his 2nd birthday.  I do not normally let him use it outside of his crib, but that day he worked so hard to get it I let him run around for a little while before I shattered his world and put it out of reach.  Enjoy it while you can buddy.  2 years old is only 3 short months away.

The other thing by DB loves, but clearly less than the pacifier, is his backpack with Curious George strapped to the back.  AB has all the credit for the invention of the backpack/doll carrier.  DB is quite smitten with his George.

 

He even managed to keep George on while he body slammed AB

 

 

My little wrestler is not so brave when AB fights back though.

 

 

Dear AB, if only you knew how many more body slams, hair pulls, destroyed toys, and other annoying thing are coming your way in the next 10-15 years courtesy of your little brother.  You are a great big sister.

Two Things That Make Me Laugh

Things get dirty quite easily here.  When KB and I first married, we lived in a little wooden pier and beam triplex with wooden floors on a dusty road.  It was a challenge to keep our home clean and you probably could not convince me it was more difficult elsewhere (I was 24.  Let's blame it on youthful arrogance).  Here it is a whole different category.  Here we deal with types of unsanitary and pollution mess that you would not imagine (to my friends living in more rural places, you have my great respect).  However for the persistent housewife, who employees a local woman full-time to help combat this problem, our home stays pretty clean. It literally is a full-time job, well that and making some food : ) 

 

In addition to removing shoes worn outside or wearing shoe bags over the shoes, we usually remove our area rug when locals come over.  It just decreases the possibility of it getting defiled if a shoe bag breaks.   Usually just before guests arrive KB rolls up our living room rug and drags it into our office.  Over time the kids have decided riding on the rug while daddy pulls it is the coolest thing ever. 

 

I love the picture below of DB essentially sitting on AB's head.  However AB is so excited to ride on the rug that she is willing to endure it.  

 

My special DB.  Boys are different than girls.  I feel like a girl's range of mischievousness is smaller than a boy's.  I am not sure if AB stayed away from such sort of trouble because she was an only child at DB's age, and was thus my center of attention and did not have the opportunity to sneak away or if girls are naturally less inclined to deface themselves.  I am not sure. 

 

Anyways.  First, DB got a red permanent marker and drew on his new shirt.  While I was frantically trying to get the stain out, he used his newly grown height to open the office door, located the same maker and drew on his bare chest (such a chest it is.  It is so cute!).  I did not know he could open the doors in our apartment.  I do now. His drawing almost looks like the character for "small."  Kind of appropriate don't you think?

 

After taking the first picture, I decided to seize the opportunity and document my son's belly.   It is like a miniature version of me at 9 months pregnant. 

DB: Daddy, everyone is pointing at my belly and laughing at me. 



 KB: Son. If you did not want to make a spectacle of yourself, you probably should not have drawn red marks all over your bare belly.

DB: I do really like the mark I drew right here.  It almost reaches my freckle.  If only mommy had not caught me when she did.  

KB: I love you, and I am confident you will reach the freckle next time.  

Ropes Course

Recently a local mall erected a ropes course for kids ages 3-16 under an outside pavilion.  We thought it sounded fun, so one morning we piled ourselves into a taxi and headed to experience it ourselves.  The little ropes course is pretty good.  They put a harness and helmet on each kid, and the whole time they navigate the course they are attached to something (rail, cable or rope) to keep them from hitting the ground if they lose their balance.  Also, since AB is pretty small a worker helped her through the entire course.  

 

 

DB and I were strictly observers, but he thought it was all pretty groovy and is excited for when he is 3 years old and can do it too.

 

 

See the metal rail above AB?  They attached her harness to a rope that runs along the metal rail.  I was impressed by the attnetion they gave to safety.  Sometimes in some parts of the world safety seems a bit like an afterthought, but at the Little Jungle ropes course, it took front seat.

 

 

Our helper dude did the course both forwards and backwards while helping AB.  He was great with AB and I was impressed that he was wearing Merrells - made him seem professional since he was wearing actual climbing shoes, ya know for his serious climbing all over a kids ropes course.  Gosh that sounded sarcastic.  I really did like him.

 

See the kid to the left of KB in the picture below?  He came up to KB and started fanning his nose behind him to indicate that KB smelled bad, like trying to make fun of him.  I am not proud of it, but I gave him a little motherly stare down with my hands on my hips, amazingly he caught on and he went on his way pretending other people smelled.  The whole thing was weird.  I also asked myself, "where is his mother?"  I quickly caught on that the workers were wondering that too as he terrorized everyone (except for my family after my fierce staredown) that morning.  

 

 

Although my dreams of AB being a little gymnastics champ are quickly going away since I have yet to find a gymnastics school for normal kids (as opposed to the very serrious institutes run for future Olympians), I was excited to see my girl has some natural balance abilities and she was fearless.  

 

 

Next she climbed this net thingy that went up to a second story platform.

 

 

I should mention her helmet was probably pretty ineffective since it was too big for her and it frequently just hung from the strap around her neck.

 

 

She even got into the habit of prepositioning her helmet mid-climb.  See DB below AB looking up to her?  At his insistence, later they let him try to climb, but he quickly learned it was scary and his legs and arms were just too short.  Ultimately he did not make it more than 2 feet off the ground.

 

 

Next AB slid down this fireman's pole.  Thankfully they attached her to a pulley and lowered her down since she did not quite get the holding and sliding part down.

 

 

 

There is a phrase in our Aisaneese language that literally translates to English as "add oil."  It is meant to encourage people to continue in their efforts and to cheer them on.  In the picture below I am almost certain I am saying "add oil" (in Asianeese) to encourage AB.  All of you people who live overseas and understand this strange saying, feel free to laugh with me - you have done it too.  All of you other people who think it is just weird, I give you permission to laugh at me.  This also serves as another explanation as to why all of us who live overseas come back more and more weird every time we cross back into the USA.  It is true.  I am not denying it.  Just keep on loving us whenever we overuse words like "convenient" and say crazy things like "add oil" to encourage others to greatness.

 

 

Did I remember to mention that not only was the helmet clearly made for a larger head but so was the harness?  In their defense, both AB's head and body are quite a bit smaller than the average 3 year old.  

 

 

Next AB moved on to a tight rope.  Since she could not reach the balancing ropes to the side, a worker also had to help her cross.  

 

 

There were people recording my daughter walking the tight rope.  They were just random strangers who thought it was exciting enough to record it.  I have been in Asia for almost 5 years now.  As someone who has been here long enough, I am acclimated to this cultural difference, but do I still think it is strange to record someone you do not know doing something just because they are foreign?...yes.  

 

 

Next they hitched AB's harness up to a zip line.  She had absolutely no idea what was coming.

 

 

When my firstborn gets scared, for the most part she gets quiet, sometimes holds her breath and rarely screams.  Basically I have no idea if she was scared, but she insisted on doing it again and again.  She had to have liked it. 

 

 

Afterwards we all headed over to Papa John's for a nice thin crust Chicken BBQ pizza.  A great end to a great morning. 

AB and the computer

Birthday Trip

As it has consistently worked out so far this year, we needed to make a trip to the capital on one of our family member's birthdays.  It just so happens that KB's birthday and DB's half birthday fall on the same day.  Traveling to the capital has become both easier and more difficult in the past year and a half.  Easier since we now live in a city that has daily high speed trains headed straight to the capital ever half hour to hour - so much easier than flying or taking the 10 hour slow train.  It is more difficult since we have two young kids for whom staying in a hotel, no matter how nice, gets old fast. 

Traveling was easier without kids.  Well, duh, but I still felt like saying it.  Our trips now revolve entirely around seeing pediatricians and dentists, eating at restaurants within walking distance, going to Ikea, and staying at hotels four times the cost of the filthy hotels we stayed in before kids. 

 

I am not trying to complain though.  The upgrade in hotels has been nice.  The nice hotels have softer beds, better pillows, baby beds, better towels, great service, cable TV with foreign channels, and this one even has a top sheet rather than just a duvet cover - it blew my mind!.  However, my absolute favorite nice hotel amenity is the swimming pool, which was the deciding factor in choosing our hotel on this trip.  We thought if our poor kids have to be drug around all day, miss naps, and eat unfamiliar food, at least they can go swimming and it can be the highlight of the trip for them.  Even a month later the swimming pool is the only part of the trip that AB remembers.  Totally worth it. 

 

 Taxis are sometimes great and sometimes stressful, especially when it is raining and/or during rush hour.  To avoid this, we stayed within walking distance of everywhere we needed to go.  We ended up walking a lot, but considering the amount of food we ate, it was probably a good thing.  



Did you know that by law we are supposed to wear swim caps at all pools in the country we live in?  I am sure you did not know since I myself just found that out.  As an American I feel really weird since wearing a swim cap because 1) I am not a serious swimmer...yep that is basically it, I always feel like a poser wearing one.  AB is pretty proud of her hat. She even likes to wear it around the apartment sometimes. 

Later that evening DB crawled into bed, pulled out a Sports Illustrated magazine (thanks Grumpy!) and took a few minutes to unwind.  Seriously he did this all on his own.  He is quite the observant little boy.

After we returned home AB and I made daddy a "looks bad but tastes good" German chocolate birthday cake, daddy's current favorite.  Happy 31st birthday daddy!

First Haircut

DB needed a haircut.  We loved his shaggy look, but the back was beginning to really really look like a mullet.  Honestly we were in denial, but after looking at some baby pictures of AB, it seems denial of the mullet is something we do - in reality AB's mullet was worse than DB's.  Whatever, it was time to cut DB's hair.

A lot of the local parents here shave off their young child's hair (like 3 month - 3 year olds, sometimes including girls) during the summer.  I was told this was for two reasons, 1) It is cooler.  2) It will make their hair grow thicker, like it will change the make-up of a child's hair.  I can understand the first reason, but when people told me I should shave my 2 year old daughter's hair to make it grow in thicker, I skipped their advice. 

Anyways, since I have a bumpy history with local hairstylists, and they seem to be clipper happy with children, I thought I might as well try to cut DB's hair myself.  I figured if it came out bad, which was a very real possibility, I only had myself to blame, not a stylist who refused to listen to me and did what they thought was best.  Since I was scared of cutting too much, I felt the spectrum of bad would be less with me, than with them.



I stripped DB down, sat in him his high chair, wet his hair, and started planning my snips.  By the way, that look he is giving me in this picture is not a look of confidence.  Gosh, if he only knew my history of hair cutting was strictly with cutting our dog's hair, and wow did our dog look terrible afterwards, DB would probably look absolutely terrified and should be trying to get away from me. 

I started with the bangs since that seemed safe.  Later KB told me I should never cut boy's bangs straight across.  As a girl who spent the first 14 years of her life with bangs, I knew those things would grow in fast if I messed them up, so I was not particularly concerned.



Next I worked on the sides since the hair hanging over his ears was particularly annoying me. I literally have no technique.  However with that said, I have had short hair enough times to know I should lift a vertical section of hair between my fingers and snip, but since that technique turned out terrible on our dog, I was not certain it would look good on DB.  

Ever the good sport, AB faithfully stood by her little brother in his 10 minutes of need

I eventually moved around to the back.  Essentially I trimmed his bangs, trimmed the hair around his ears, and cut off the length in the back.  It looked pretty good until it dried.  KB said was too flat on the top and too wide around the sides and back.  He said it looked like the hair of a man who is bald on top but keeps the sides and back too long (something he sould know since bald is the direction his hair is going, love you Kev).  Whatever, I brought out my scissors again and really went to town this time.  I did not hold back. 

Here was the final product (this was the next day).  Other than around the ears, which I still have no idea how to do, it looks okay - there are no visible lines or chunks of hair missing.  Now two weeks later it looks better.  Time has worked in our favor and has smoothed out my amateur snips.  He was a good sport.