Birthday Photos

Back in January both of my kiddos had birthdays.  Upon our return from Thailand I took them to our little photo shop to have birthday pictures done.  Sometimes getting photos taken of our very little cute and white kids can be tricky.  For example, I have heard stories of friends having their kid's pictures taken and then sometime in the future seeing an advertisement with their child's face on it from that photo shoot - ya know...the photographer used/sold the picture without ever checking with the parent.  This is something we would like to avoid. 

Also, in the United States we extremely pale people want to look more tan, but here they try to look more white.  Here my skin is not pasty; it is beautiful, really.  People actually tell me this.  I have learned to accept my white-y-ness and embrace my alabaster skin, well that is until we are in Texas during leg baring season and I can get my hands on some self-tanning cream.  Anyways, instead of photo-shopping professional pictures to add color to people's skin, here is it standard to whiten people.  Each time we have our kid's pictures taken we tell them, please do not adjust the color of our kid's skin.  Incidentally, AB's skin is so white we have been asked if we put anything on it to make it that white.  Does sunscreen count?  I hope she learns to love her white skin and does not do anything (apart from some quality self-tanning cream after she turns 16) to try to give it some color. 

Lastly, small details that are important to us when taking pictures are not so important here - like a rip in the white background that exposes the floor.  I find it ironic they will go through the trouble to whiten skin but not blot out the tear.  Also, the use of props are quite common, and since I have not had pictures done in the US I cannot compare, but I can say, on the walls of the photo shop here, I saw pictures of sweet little girls dressed in all white with ringlets holding transformer action figures or dump trucks.  Next time I am going to bring my own things for the kids to hold. 

This photo shop did not open until DB's nap time, so he was a bit of a cranky pants.  AB did better than DB, and they probably ended up taking 200 pictures of her.  Unfortunately about half of them were with an ugly plastic flower, and I just cannot seem to get past it. 

This is the only good picture we have of DB standing alone, because after this picture in the rest his sweater looked like...

this, and since I was standing beside him I did not even notice until we looked at them later.  Bummer. 

AB did well.  I like this one.  She is wearing the dress she picked out on her birthday.

I feel like this one fits her personality.

There is that plastic flower, but the picture of her is super cute.

This is how she let us know she was finished and did not want another picture taken of her.

Yes.  DB is crying, but it is cute - No?

 Follow the sequence of these pictures.  They were quickly taken in the order that follows.

This is quite possible my favorite picture of the day.  He too was finished.

Bubble Bath

Hi friends.  When we initially started our blog its purpose was to share our adventures while living overseas.  However, it has gradually become a photo album of our kids.  If you did not notice things like our exposed pipes in the bathroom, huge air conditioning units in each room, questionable decorating techniques (the selection of all things decorative are different), and the abundance of Asians in the background of some of our pictures, one might even think we are living in the US.  Therefore, like it or not, I am determined to add some cultural adventure stories back to our blog, but unfortunately I am not starting my new resolution today.

Today I am recommending a book to any of you who have friends or relatives you love or care for who live overseas.  It is called Redefining Home: Squattie Potties, Split Pants, and Other Things that Divide My World by Carrie Anne Hudson.  You can find it on Amazon at this link Redefining Home.  I actually have met Carrie 3-4 times, primarily in passing, but I have good friends who are good friends with her...anyways, Carrie has been able to articulate the complexities of being from one country while living in another in a quite humorous and real way.  Really, please buy it and read it.  It will help you understand why those of us living overseas gradually become more and more weird and seem to lose touch with the US - it happens to all of us. 

Okay.  Below are some pictures of my cute kids taking a bubble bath.  I have heard stories of kids hating baths, but I cannot relate.  Bath time is one of the highlights of their day.  However for various reasons, the kids sometimes do not get a bath before bedtime, so it gets put off to morning.  Since they seem to be a bit more docile in the morning, I let them use the expensive imported dye and fragrance free bubble bath for sensitive skin - at night they seem to pop every one of the bubbles in minutes, but in the mornings the bubbles last almost the entire bath.  These pictures were taken on their inaugural morning bath. 

DB was uncertain what to do with the bubbles. 

 And because I was holding the camera, I was unable to stop him before he put his bubble covered fingers in his mouth for a taste.  He has now done this so many times I am almost certain when he has his yearly blood test, ya know for things like lead and parasites because we live overseas, we will certainly find something inappropriate living in his little body.

 He did not like his first taste, but he has gotten over it and frequently likes to eat bubbles. 

Thankfully this girl knew the bubbles were for play, not to eat. 

Post Nap Movie

AB does not wake up happy when she is woken-up before she is ready.  In fact she is often downright grumpy and easily offended.  Therefore we have developed the routine of watching about 30 minutes of a movie after she wakes from her nap - it somehow softens the transtion from sleep to wake for her...what a great way to wake up.  (Writing this post is making me miss morning shows.)  Also, since we cut her off from liquids at 5pm, this is her last time to get in something to drink.  During one of our very cold apartment days, both of the kids laid on the sofa, drinking their afternoon water and juice, and watched AB's newest favorite movie. 

 Can you guess the movie?  Marry Poppins!

Bag Boy

Does anyone else have problems with Blogger's new publishing page?  Sorry Sharon, it refuses to allow me to upload the pictures from your visit last month!

My son loves bags, shoes, play cell phones and, to AB's horror, her baby.  He usually carries AB's purse around in the crook of his arm.  I am not sure where he saw this demonstrated because since his birth my bag has been almost exclusively a baby bag, which in my case is a cross body bag. 

DB also likes to play-bake in AB's kitchen.  He puts on the play oven mitts, opens the play oven, and puts play food and dishes in and then takes them out when they are "done."  He also frequently steals my real oven mitts to play with, which has put me in a pickle when I needed to take something out of my real oven and could not find them. 

This picture shows four things:

1. AB loves to help DB.  This is usually fine and sweet but it becomes a little dangerous when she helps him climb things he should not climb. She does not realize she is unable to help him get down from those dangerous places and usually will just pull him down...ouch.

2.  DB is carrying his shoe which he brought to me to put on him.  He loves shoes and has always managed to keep the pairs intact. 

3.  Gosh he loves his backpack from Lolli!  Once he brings it to us to put it on him, he will wear it until we take it off of him.  KB is happier to see the backpack than the pink purse : )

4. DB still loves his pacifier.  I have decided he can keep it until he is 2.  It is a battle I am not willing to fight right now.  Do kids ever self-wean from them? 

Reading Together

Recently KB went out of town for what I think was the longest stretch of time we have been apart in 6 years.  It was during this time I severely lamented not having a car of some sort because getting out in the freezing weather to wait for a taxi that might never come seemed to take the wind out of my aspirations to be adventurous while KB was gone. 

So we stayed home almost the entire week, but thankfully the lure of seeing friends coaxed us out of the apartment a couple of times.  What did we do at home by ourselves for an entire week?  We mainly read books, took lots of bubble baths, played hide and seek, ate, played with Play Dough, put together puzzles, worked on pooing in the potty and many other exciting things.  When the kids went to bed, mommy stared at the wall while soaking in the bathtub until the water became cold.  I eventually started re-reading the Hunger Games. 

During the time KB was gone, the city shut off the heat that warms most people's homes 5 months out of the year.  It took a couple of days for the warmth to completely leave our home, but once it was gone it was apparent.  I let the kids stay in their fleece PJ's for the entire day the first few days.  We also somehow continually found ways to do activities while under blankets. 

One such day AB and DB had a rare moment cooperation and were happy to be near each other for more than a few seconds at a time (AB does not like to be crowded by anybody, and DB does not like AB messing with him - so she then really likes to mess with him).  AB has started to notice that many of her books come in sets, so she likes to get all the books out that are in one set.  She and DB spent about 10 minutes looking through the books together. 

In this first pic it is apparent that AB is still waking up from her recent nap.