Random

Here are a bunch of random pictures and thoughts.

As a family of 5 living in a country where the average couple has 1.4 kids, we are considered a large family.  Taxis are not made for us.  Hotel rooms are not made for us (rooms usually come with 2 twins or 1 king), and restaurants without high chairs are a challenge no matter how many kids you have.  

Recently RB and I went alone to the international hospital for RB's 2 month appointment.  I was asked by various nurses on several occasions, "is this your first one?" When I told them this is my third baby they always responded with "you are so young!"  Although I would love to believe they are saying this because of my years of faithful sunscreen use, I have been told in this country the average age an educated woman gives birth to her first (usually only) child is 27 and if they have another one, they are required to wait some time before they can have another one. I am not sure specifically how long, but most families I know that were given permission to have two kids have children at least 5 years apart.  So, I am 32 and have 3 kids, perhaps they think I started having kids back when I was 17 - putting 5 years between each kid, that or I started having kids at 27 and I am really 42.  In that case I better look young!

Before having RB I heard from my other foreign friends with 3 kids that they are often asked if they delivered all three of their children.  Although this seems like a strange question, I think this is perhaps a way of asking if all of these kids are mine, as opposed to some or all of them belonging to friends or family and I am simply babysitting.  This question has been asked.  However this is not as strange as what happened to another foreign family we know.  Our friends are caucasian and have two boys from Ethiopia and one biological son.  While the whole family was out and about, a local man noticed the mix of their family and asked the father if he had two wives since his kids were of two different skin colors.  So, although having a large family attracts attention and brings on questions, it clearly is minimal compared to a family of mixed ethnicity.  

We have been asked if "big brother" give us money to keep having kids.  We assured them this does not happen.  I have also been asked by strangers if I am breastfeeding and if I delivered naturally or by c-section.  I particularly like these questions since they assume I will not understand and use hand monitions to make sure I know their meaning.  People tend to think AB and DB are twins...even though she is 6 inches taller than him and can speak a lot better than him.  Since they are usually talking about us to other people and not to us, I sometimes just let them go on in their ignorance of my children's birth order, especially since I have in the past told people they are in fact 2 years apart and they promptly turn to their friends and say "they are twins."  I think this goes back to the fact that typically no one here has kids just 2 years apart, so kids who look so close in age must be twins...no matter what their parents say.

Anyways, here are the pictures.

DB loves to help me cook.  When he sees me cooking he usually quickly pushes the step stool up the counter and says "I help."  On this day I propped my foot up on the stool and DB decided he would prop his up too.  KB captured the moment on his trusty old phone.

Ummm this one is a little embarrassing.  I was using my post pregnancy workout DVD and the kids decided to join in with me.  I am just glad KB took the picture from this angle and not one 10 feet to the right...because it would definitely not be on this blog.

What does RB do most days?  Basically he hangs out.  Here he is hanging out with daddy.  The rocking chair is RB's favorite spot in our whole apartment.    If he could spend all day being held and rocked he would.

Here RB is saying, "look at me daddy!"

Success!

RB is a baby, so he sleeps a lot.  Our air conditioner units are a bit fickled, and on this day they pumped out the cold air quite efficiently, hence the hoodie.  

RB likes his swing and he really likes the orange fish on his swing.  He stares at it most of the time he is on the swing.  It is his friend.

Pictures for Grandma

 

DB photo bombed this one.

AB could not resist either, so I got one of all three.

Daddy likes to build the kids tents all over the apartment.  This is frequently a highlight of their day.

Also, see AB's longer hair?  It is chin length now.  Why you might ask?  Well, recently while KB and I were on a date and Zhou Mei watched her and DB, AB took advantage of Zhou Mei's laps in attention and cut her hair in our bathroom.  Fortunately her hair was in a low ponytail, so it kept her from giving herself a pixie cut, nevertheless, she took out quite a chunk of hair and the rest of it had to be shortened to even it out.  

Lastly, my AB is a bit squirmy while both awake and a sleep.  Recently we found her sleeping perpendicular in her bed, which would not be so odd if DB was not also in the bed with her (you cannot see him).  However it was not as strange as how we found her a few days later...

Yep, she is a sleep.

Family Pictures

I wanted some new family pictures since our family has recently grown.  However our the little photo shop we have used for almost 2 years have recently shut their doors and took off without letting anyone know where they were going.  Too bad for us since I liked them.  Our helper tried to help us find a new place.  Here is the problem in finding a good photographer, what we as foreigners consider good qualities in a picture differ from the average citizen of this country.  It seems the average photographer loves props, very posed positions, complicated back drops and most of all making people's skin very very light, which my family members certainly do not need help with. Therefore we try to find the photographers who are willing to not only listen to our explanations of what we like but are also willing to do it.  So, like getting a haircut in Asia (which I have unfortunately ignored my own past advice and recently done AGAIN), there is a bit of uncertainty and challenge involved when getting what you want with a photographer.  

Anyways, Zhou Mei found us a place that was a bit out of the way, but it was a friend of her friend so we gave it a shot.  The kids pictures are a bit on the light side, but they are really not that bad.  Also, it was not the photographer's fault that DB refused to look at the camera.  

See my hair in this one?

These next few are among my favorite and it is not because I think they are the best pictures ever...I like them because they are so awkward!  Please take a good look at the first one.  Not only are RB's feet higher than his head, AB is giving the camera the look of please just hurry up and take the picture (I will say that she was mighty proud to get to hold her brother though).  DB is just sitting there with the most bizarre stare on his face.  It is hilarious. 

In this next one it looks like AB is giving RB the choke hold.  DB's expression is his version of a camera smile.  I told him to show is teeth and this is what he did.  It is kind of cute.  

I cannot lay the blame of this last picture solely on the photographer.  I mean the heat index was 109 yesterday, and it had just rained so it was ridiculously humid.  However it was his fault that when we asked him to take our family picture outside that he took us to the side of a road to take pictures among the trees lining the street.  You cannot even see our feet.  Not exactly stress-free.  I think he clicked the camera exactly 2 times before KB said "one of those has to be good."  With sweat rolling down every one of our backs, we were done.