Babycenter said our little tyke was as big as a kumquat at 10 weeks... and it just stuck. So here we are, a Korean-American and an American-American, starting a family in Macau.
Things have been busy with Grandma visiting. Matt and I took a much needed staycation on Saturday at The Sentosa resort (thanks Grandma!) and we then went to dim sum at the airport on Sunday.
I am not sure if Grandma brought the rain with her but it has been raining almost every afternoon while she has been here! Argh - this rain, these mosquitoes.... I am resorting to wearing bug spray in the house!
Before our staycation (Matt wonders what this word means) on Saturday morning Grandma organized a very cute tea party outside our house. The cucumber sandwiches were a big hit with Sophia while Char was partial to wearing big beads and a tiara.
We are gearing up for Charlotte's birthday - something she would be blissfully unaware of if there was no school (we think) but now we are gearing up for a grand affair!
Susie and Matt helped us to bring over a Radio Flyer wagon -Charlotte helped to put it together. Since it has arrived this week we are calling it a part of Char's birthday booty. Char astutely pointed out that a picture on a brochure inside matched the Radio Flyer tricycle we are borrowing from TT. The girls love the wagon!
Grandma and Sophia:
Tea party decor and nibbles:
Coiffed and distracted:
Tea party!
Cucumber sammies!
Teddy Graham bliss!
Melancholy:
Angry:
The fam:
Char is blinking:
Airport climbing:
This one is for you Matt Wulff!
The infamous smile for mommy(after a LOT of cajoling):
Charlotte has been sleeping with us or getting up early (like when I get up) recently and this has upended my schedule somewhat. I know that parenting is all about adjusting and being flexible and blah blah but... I get up early to get some alone time (like being able to write this blog!) and get a bit grumpy when the small, predictable part of my schedule is, well, unpredictable. I know Ho, relax, relax. Today Charlotte is still sleeping (at 7AM) and I am very happy about it!
Birthdays are front and center in Charlotte's world. She is learning about birthdays at school and has totally bought into this ritual. Now she wants a purple elephant (balloon - they sell these at the mall with heavy legs so they 'walk') and a little Barney for a cake topper (along with her Little Einsteins rocket ship). Both if these things remind me that Char is an unusual bird - TT had one of these walking elephant balloons and Char was super upset and scared by it and then of course there was the aforementioned Barney episode. So she is trending to be scared and then giddily excited by certain things - but the beginning there is always apprehension. She, like me, is change averse but eventually warms up. The other thing to note is that Char is definitely our kid - she is into Little Einsteins and Barney (entities that we have introduced to her) - and we were reminded by her hip Aunt Laurie that we are ahead of the kid curve... from 5 years ago. So she is us - hip but stuck in a bygone time as we just don't consume enough current pop culture to have any clue!
We have set up Charlotte's birthday to be a big apocalyptic event - "You know once you turn three, you are going to have to feed yourself"or "Once you turn three you will have to pull up your underwear by yourself." We are certainly aiming for some self-sufficiency - especially with her eating.
I looked at Sophia's mouth yesterday - seriously seven more teeth! If there ever was a teething prodigy I think Sophia would be it. She has also had her share of runny poos and slight fevers... but she has not gotten up so much these days. Yea!
I may have not mentioned it before- but Sophia is over her jealousy of Astrid. They are best friends now!
We had a Bucky scare last week - we are giving him some Valium to help him sleep (as we think he never sleeps as he has to stand to breathe). On Friday morning he could not walk (both his front and hind legs gave way). We were sure that we had to do something... we called Shirley and Wee and we met at the vet at noon.... by the time we got there Bucky was better (apparently his muscles were rather latently relaxed - a side effect of the darn Valium). You just never know what he wants and what we would want for him is not to suffer. We are certainly at the point where we need to hatch a plan. I have never had a pet before so this is not something I have had to plan for. Luckily Bucky is back to his new normal self - still breathing heavy but still wanting food and walking better now. Sigh. Taking it day by day.
We also went to Loysel's Toy with Susie and Matt and their kids and ran around the restaurant with 3 of the 4 kids (little Astrid is still too little yet). I think the biggest toddler requirement for an eating establishment is a vast and safe roaming space.
Grandma Kathy arrived to town bright and early on Sunday morning. We went to Din Tai Fung for lunch (a sweeping success - the hot and sour soup was not too spicy for the kids) and tried to go to the water play area abut it was closed to set up for an afternoon special event! Ah, these malls could learn a thing or too from America - don't build the church for Easter Sunday but don't close it either on Easter Sunday to set up for Easter Sunday (or you know, something like that).
We opened up an Easter gift from Grandpa - and Charlotte loves her scissors! We just have to direct her to cut scrap paper and not $50 bills!
Astrid tries rice cereal for the first time:
While Teo goofs around:
Sophia is a proud Beatles fan!
While Char tries to watch Ella's iPad French:
Sophia likes to dance with Auntie Alex:
Thirsty sisters:
Cutting paper at Din Tai Fung:
And waxing philosophical over pork dumplings:
Sophia eats pizza al fresco:
While Astrid poses the Heisman:
Sophia sweats:
While waiting for her BFF Astrid:
And here is a video of Grandma showing off her Gangnam Style moves with the girls (or just watching the Hyuna version of the video):
I look around and I see other kids who are Sophia's age and maybe they have 2 or 4 teeth. Sophia has 8 and by last count another 4 coming! She has been sleeping pretty well but sometimes gets mild fevers - which we of course attribute to teething.
Speaking of teething - Sophia is baring her teeth (and her attitude) these days. The other day Charlotte did not share her crackers with Sophia. Sophia, ordinarily of the grin-and-bear-it, moved in near Charlotte as if she was going to kiss her and.... she bit her in the cheek! Truly a cheeky bugger move. Luckily Char was nonplussed, explaining that her sister did not know the words yet... which is true of course. We often ask Sophia these days questions and she often answers correctly (the funniest of recent memory was on Sunday after dinner if she had pooped and she strained and said 'Yeah' as she was doing the deed). Or if we ask her if she brushed her teeth she will shake her head 'no' (she shakes her head no and says 'yeah'). Matt says it is probably another month or two before she is talking. We certainly are much more relaxed about this milestone than we were with Charlotte.
Last night I had to stop feeding Sophia as she is biting me --and laughing about it. I am practicing a no-tolerance rule for biting - and Sophia's post-biting laughter is sinister!
Sophia is wanting for us to read books to her these days. Her hands always go towards these pocket books about either real life or fictitious dogs. I suppose she is in a dog phase. Her most consistent word is dog (well, that and Yaya). Sometimes when I bring Sophia downstairs after her morning feed, she walks like an old lady towards the kitchen, yelling "Yaha!" (think Marlon Brando's "Stella!" from A Streetcar Named Desire). Sophia has serious lungs.
Char 'cooked' for me the other day - a salad and a dinner! This involved stirring (with a spoon) in a pitcher some pine nuts, a cabinet lock, and some mini Fisher Price people!
Charlotte is not sleeping with us these days (yay) but she goes to bed SO late - 9:15 or 9:30 makes for a short night of doing something rather than putting the kids to bed.
This weekend we went to the Aquarium at the Resorts World Complex at Sentosa - it was pretty good and a nice cool (both in terms of temperature and groovy) place to take the girls. I mean, who doesn't like to watch fish swim around? It is very meditative. Char pronounces the day before we go that fish like her (similar to the pronouncement by Matt that babies like him). I am not sure how she knows that fish like her (or even if that is true) but it was a funny thing to say. Resorts World (or at least the aquarium) must have absolutely the worst signage for elevator access ever. We brought our double stroller on this trip - one of the few times we have taken it out on the town with us. It was a bit wide for a Sunday crowd at the aquarium (and a bit inconvenient with the MIA elevators) but good to wrangle our kids to go in a mutual direction - with us.
What?
Although this is a blurry picture- this sets the scene for our first Sophia-bites-Charlotte incident:
I am not impressed with your shenanigans:
I am happy Charlotte is looking at the camera here!
"Bleh, so this is fish?"
Maintenance contractor at the aquarium:
This double stroller was a tad wide for this walkway:
