Pacifier vs. Thumb Sucking?

I don't know which "camp" you fall into, whether you are a paci believer or proponent of thumb sucking (or most likely you don't think about it much or don't care, but this is part of my daily life now). When Austin was first born I was hesitant to give him the pacifier at first to avoid confusion with eating. Then one time when my mom was babysitting she gave it to him early on and he loved it! We started using it after that and he has been a big fan ever since. I theoretically like the idea of the pacifier better, because when you want them to be done with it, you can throw it away, "forget" it somewhere or other such methods. Of course, I say theoretically because at 26 months of age, we still have not forced the paci from Austin...it will be traumatic I am sure.


So when Bennett came along, we started giving him a pacifier right away and I assumed he would love it. Well, as with many other things, Bennett is proving himself to be his own person and different from Austin. He won't take it. I keep trying. One sits in his bed all the time and he will mess around with it and keep it in his mouth for a minute or two, but it always falls out. And now he is starting to suck his thumb, as you can see below. I thought about trying to fight it, but I think the thumb may win out. I know Dr. Cook, our family dentist friend, thinks pacifiers are the way to go. But I guess thumbs have some pluses as well- you can never lose it or drop it on the ground and he can find it whenever he wants. But for better or for worse, I think Bennett is going with the thumb. I'm not completely ready to give up trying the paci, but I'm not too confident I will win.

Oh Bennett

Bennett is definitely growing fast and becoming more interactive. Here is a recent video of him...we tried to get his laugh, but this was sort of a half Bennett-laugh. He was smiling and his laugh is sort of like a grunt, but not as grunt-y as this video. But he is still cute.

Austin still has a somewhat neutral relationship with Bennett. He is sometime upset when he has to share Mommy with him, sometimes likes to talk and smile with him and he sort of ignores him the rest of the time. But lately Austin has started interacting a little more and now imitates the way I talk to Bennett. If Bennett is crying, Austin will sometimes go up to him and and say "oh Bennett" or "ok, ok, ok, its ok Bennett" or sometimes he will go up to him and say "hey buddy". It is cute. Hopefully as Bennett coos and laughs and plays more, Austin will be even more excited to interact with him.

Midnight

Here is a shot right around midnight...fireworks as far as the eye could see. You can see how close they were to our window- some of them were set off on the road right outside our building. I don't know when it stopped...when I went to bed it was still going. Today there have been random noises throughout the day, but it will probably start up again tonight.

They did invent them after all

Well, the Chinese did invent fireworks, so I guess that gives them a good reason to send them up, ad nauseam. We spent the early part of our new year's eve at a friend's house, wrapping jiaozi and eating them (and other yummy non-Chinese things like veggies and hummus and chocolate chip cookies!). Northerners eat jiaozi (dumplings/potstickers) for new years while southerners eat dishes...we have now become "northerners" (in theory) so we did the northern thing and ate jaiozi.

Despite my fears, Austin really liked the fireworks, noise and all for the most part. We had one scared moment while we were walking in the gate of our apartment complex. A large and loud set of fireworks was set off about 50 feet from where we were standing and Austin didn't like that. But once we got home he thouroughly enjoyed the show from the window. At midnight he was asleep thankfully, but Chris and I watched the longest fireworks show either of us had ever seen...and the closest. There are little fireworks "stores" (tents) all over the place and anyone can buy and set them off...and I think most of the 1.3 billion people here do.

Here are some photos and videos to explain the rest.

This is one of the many fireworks stands around town- this one just across the street from our gate.

Making jiaozi- we bought premade jiaozi "skins" (the noodle like outside) and filled them, wrapped them closed and then boiled them. Yummy! We had pork and cabbage, italian sausage, beef and potato and egg/spinach. I loved them all.

Eating the jiaozi- it is one of Austin's favorite foods.

Watching the festivities - this was only around 8:30 pm.


Bennett's reaction to the fireworks...thankfully! He slept through the entire thing, except for the one that went off at the gate that scared Austin. But he was back to sleep after that.

Happy Niu Year

Tomorrow starts the new year in the Chinese lunar calendar, beginning the year of the ox. The Chinese zodiac is a big part of the culture here...each lunar year cycles through one of 12 animals. Now on the majority of people's doors and in stores, on calendars, etc. you will see cute carton like pictures of cows and stuffed animal cows everywhere.

So if you were born in March 1977 like me you are the year of the snake. If you are my husband (born December 1976) you are a dragon, which is a pretty popular animal to be (if that counts as an animal). Austin was born in the year of the dog and Bennett (unfortunately if you cared about such things) was born in the year of the rat. Of the 12 animals, I would not have picked such distinguished animals as the snake or the rat if they had asked me ( nor the pig or rooster for that matter). I mean, it seems strange there is no year of the panda. Or even the red or lesser panda seems better than a rat. Or maybe the crane.

But I digress. Tonight is new year's eve and I am told it will be the loudest (and perhaps longest) night of the year. Even at 9 am this morning someone was setting off firecrackers across the street. I will report tomorrow how our first New Year in country goes. I am a little worried how the noise will affect Austin, since he is so sensitive to it. However, so far he seems unphased. He enjoyed watching the fireworks so much from our living room window last night he now associates the noise with something fun and does not seem afraid of it. Hopefully that will be true tonight when it is endless, over and over.

Well, the cute thing to say this year is "Happy Niu Year', because in Chinese niu is the word for cow or ox. So, from all of us here Happy Niu Year!

Indoor Fun

With the weather so cold, we have stayed inside for the past 3 days. Since we are stuck inside, I have been trying to be creative with play inside- so two days in a row we built a fort. Well, Austin insists on calling it the "tent", but it's basically sheets hung around the house.




We had some friends over for dinner tonight. They have two boys ages 3 and 2 and Austin enjoyed playing with them (and is learning about sharing a lot when we have friends over). They all especially enjoyed watching fireworks out the window tonight. Yes, the Chinese New Year Celebrations have begun, one night before the new year's eve. We are expecting quite the show (and noise) tomorrow night. We will keep you posted on how our first in-country Spring Festival celebration is. We are planning to go to a dumpling-making party tomorrow, in honor of the new year.

Here is Austin with Elijah and Aiden.

In other news, Bennett laughed today! A funny little chuckle which we did not capture on film yet, but hopefully we will soon. Also, remember how I wrote that Bennett slept through the night and was becoming a good napper? Well, it didn't happen yesterday- he did not nap well and he woke up at 3 am and 6 am...but hopefully it will happen with more frequency.

Speaking of sleep, I am off to bed.

Sleeping through the night

Ok, I just spent 10 minutes writing a post and just as Bennett is about to lose it, it all disappeared and I am starting over again. Frustrating.

Anyway, Bennett slept through the night last night for the first time! I put him down at 7:30 pm, gave him a "dream feed" (where I feed him but he doesn't wake up) at 10:45 before I went to bed and he slept till 6:55 am! I hope this will become a habit, but even if not I am thankful for a longer night of sleep. Bennett is really doing well on a schedule, taking 3-4 naps a day and fairly happy in between. My next goal is to get him to take one longer morning nap instead of two and a longer early afternoon nap while Austin is napping. But it is going pretty well.

In other news, it is COLD here and very windy. Yesterday we got everyone bundled to go outside and as soon as we stepped out the door, the wind blew Bennett's blanket off. I took Bennett back upstairs, since he was asleep and Chris was working at home. Austin and I ventured out, but even the staunch Austin wanted to go back in after about 10 minutes. I later checked the weather and saw it was a high of 21 degrees F with a windchill of 4 degrees. It was so windy dust and plastic bags and sticks were swirling as high as our 11th floor apartment window. I later walked to our local grocery store and could barely feel my face and hands (with gloves on) by the time I got back. I am not sure I like northern winters, though I am SO thankful for our indoor heat.

Well, time's about up- Bennett is crying.

Daddy's home

Chris got in last night and we are glad to have him back. He had a full schedule and is tired, but glad to be home. He brought Dunkin Donuts as a treat...we seem to have a donut theme in our lives at the moment. He and Austin are playing outside now and I am grabbing a moment to post. It won't be long though- Bennett is starting to crank up. Here are some fun moments from our Christmas time with the Gaertners.

Austin and all the Gaertner men at an old train in downtown Sanford.

Bennett and Uncle Jason after his baptism.

Bennett and Nai Nai.

Here are some more pictures from Haney Christmas.

Turning the corner

I almost don't know what to do with myself. It is 8:30 am and both boys are asleep! Bennett woke a few times to eat in the night, but basically slept until 6:30 am and now is down again napping. And Austin has not woken up yet! I just went to check on him because I was starting to get a little worried, but he is still breathing. Yesterday some friends invited us to go to the (indoor of course) pool in their complex. I might have made the mistake of telling Austin ahead of time, because he only slept an hour and a half at nap and woke on his own, because he was so excited about the pool.
It was definitely challenging though and I am not sure I will do it again on my own with two of them anytime soon. They wouldn't let me bring the stroller in so I had no place to put Bennett. My friend Heather held him awhile, but has two boys that needed attention too. The pool was all one rather deep depth, so it was hard to hold a child in the pool. At first Austin seemed scared of "going down there" (sinking in the water) and wanted to get out ( this is after a good hour of prep just to get everyone ready to go in the pool). But eventually he got excited and would jump into my arms in the pool over and over while Bennett lay on the pool chair. Then i had to feed Bennett and was stressed about Austin getting too close to the edge (he had water wings and a floatie attached to him, but still...). We all survived and Austin did have a lot of fun, but it was certainly a challenge.

Well, we are down to minus 3 days till Chris' return. We are staying put today, except for going outside I am sure.

Here are some more Christmas pictures to catch you up on our last two months. These are from the Haney side...tomorrow we will feature the Gaertner side.

Visiting the lights downtown- a Christmas eve tradition

My two uncles (Mark and John, l-r)

Christmas morning on the stairs

Austin's tool set, hat and belt from Uncle John and Aunt Char

Little elf

Another day

I am starting another day with two jet lagging children and no husband...but its going ok. They both woke a little before 4 am this morning, but its now almost 6 am and I still haven't gotten Austin up, but he is getting quieter. Maybe he will go back to sleep? And Bennett is asleep for a nap now.
I am getting a cold, which is a bummer but hopefully it won't be a bad one.

It has been really cold outside, even though we have faithfully been going out once a day anyway at the risk of going crazy staying inside. I was reading my friend Laura's blog commenting on the many layers she has to wear INSIDE her house and am really thankful I don't have to do that now that we are in the north, where it is cold enough to have heat inside. However, I know I shouldn't complain, but it is HOT in our house. Hot is much better than cold in my book, however I wore only a tank top to sleep in and was sweating all night. THe air has been pretty bad lately (that persistent smell of coal is in the air) so I don't want to open the windows. So I wear a short sleeve shirt in the house all day, but then when we go outside is a major change of clothes for everyone- 2 pairs of pants for Austin, extra sweatshirt, jacket, hat, gloves etc. Then as soon as we come back in, we strip off a lot of layers.


Chris has the camera this week, but I will post some pictures from our time in the States. One of Austin's highlights in America was doughnuts. After being introduced to them in Thailand last year, he became a big fan. Bop and Nana took him to Krispy Kreme and well, see for yourself how he liked it.

7 am

Well, here are a list of things I have already done by 7 am today...

changed at least 4 diapers and one very poopy outfit
fed Bennett 3 times
had a very short QT and shower
gotten two boys dressed
had breakfast
played playdough
read books with Austin
watched a Thomas the Tank video
swept the dining room floor
checked email
posted on the blog (or I am posting)

Last night was not much improvement in the jet lag department...Bennett woke to eat at 11 pm and 2 am and woke up for good about 3 am. Austin woke up at 3, but fell back asleep until 4 and I didn't get him out of bed till 5:20...but we've all been going strong since then. Bennett did take a 45 minute nap from 6 to 6:45. I am wondering what in the world we will do to fill the morning until noon, which is the earliest i will let Austin nap. Stay tuned...

Safely home

We had a fairly smooth trip home, after almost missing our first flight. Apparently they moved our first flight time up without informing us! They started calling our names while we were in security and we had to break in our new double stroller by running it through the airport! But after that thing went well, despite our DC flight leaving an hour late. We had Economy Plus seating with an empty fourth seat beside us. We all slept about 4- 5 hours in the second half and Bennett was surprisingly content (he has been crying lately a lot if he isn't held by someone standing up). We had an ok night last night, though Austin was up at 3 am and Bennett was on and off. It's now 6 pm and we are all struggling to stay awake- Bennett is asleep and un-wakeable at the moment.

It is cold here- we went outside this afternoon but it was hard to take. January and February will be two long months if it stays this cold and windy and we can't spend a lot of time outside.

I am WAY overdue for pictures and Christmas updates- I will slowly get there.

Here is a recent picture of the four of us on January 4- Bennett was baptized.

Happy New Year

Well, we are still alive, despite my weeks of absence on the blog. We have been on the go a LOT, had to send in our computer to Dell for a week and now our camera is broken! So it has been hard to keep up. Plus I just joined Facebook, which has been a distraction from my brief times online.

But I will try to be better, though can't post any fun Christmas pictures at the moment. Chris and I (and my father-in-law) are all recovering from a stomach bug today, which was no fun. We are praying Austin and Bennett do not get it. We are currently in NC till Saturday, then back to Richmond for one more week before heading home to BJ. We have loved our time with family, but are pretty travel weary from lots of time on the go. Bennett is in a phase where he cries unless someone is holding him standing up with him facing out. Its not too bad when there are lots of willing arms to hold him, but will get hard when we go back and its just me!

I just got to enjoy being a bridesmaid in my great college friend Stacy Marshall (Davis now)'s wedding. it is lots of fun!

Well, that's about it for now but hopefully pictures will follow soon.