First tooth

Bennett has had a cold lately and has seemed under the weather, but today I discovered his first tooth had finally poked through. So I think he has a cold too, but his distress the past two days may have also had a lot to do with that tooth. I looked back at Austin's baby book and saw that his first tooth came in at 8 months and 1 day. Today Bennett is 8 months and 4 days, so it is pretty close.

Today is my sister Charlotte's birthday - happy birthday to you! I did not get to capture Austin singing to her on video, but he did sing to her on the phone. Speaking of singing though, Austin has enjoyed singing lately and is often singing a song as he plays around the house. Here is a clip of one of his recent "performances".

The Green Island

One of the things my mom did for us while she was here was watch the boys for 3 days while Chris and I went away to have time together. It has been a long time since Chris and I had anytime away, and even longer since it was more than one night (definitely pre-kids). We went to "the Green Island", a city that is an hour flight from here and on the coast. It was my first beach in this country. We did not stay on the beach, but had one day of good weather to check out the beach. The other full day was raining and we visited a local brewing factory and went bowling in our hotel! It was strange and surreal to get on a plane with only my small purse (as opposed to a huge diaper bag, two children (usually one strapped to my body), a stroller, etc.). It was great for Chris and I to have fun together and connect in a very unrushed, no agenda way. And we knew the boys were in great hands...my mom is brave to keep them both by herself in a strange country where she doesn't speak the language. Even though Chris had to go out of town the morning after we returned, it is amazing what a few days together does for my attitude towards being home with my boys and Chris' travel schedule. It was fun to be away, but I did miss our little guys and was anxious to get back the day we returned. Here are a few shots from our trip.


This city used to be occupied by Germans (which Chris thought was great, as he is German), so there is a lot of old European-style architecture and old homes. They are right next to the beach, so we strolled through some of the old neighborhoods after visiting the beach.


The beaches were relatively uncrowded by this country's standards...except for one thing. In China, most people don't take professional pictures on their wedding day, but before the celebration they get dressed up in rented clothes and get their pictures taken. SO, apparently THE spot in town to do it is the beach. So everwhere- on the beach, in the nearby neighborhoods, were at least 100 or more couples getting their pictures taken. We found it rather comical, especially some of the outfits we saw.

Milestones

Well, today we had a landmark event that happened rather uneventfully.  As you know, Austin is a huge fan of his pacifiers.  He has been down to two for awhile and I have been reminding him for months that when these two start ripping or getting holes(as his previous ones' have) that he is all done with pacis for good. So, last night I was doing my weekly inspection of the pacis and noticed they both seemed pretty close to getting a small hole.  They probably could have lasted awhile longer, but I decided that the first one had to go.  He didn't protest too much. Then today at nap I decided this would be it...I was tired of worrying if it would rip while he was sleeping.  So I told him that the last one was getting a hole in it too.  At first he said "It will get better by itself"- because he has had several scrapes and bruises lately that I told him that they will get better over time.  So after I explained that pacis don't heal, he said, "Ok, Austin throw it away" and we went in the kitchen and he threw it away.  (Oh wait, first he said he should give it to Bennett, which i affirmed it was a nice thought to share).  Anyway, then he went to nap and bed tonight with no protest.  I was preparing for a big battle, but it was so easy.  Now, coming soon we will be tackling potty training and moving to a big bed.   

In other news, there was no drilling today.  In some sort of wierd catharsis, Austin wanted to play with his drill all morning.  

The Drill

Poor Austin. Our neighbors upstairs are renovating and throughout the day from time to time will use this drill that is SO SO loud. I mean, it so loud you really cannot hear anything else- the phone, a CD, what other people are saying. Austin is really sensitive to noises and the more it happens, the more traumatized he gets. Today he had to hold my hand for an hour after it stopped -literally he would cry if I let go for even a second - and as long it was going he was crying and had to sit on my bed. He got over it eventually but I am hoping they will be done soon! Otherwise we might be spending a lot of time outside tomorrow. One of the "joys" of apartment living is being so close to your your neighbors. Fortunately this neighborhood (as opposed to other places I have lived in China) is pretty good about enforcing the rule that you can only work between 8 am and 6 pm, so we can breathe a sigh of relief after 6. Here are some more pictures of the past few weeks.

Bath buddies...though Austin still prefers to take a bath without Bennett, they splash each other (well, it is unintentional on Bennett's part but his feet are always moving) and have a good time.If you follow the blog regularly, you might recognize these pajamas. Austin was wearing them less than a year ago!

Doesn't he look grown up? He is such a little boy now, sometimes it is hard to believe.

yeah!

Well, thank you to Chris, my wonderful husband, who figured out that while Safari (the main Mac internet browser) will not let you upload pictures to Blogger, you can download Mozilla and it will! So we are back to convenient blogging! Nana (my mom) left today after almost two weeks with us. I was sad as I left the airport today, but also very thankful. She has been able to come twice this year- what a treat! She again brought the "Fun Bag" (see posts around Bennett's birth in September for explanation), which had daily treats and presents for both boys. Austin had to learn to share this time- it was only for him every OTHER day :). Nana is very creative and I learned some creative ideas for crafts. She is also very patient and a great servant and kept the boys for three days while Chris and I went away for the first time in a LONG time. That trip will be for another post though. As I write this Mom is on a plane, so I am praying for a safe and comfortable flight. Chris is gone again till Wednesday but then will be home for all of June. Here are some highlights with Nana- we have tons of cute photos and now I have the ability to post them and a computer that stays home all the time. More blogging to come to make up for my recent absence.

Bye Nana! Thanks for all your hugs and kisses. This is Austin hugging Mom before she got on the plane.

And one last squeeze for Bennett.

Coloring Nemo - a Fun Bag item of course.

I love this picture - this was just after opening Sunday's Fun Bag- always a big highlight of the day.
This is Austin and Bennett's first official matching outfit. I used to think I would never do that when I was a parent, but, well, here I am doing it. They are pretty cute in it too. The funny thing is after church Sunday this random Chinese man and woman came up to me with a nice digital SLR camera asking if they could take some pictures of the boys. Apparently they are doing advertisements for Meng Niu, one of the big milk companies here. They took a bunch of pictures and asked if we are free for a photo shoot on June 1. They are supposed to email them to me. I said I would think about it...but I have been wanting to get the boys' pictures taken professionally, so maybe this is a free chance? But I don't know- I will let you know.

Brothers

Austin and Bennett have started interacting more together and it is such fun to watch. Bennett already follows Austin's every move with his eyes and smiles and laughs whenever Austin decides to play with him. Austin has started realizing it is fun to make Bennett laugh, will find appropriate toys to give to Bennett and talks to him sometimes. I realize when Austin talks to Bennett he often takes on a tone of voice that sounds a lot like me. Here are a few shots on "Nana's" bed in our guestroom this morning.

Cute smiles!

Bennett often laughs at Austin's antics and then Austin laughs back. It is so cute.

Austin gave Bennett a hug and then Bennett gave him one back...and then some.

This was just so cute I couldn't resist.

Here Austin was making Bennett laugh...until the very end! I am not sure what Austin was talking about when he said "Bennett will fall off" but I guess he was making sure that did not happen!

Nana some more

Well for the moment I am putting pictures I want for the blog on a flash drive and transfering them back to the PC for blog uploads...but I don't know if this can be a permanent solution.

Ok, so we have had fun with Nana this week. We went to the Bird's Nest and Olympic green on Friday. It was a cooler, overcast day, perhaps the last of those. This coming week is projected to be sunny and in the 90's! We also visited a new donut shop that is now near us. And this morning Daddy came home! We are glad to see him and really missed him this week. Here are some highlights...

What!!?

Ok so as I composed the last post I was having trouble getting my photos to upload...then I did a search on google and found out you can't upload your photos from a Mac to Blogger!  Who came up with that REALLY BAD idea?  The way around it is to send your photos from iPhoto to FLickr and then compose your blog post from there.  Which I did but I don't like it- you can't edit or upload multiple photos to the same post from different folders. Ok, while I am enjoying the Mac, THIS part is making me mad.  Why can't they all just get along?  

Fun with Nana

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Originally uploaded by leah.gaertner

Fun with Nana

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Originally uploaded by leah.gaertner

My mom arrived here safely and with no hassle on Tuesday afternoon. We have had a great time with her here...Austin loving time with Nana reading books, going outside and playing. Bennett loves extra hands to hold him and someone to smile and coo with him. Sorry I don't have any pictures yet...but I just spent the evening uploading pictures from our external hard drive into iPhoto on our new Mac that my mom carried in for us. WOW- so fast and already organized, just like that. I am really liking the Mac, even though I don't know how to work a lot of it with my PC background.

We also enjoyed our time in our former home and loved seeing old friends. Here are a couple pictures from that trip. Both boys have colds and have been waking in the night and Bennett up at 5:30 or so the past few mornings. Thank goodness for Nana letting me go back to sleep around 7 this morning, or I might not have made it through the day.

Good Weekend

Well, we are enjoying reconnecting with old friends in our old city. Chris managed to have fun and not get too injured during the baseball game. I have some pictures but didn't bring the camera cable, so I will have to wait. Austin seems to be coming down with another cold, so that is not too fun. We leave tomorrow- the boys and I back home and Chris out of the country. Think of us and pray for safe travel for all of us. And then my mom comes Tuesday...think of her travel as well. Well, that's about it for now.

Learning opportunity

Recently Chris decided to teach Austin about football on Austin's level. They got out all the stuffed animals that we own and lined them up as two teams...monkeys on one side and everything else on the other. Here are a few shots.



We head on another short trip tomorrow, to visit our old home for the weekend. It is Chris' friends' traditional "baseball weekend" and I am tagging along to see old friends. Then we come home and get ready for Nana's visit. Yeah!

Recent Happenings, part 2

I was experimenting with making photo collages, which you see above. I like it, but wanted to give more details with our pictures, so here is a closer look.

Eating his toes...this is Bennett's new favorite position. He found his toes and chews on them like the does on anything else that he can get his hands on.

Snails! Every day when we go outside we look for snails...and usually find them. Here is Austin with our neighbor Benny, watching some snails they caught. Benny shares both Austin's passion for snails and excavators.

It's baseball season. Today we took Austin's (small, plastic, orange) baseball bat and ball outside. We only played for about 2 minutes before hunting for snails however.

Too cute! Bennett is very fun these days and actually kept this hat on the whole time we were out.

Sunday best...these were the two boys on our way to church Sunday.

Recent Happenings

In the neighborhood

We had a very unexpected surprise Thursday of getting to visit with Chris' cousin Jennifer! The world of Facebook is amazing and she got in touch to let us know she was in the country. She passed through our city on her way home and she got to eat dinner with us at our home and hang out for the better part of an afternoon. It was great to see her again after almost 8 years and catch up with her. We had fun introducing her to Austin and Bennett. Austin was awed that she flies planes and wants to go to the beach (Hawaii that is) to visit sometime.

Happy Birthday Bop, part 2

Here is the second version of a song for Bop,

Love, Austin