Walking and solo travel

I finally decided that I will take a quick, 30 hour trip to our former home city this weekend. One of my closest local friends is getting married (and other close friend is the bridesmaid) and I really wanted to be at the wedding. It is Sat. morning, so I will leave Friday late afternoon, hopefully see some friends that evening, be at the wedding, swing by to see another friend who just had a baby and then be back late Saturday night. Chris will keep things going on the home front...pray for him! Bennett is down to just one feed a day, so I think he will survive.

Many of you have asked, so here is a little video of Bennett walking. He is already walking more than he was a few days ago - it is his preferred mode of getting around now. He still can fall easily if he doesn't pay attention, but is definitely a little wobbly walker.

Refrigerator Rocket

We got a new fridge! Actually, a very generous friend bought us a new fridge. I am awed at their generosity and the Lord's great provision for us. Our old one did actually work, but it made this AWFUL noise throughout most of the day. It is this very loud humming and sometimes it would make a banging noise. The first time it happened I was in the bedroom and thought Chris had gotten really angry and was kicking the wall over and over...but I thought that pretty odd. Turns out it was the fridge. When i was cooking in the kitchen, I couldn't hear the boys at all in the next room. A friend came to babysit recently and had to move in the office because it was so loud. A repairman came to fix it, but told me "You should buy a new fridge. This one is too old and I can't fix the noise". I realized I would tolerate most of the time, but when it would stop humming could feel this palpable tension release and the apartment would feel so much more peaceful.

This is the old fridge...now in our living room. Xiao Ji is going to take it in a few days. She does not have a fridge and I am more than happy for her to be able to use it.

Our new fridge is wonderful. It is really big, almost too big for the kitchen, but it works. I have so much freezer space. Our old fridge had a really small freezer, as most fridge's in this country do. I always want to make double meals and freeze one or store a lot of things I can't buy conveniently (like cheese) in my freezer but was so limited. Now I have all the space I can dream of. This was a great gift and I am very grateful.

This is it...I spent most of the evening organizing it and putting our pictures of friends and family on it. I reorganized a lot of things in the kitchen tonight.

I moved everything from the old fridge to the new one...and still have whole empty shelves to fill! And with these shelves I can see everything that is in the fridge...before it was all piled on top of each other.

The boys also enjoyed the box...it has been transformed into a rocket. I am happy to tell you Austin made a trip to the moon and back safely today. Apparently, we have all been wrong all this time- Austin informed me that the moon is square. He was the pilot and Bennett was the co-pilot (thought I am pretty sure the co-pilot was only in the rocket for about 30 seconds, he somehow managed to keep his title).

The rocket man himself inside (see his helmet ? and pants-less little legs?). He is at least wearing underwear. However, earlier today he wanted to "go commando mommy" and wear pants with nothing underneath. He did not learn about that from me!

Droderant

I am sharing this story secondhand, b/c I unfortunately was not there to witness it. Saturday a group of our friends had a Christmas brunch, where we played the white elephant game. If you aren't familiar with it, everyone brings a gift. The participants all draw a number and open gifts in order of the number they drew. The first person chooses a gift under the tree, the second and subsequent people can choose a new gift OR steal a gift that someone already opened. I left early to take Bennett home for a nap, but Chris and Austin stayed to play.

So, Austin apparently got really into the game. He had opened and stolen gifts and had gifts stolen. So his turn was up again and he went to steal...deodorant that someone else had opened (that i had wrapped up for the game, incidentally). When he saw it, he said "I want to go on a date with Daddy to the donut shop and put on droderant (how he says it) first". Apparently he watches us put on deodorant before we go on dates. Then, he decided he wanted to put it on right then. But he insisted on taking off his shirt to put it on. Several people in the room tried to explain you don't have to take off your shirt to put it on. But to no avail. Here are a few pictures...apparently he had the room in side-splitting laughter.

Getting ready to apply...

Check out the crowd reaction. Shy Austin was not really shy at all during this game...he did what he wanted and had fun.

The other funny thing was after all this, someone stole it back from him! Deaodorant is hard if not impossible to buy here. Most locals don't wear it. However, the girl who stole it from him is a local. I guess she learned about deodorant from her American friends and was really excited to get some. Why did I wrap it up if it is so precious? Well, awhile ago I switched to aluminum-free deodarant but I still have a stockpile of the old kind. I have been trying to get rid of it...I guess I know now who to give it to.

Austin ended up with these two little bike lights, which he liked a lot. Probably more than deodorant. But he sure did entertain the crowd.

Merry Christmas and Hosanna!

Merry Christmas! Christmas has now come and gone, though we will still be celebrating for several days. We went to the Christmas Eve service at church Thursday evening- a first for us in this country. Chris led music and the boys both made it through the service (it was 7:30-8:30 pm, a bit late for them). Bennett had actually taken a great, late afternoon nap. He wore green striped pajamas and toddled around the whole service, but was happy and did not cry. As we went home it was very cold and VERY windy. We were thankful for a warm home with heat.

This was our best attempt at a family Christmas morning picture...Austin frowning and Bennett with his finger up his nose (and our lens was smudged in all the Christmas pictures....oh well)

Christmas morning was low key and fun, just the four of us. Both boys loved opening stockings and presents. Bennett especially liked playing with boxes and wrapping paper. The best quote of the day came as Austin was opening his stocking. I had put a chocolate Santa I found in it. Now Austin knows a very little bit about Santa, but not much. We haven't really talked about him that much and he hasn't seen too many Santas at Walmart or the mall :). But he has heard the name. So when he opened the chocolate Santa, he said "Mommy, a chocolate Hosanna". Chris and I both laughed. I asked him again and he repeated it. Then I told him it was actually Santa but he "corrected" me and said "no, mommy it's hosanna". Well, I guess I would rather him know more about hosannas than Santas, but it was pretty funny.

This was probably Bennett's favorite present...a 3 rmb stretchy rubber ball that lights up. Or did light up, it is all out of juice now. He loved it. Why do I ever buy more expensive presents again?

Well, both boys did love this one too. This was technically Bennett's gift, though I knew they both would love this huge stuffed dog from Ikea. Bennett lays on it and Austin calls him the "giant Kopo" (his little stuffed dog like that from the Sims long ago is named Kopo, after their real dog).

We had a meal with our neighbors, the Higgins, at our house in the afternoon and everyone went to bed early. Today we had another funny story with Austin, but that will have to wait until the next post. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Little Elf

Yesterday we got to participate in a Christmas service project. We all went (despite the fact that it was in the afternoon- nap time) with some other friends to a school for migrant children. They sang and performed for us and we sang Christmas carols (led by Chris and his mandolin) for them. Then we split into small groups and got to visit a classroom. We went to the sixth grade. Well, technically Chris and I Austin went (I will explain where I was in a minute). Austin has had an "opposing streak" lately...generally opposing most things we want him to do (especially praying before bed, but also when we encourage him to help us, Bennett, others etc) and never loves being in the spotlight of lots of Chinese people. HOWEVER, he did great! He actually distributed each gift to each child in the classroom and talked to them a little bit. Chris shared a little bit about Christmas with the kids.

Austin even sat on this little girl's lap after passing out the gifts.

Here he was when we first got there...a little unsure still about what was going on.

Afterward, Austin said he had a good time and liked helping the kids. Then today he had his little tool set out playing and he told me "Mommy I am making houses for the kids who don't have any". So cute. Sometimes I think he just doesn't get a lot of things we try to teach him or he acts opposed, but then something like that comes out of his mouth and I think- maybe he is getting some of it. (then he also said he would make windows out of flour and butter...his imagination was rather vivid).

Bennett on the other hand was sort of a mess. He took a 3 hour nap in the morning, so I thought he was good to go for the afternoon. But as soon as we got there, he started crying and cried pretty much the whole time. I held him and he acted like he wanted to get down and then I put him down and he cried harder. He was totally not interested in the music and dancing and people smiling at him- not really like him. The ride home was the worst...we were stuck in standstill traffic for quite some time and he kept crying and crying. My stress level was so high by the time we got close to home and Chris and I were both pretty convinced he was getting sick ( though he had no symptoms). We walked in the door, I took Bennett's shoes off and...he walked over to toy, started playing and was totally happy! And he was happy the rest of the night. Chris and I were both relieved he wasn't sick and wondering...what are we in for with Bennett if he could be that upset he wasn't doing what he wanted to for that long (almost 4 hours total). He is usually a happy little camper, but he knows what he wants and if he doesn't get it lately, he can get really mad. We will see what we are in for in the coming year or two!

TCM

Anyone know what "TCM" stands for? Nothing to do with thought or culture, if that was your first guess. It is Traditional Chinese Medicine. And I have just had my first real taste of it, after ignoring (or at times scorning) it these past 9 years. Recently I have had tingling and occasional numbness in my arms and legs. I went to a traditional doctor and a neurologist, but both seemed to find nothing wrong. Just about that time, I heard about this TCM doctor who used to work with my friend Angie's parents in the US. She now lives here and is coming to my city to treat Angie's family, who is visiting for Christmas. So I thought--well, I am not getting much from western medicine, maybe I will try it.

I have been twice now. There are definitely some things she says that are very different from a western mindset and a little hard to wrap my head around. At the same time, she is very wholistic and takes the time to learn all about you. And she has helped some somewhat famous people in America with everything from Parkinson's disease to allergies and asthma. So far she has told me I need more sleep and need to stop nursing before I can get better. She has given me massages every day (those are great) b/c my shoulders are really tight all the time, and done acupressure on my ears. If you live here, you may have seen those little pieces of tape on people's ears? Always wondered what it was there for? Me too. In the tape are little black balls and you press on them 3-4 times a day to do acupressure. No needles yet, but I think in 2 more days she may do some acupuncture on my arms. Definitely a new experience. The jury is still out on whether it will work, but I am actually pretty hopeful that it will. I will let you know. Chris may go too, to see if she can help with his headaches and MSG allergy.

Meanwhile, a package from Grandpa and Nai Nai arrived today! They keep rolling in. Chris had a big concert last night. It is really cold- 27 degrees F at the moment. Well, we having homemade pizza for dinner and I need to go roll the dough.

Packages

Tis the season for...packages! We love getting packages. If there is an unexpected knock at the door, we all think "maybe it is a package". We got on the other day from Great Grandma and Great Grandaddy Haney. It is sitting under our tree ( still in the mailing box, lest everything be destroyed before Christmas). Today we got our "pre-Christmas" and Chris' birthday package from Nana and Bop. THANK YOU! It was almost like Christmas already. The favorite item for all of us was the Little People Nativity set- so perfect for a 3 and 1 year old. This was the quote of the day as we opened it from Austin.

"Mommy, the Bible says we can open the Nativity (actually he says Ativity) before Christmas"

me "well, yes you can open it before Christmas. The Bibles doesn't actually say that you can, but its ok"

A "The Bible says we can't open it before Christmas?" in a worried voice

me "No, it is fine to open it. The Bible just doesn't talk about opening presents on CHristmas"

"Ok"

Cute :). Also, Austin wanted to immediately make the gingerbread house (she sent a kit) but we will have to hold off till Friday probably. Sorry, no pictures now but they will come. I was just making a to do list from now until Christmas and it is really long! Still have shopping to do, edible gifts to make for friends, a celebratory dinner for 20+ people to plan for next week (I think we will have chili and cornbread- great meal for a crowd), 2 white elephant gifts to buy, a cookie exchange to bake for etc. Good news for me...Chris' Christmas Eve performance was cancelled. I can't say I am sad about it. Well, gotta go work on my list some more.

The Little Reader 2

For some reason, since Austin has loved words and books since he was very little, Chris and I just assumed Bennett would be different. Well, he is certainly his own person and different from Austin in a lot of ways, but lately he LOVES books and "reading".

I will often find him in the room in front of the bookshelf, just flipping pages and looking at books. He often makes animal noises (he will make an animal noise he knows when he sees any animal...and will go through his repertoire of sounds- moo, roar and quack). He will actually sit there for as long as 30 minutes sometimes.

It doesn't take more than a few minutes for the floor to look like this- while he likes reading, he also likes pulling all the books off a shelf.

And sometimes it unfortunately progresses to this...pulling pages apart. Yesterday I spent awhile taping together several books that had been damaged. Not sure how to encourage the reading while still protecting our book collection.

Why?

Speaking of phases that Austin is in these days, he is also in a "why?" phase. I guess every child goes through this as they are learning about the world and how it works. Austin's favorite question is "why?" and there is a constant barrage of questions throughout the day. In a 20 minute span today between riding the elevator home from a library trip and lunch, we had the following conversations.

A "Mommy, why are there two "1's" in eleven?"
me "well, that is how you write 11"
A "why"
me "well, that is how you write it. It is one more than 10"

or

A "Mommy, why do polar bears live where it cold?
me "well, God made polar bears with thick fur so they could live where it is cold"
A "why mommy?"
me "God made all different animals just right for where they needed to live"
A "why?"
me "Because God knows everything"
A "oh"

or
A "Mommy, why did I grab my spoon when i was a baby?" (Bennett was trying to grab the spoon I was feeding him applesauce with at that moment)
me "well, babies like to grab things"
A "Why?"
me "they just do"

Usually at some point, my answer always becomes "It just does" or "that is the way it is" or something to that effect. You can only explain why an A make the "ah" sound or why baby Jesus didn't have running water so many times before you run out of reasons to satisfy a 3 year old. I love it, however. I am glad he is curious and thinking about the world and it is so fun to watch his little mind develop.

Nekkid

Remember not so long ago, Austin was in this phase where he hated to NOT be wearing clothes for any length of time? Maybe you don't, but it was only a few months ago, at the beginning of potty training (I tried to get him to go pants-less at the beginning of trying out the potty, but it didn't work). Well, it is funny how quickly things change. Austin is definitely in a naked phase these days. I go in his room in the morning to get him up and he has taken his pajamas off. He was literally naked all day except for wearing a diaper at naptime (no, we did not go outside today). Fortunately, our apartment in warm in the winter. Here are a few tasteful shots of the day. I have a few more not-so-tasteful ones, but you never know who might be out there in cyber-world.

Check out the shoes! He found them in his closet. It was about the only thing he wore.

Well, ok he did wear his Thomas outfit for about 5 minutes. We got him a new bow for his violin when Chris got his upright bass, so he has been back to violin playing.

Again, love the shoes!

We practically have an orchestra in the house now.

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Today we celebrated Chris' birthday. It was one day early, but he had Monday off and a busy day on Tuesday, his actual birthday (December 8).



Well, Chris has wanted this ever since we were exploring "music street" and found a store that had a really (relatively) cheap, second hand upright bass. I have been resistant for awhile, mainly because I have been thinking 1. where will we put something this big in our not-so-big apartment? and 2. how will we keep two active, curious boys off of it? Well, I am still not entirely sure how to answer those two questions, but we are now officially the owners of an upright bass (as Chris reminds me, a 3/4 size upright bass. You mean, they come bigger than this?). He is very excited, so I am happy for him.



Austin seems to have adopted the role of "official helper to blow out all birthday candles" in the family. So he "helped" Chris blow out his candles. For the second year in a row, Chris chose his to have a giant, Gingerbread Cookie for his "cake", since he isn't a big fan of regular birthday cake. Austin and I made it this morning and it turned out ok, despite having only a little bit of molasses that was rather dry. Happy Birthday, Chris!

Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

I have spent about a week slowly decorating our apartment for Christmas. Last Saturday night, I got the tree out (2 years ago I caved and bought our first artificial tree. I love real ones and we always got a huge, potted evergreen of some sort in the past, but it is so expensive in our current city and more work than I could handle) and put the lights on. Amazingly, I have used the same string of lights for at least 3 years in a row. In this country, lights are rarely made to last.

Wednesday of this week, Chris had the day off so we did a little family decorating. I have always loved my family's tradition of decorating the tree as a family growing up, but I was a bit hesitant this year. As much as I love traditions and Christmas, I had a decorating disaster in my daydreams where the tree ended up crashing down on the floor. BUT, that hasn't happened. Yet. :)

I got out some of the ornaments. Austin wanted to put lots of them on, but had lots of trouble with the ornament hooks. I pulled out the safest ones I could think of (or he had help) for him to decorate. Either Chris or I had to be playing "defense" with Bennett. I really expected to spend most of the days of December pulling him away from the tree. However, while he has been a little curious, he usually ignores it and goes straight for his toys. We did have the bottom string of lights pulled off at one point, but mostly it has stayed up.


We are going with the "minimalist" theme with our decorating. The bottom third of the tree has no ornaments except for a stuffed elephant from Thailand and a plastic UNC basketball. Both relatively unbreakable. No ribbons running down the tree this year. Not so many glass balls either. I have one of my nativity scenes up, but the others I will save for another year. We have one really good spot that is high enough to be out of reach from little fingers and mouths.

Our countdown Advent Christmas tree is hung just high enough to be out of Bennett's reach and just low enough that Austin can reach to put each day's ornament on. Well, both boys are awake from nap and letting me know it. Happy Advent.