Well, SAM and Margaret are back yet again and boy am I happy to have them back.
My whole family (except for George and I) had a great time in Taipei. There was lots of eating, lots of family time and even some time taken out to visit my dad at the cemetery which I wish I could have been a part of.
Margaret took the opportunity to show off some new skills to my family and got some good socializing time in with her cousins.
Apparently, she very much enjoyed playing with her cousins' toys, including the stroller (below) and a walker which allowed her to practice walking.
She started saying lots of new words as well, including "shum" (not sure what that means) and "bah bah" which is trying to emulate "bao bao" which is Chinese for "hug."
(boom, boom, acka-lacka-lacka, boom)
Unfortunately for us, Margaret as she is developing, has gotten quite possessive, not only of her things but of people as well.
According to SAM, Margaret got upset and was batting at my sister Joy's hands, when Joy tried to snuggle her own daughter, Samantha. Apparently, Margaret thought Samantha was her own personal property.
Margaret now also has learned the power of her voice, and has taken to screaming whenever she doesn't get her own way.
Boy does that girl have a set of lungs.
I'm not sure how to nip that in the bud, but we'll start out with a calm, "Mommy/Daddy doesn't like that," while stopping what we're doing and we'll see how long that lasts for. My feeling is not very long, but, hey, we'll give it a try.
After a week without my girls, the weekend with them went by much too quickly.
SAM got home on Friday night and both girls were exhausted.
Luckily, Margaret, back in her own bed, woke at her usual time of 6:20 on Saturday which was much better than the 5:40 AM wake-ups she was having in Taipei.
It was great to have her back and to go through our normal morning routine of having some time together in the mornings.
Of course, it was sort of sad that I wasn't able to sleep until 7:00 as I had been while the girls were gone, but it's a small price to pay for such joy.
After work, I met Margaret and SAM and the Koos at Tommy and Valerie's for E's one year birthday party.
There was plenty of food, people and even a dog which proved plenty of stimulation for Margaret who could take no more by 2:30 and was dragged, exhausted, home by an equally exhausted SAM while I stayed for another hour to catch up with my sister.
Of course, Saturday night was date night, and that was an enjoyable time with Sarah's Milton friend Natalie and her husband, Amir who I coincidentally went to business school with. Such a small world... which got even smaller when we were able to make some Exeter connections.
Another funny coincidence is that we wound up eating at a restaurant that Natalie and Amir chose that just happened to be owned by my boss.
Today was a very lazy Sunday with our usual routine - twice to the park (the morning visit included a McDonald's picnic), a nap in the afternoon, all buttoned up at the end with a post.
Fortunately, this is my last weekend for the next six months (except for January) where I have to work Saturdays! Woohoo!
We're going back to 5 day weeks now that the Christmas shipping season is over. Unfortunately, I miss the next two Saturdays at home because I'm off to the US for meetings.
Oh well. There are worse things.
4 comments:
We miss her and want her back here!
Glad you guys had a great weekend. Was pretty quiet here.
Love you all.
Sounds like Margaret needs a sibling!
A fabulously stunning picture of the Tsien ladies! Evidence that John is not the only master photographer in the family!
I agree with Jack. Those are four beautiful women! What a treat to see M in Taipei with her cousins, but where were P and N?? Oh, yes. THEY probably had school! :-( Bet the evenings were fun, though!
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