Quiet Weekend

So here we are, Sunday again, and it seems like the whole weekend just slipped away.

I'm not saying that we didn't enjoy it, but just that it went by quickly.


Saturday morning was actually quite fun with us hanging out awhile before I headed to work after SAM had gotten Margaret fed.

It's such a treat for us to get to hang out together, and Margaret seemed genuinely happy to be hanging with BOTH parents in the morning.

Margaret was in high spirits and exhibiting little sign of any illness, so SAM didn't take her to the Doc's.

Thanks to everyone who commented - it very well may have been Roseola, but seeing as she seemed fully recovered by Saturday morning, I guess there will never be independent medical confirmation.


While I was hard at work, Margaret got to go watch the Presidential debates with SAM over at another American teacher's house.

I wasn't there, but apparently Margaret tolerated this well, and enjoyed being the center of attention of ten fawning adults.

Unfortunately, SAM had to work on Saturday and I was out running errands, so it was M and Daisy for most of the afternoon, until SAM and I both got back at around 4:00 and brought her out to the park.



I am getting a bit concerned that Margaret might be getting bored of the park, but she certainly doesn't let on. Aside from spending her required time on the swings, SAM let M stretch her legs a bit which she seems to enjoy.

Standing there holding on to some netting that older kids use for climbing, I can't help but feel like she's growing up too quickly, and I feel pangs of loss, already, as if she's already to big to hold in my arms.

(Un?)Fortunately, she doesn't realize this, and just keeps growing bigger and bigger and getting us to love her more and more.


After taking Margaret home, SAM and I went up to Victoria Peak for date night! I can't remember the last time we had an actual date-night with actual reservations at an actual date-worthy spot, but whenever it was, it was too long ago.

Having Daisy really enables our lifestyle in so many ways, but none more important, I think, than our date nights.

SAM and I have conversations through the week, and spend most dinners together during the week, but being out of the house, alone for a meal, with nothing to do but to just catch up with each other is one of the best "breathers" from our life as parents that I can imagine.

Even though it was just hamburgers, and we were home by 9:30, being able to feel like grown-ups and just focus on each other is a great way to remember why we got married in the first place.

After dinner, a walk around the Peak to take in the glittering night-time skyline and ice-cream enjoyed al fresco in the cool evening air pretty much capped the perfect date.

Really, it makes me all googly eyed and lovey-dovey just thinking about it, and it makes me want to have more kids with her!


Actually, just looking at Margaret makes me want to have more children with SAM.

We were actually both saying last night that it feels like our lives have stabilized just in the past week, and that we were both feeling like we were in a good place.

What a great life, we get to live, and it is due, in no small part, to all of our family and friends as well.

Thanks, guys.


Having Margaret has changed our Sunday sleeping habits in a manner as mournful as it is permanent.

At 6:15, as Margaret was screaming for attention, I mumbled to SAM, "Maybe she'll go back to sleep."

Her response was as true as it was difficult to argue with, "Right, like she's done for the past four months."

Despite having to be up with all the other parents to change and feed this eating machine we've brought into the world, today (Sunday), was basically a deliciously slow-paced day. My favorite kind.

After feeding Margaret, we all went to Starbucks for a light breakfast before heading to the park in the morning for some swinging and playing on the jungle-gym like cargo net.

Then it was nap-time, before meeting Joy for her birthday brunch at the Flying Pan.

As usual, we ate way to much, but it was very rewarding to introduce Joy, George and the kids to the place.

The kids enjoyed their first real diner experience (in Hong Kong, no less), and we all learned that Samantha does not like cinnamon toast.

We're thinking of calling the hospital to see if she might have been switched at birth.


After splitting up with the Koos, we headed home where we all fell into bed again... until about 4:00.

Talk about lazy Sundays.

It's okay, though. We motivated at around 4:30 and went into Central to pick up more baby proofing materials and some stacking cups to work on M's hand-eye coordination.

We didn't find ones as good as Clara's, but they'll work just fine.

Afterward, we tried to feed Margaret out (we went to a sort of Whole Foods-esque grocery store food court), but she was having none of it. Basically, she had a few chick-peas and a pizza crust and refused to touch any of the chicken, corn, beef, etc. we had gotten from her.

Even more disappointing, she didn't nurse much, nor did she want more than a couple of ounces from her pre-bed bottle.

Now I'm bracing for a hungry mid-night wake-up, but we'll hope for the best.

Margaret giving Mommy a kiss today
So it was a quiet weekend without much accomplished, but really, that's kind of the way I like them.

I got to hang out with SAM and Margaret the whole time, and even got to see my sister and her family.

It was really just about hanging out with family. Aside from that, there's just not much else I really need.

Feeling better-ish?

Showing off her standing skills Thursday morning
Until her bath tonight, Margaret seemed to have recovered from her fever. We bought a fancy new electronic thermometer that proved that her temp was back to normal as of Wednesday.

These past couple of mornings, she had gotten her appetite back, and after work this afternoon, when I met SAM and Margaret at the park, she was smiling and happy.

This morning before work

However, during her bath tonight, SAM and I noticed that she has a red rash all over her chest and belly and that she had an extra tooth on her right lower mandible (total is now seven).

We had suspected teething but aren't sure what the rash is from. She seems to be herself, and went to sleep no problem, but SAM will bring her to the doc's tomorrow to see what is going on.

Relaxing after bath time tonight

A Little Feverish

Still a little feverish and subdued tonight
Last night (Monday), while on the bus headed home, I spoke with Sarah who said, "Margaret seems a bit off."

I got home just after M's bath, to find her running a bit hot, and looking like her eyes were kind of watery and tired looking. Together, we took her temperature which showed 102.9 degrees. Thinking this uncomfortably high, we called our insurance company and found a clinic that was still open and brought Margaret over.

I have to admit, being Margaret's first real temperature, I was somewhat concerned because she wasn't sweating even though M is normally really sweaty in even the slightest heat. I even broke out my First Aid manual to check symptoms for heat exhaustion (it had been sweltering that day).

As it turned out, we had a very kindly older doctor who spoke perfect English and told us that she was fine and that it was probably teething or a virus.

What is she thinking about?
He told us that because she was asymptomatic, there was very little he could do. He gave us some instructions on what to do if the temperature hit 104 (105 using our temperature taking method) and sent us home with some baby Panadol (Tylenol).

We got home at around 8:00 PM, WAAY past her bedtime, but still wrapped a cool towel around her neck, gave her the medicine, turned on her airconditioner and put her to bed.

She went straight down with no problems.

With a leaf she tore off a houseplant
This morning, while on the way to work, Margaret seemed much better, and after her bath tonight, her temperature registered 101.4, or 100.4, which we didn't think was high enough to warrant much concern, especially since she seemed in decent spirits.

Through it all, we kept thanking our lucky stars for how easy Margaret is to care for, even when sick. We've heard so many stories of friends and relatives who have nightmarish scenarios play out, that we were expecting the worst.

She was slightly fussy last night, but not much at all, and today, she seemed mostly her normal self (though she wasn't as smiley).

Hopefully, the temperature will totally subside by tomorrow and her smiles (and appetite) will return.

Margaret's Summer Vacation

Finally.

I've been working on this video ever since Mac and SMaC got back from the US, and now, FINALLY, it is finished.

It's not especially recent, but it gives a picture of what the summer was like.

Now that this is complete, I can work on other videos with the tons of footage that we take, but never do anything with.

Oh, and one other thing I forgot to mention in yesterday's post.

Sunday (yesterday) morning, Sarah walked into Margaret's room in the morning while I was struggling to change M and asked me, "Why is there a plastic bag in her crib?"

Looking over, I found the plastic bag formerly lining Margaret's waste basket, along with some random trash (nothing gross, thank goodness), were lying in her crib.

When she woke up, she must have gotten bored and reached through her crib bars and tried to grab the garbage can, which was between her crib and the changing station. Instead, she got the mostly empty plastic grocery bag.

The things you don't think about when child proofing the house.

We are bad parents.

Oh, and the waste basket now sits on top of her bureau, safely out of reach.

Sunday Again

Incredibly, it is Sunday again, and the work week is about to start anew.

Today, we hit up The Flying Pan again, after Margaret's breakfast, where M proceeded to have a second breakfast and prove once again that her stomach is a bottomless pit.

Excited to see the food
Margaret loves being out and about, and looked at everyone and everything. She particularly was making eyes at all the wait staff.

"Yay toast!"
Post Flying Pan, it was off to the park, again, to tire her out on the swings.

It was a hot day, but Margaret still had a blast and even managed to keep her hat on!

After a bottle, it was off to nap time by noon.

Sharing with Mommy
With Margaret out, Mom and Dad took a nap, too, which was instrumental in keeping us alive for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, SAM had to go up to school to do work, so it was M and Dad to the park again for a long walk, more swinging and even "date night" which involved dinner and a bath with just Dad and M.

Great fun!

Poor SAM didn't come home until almost 7:00. However, as sad as I was for her, I was happy to have Margaret all to myself.

"Hold on to your hats!"

Cruising with the top down

Saturday Again

She flies
This weekend came around so quickly, that I feel like I've barely had time to realize that it's Saturday again.

SAM and I are ending this week in a rather tired state, so I hope that you'll accept these photos as post enough.

Up, up and away!





Bath time blues

Clean and happy

Monday Off!

Blurry self-portrait before hitting the swings
As much as we wanted to try to motivate and do something special this long weekend (there were pie in the sky plans for hotel brunch), Mommy was hard at work coordinating family happenings in the US, so Margaret and I were on our own.

Nothing a trip to the park after breakfast couldn't fix!

She had a blast.

Wild and Swinging
Coming home to find Mommy still hard at work, we actually went to our building's children's play room which we rarely ever visit. But needing a change of scenery without wanting to go far, we spent the remainder of the morning in air conditioned comfort crawling around a room larger than any in our house and eating Goldfish and Cheerios out of a Snacktrap.

"Which hat should I wear?"
We came home and tried to eat our lunch as quietly as possible so as not to disturb an exhausted Mommy taking a well earned nap. Margaret finally went down for her nap at around 11:45 without a single peep. Having kept her awake all morning, Margaret would only need one nap for the day.

SAM had a lunch appointment with an old Milton friend who just moved to Hong Kong, so after waking M up at 2:30, it was off to the park again for more swinging with just the two of us, followed by a trip to the grocery store... but not before trying on some hats!

We got home almost at exactly the same time Mommy did at around 4:30.

"This one?"
Margaret was an absolute gem all afternoon, despite Dad's attempts to corrupt her with Hagen Dazs Coffee ice cream. He even tried to give her some in the middle of dinner! Mommy got a little frustrated by that, though.

The greatest thing was that she was actually sticky to me in the afternoon, which is kind of rare. It may have been the ice cream, but I like to think it's because we bonded more than we normally get to today.

"Or this one?"
The rest of the evening was pure family time until putting Margaret down.

Now, SAM and I are both sitting in our living room, computers in our laps, doing our respective computer type things. Gotta' love wireless networking.

The long weekend is over. *sigh*

Sunday Fun Day

What can I say, she likes to eat so she's good at it
Margaret has been stunning us with advances, these past few days.

In the past few days, aside from learning to kiss, she has also learned to "walk" behind SAM while holding on to SAM's pants legs, shown us that she can say, "Nai nai nai" ("milk milk milk in Chinese) when she sees her bottle, and during our video conference with Sylvia this morning, she said, "Peekaboo" with such clarity that my jaw was dropped. All three syllables with all the right consonant and vowel sounds, unlike the normal, "agoo" we get when we're playing peekaboo with her.

Oh, and today, we found a sixth tooth and can feel a seventh coming in.

It's been a big weekend, developmentally, and we haven't even gotten to the stuff we actually DID!

Diner breakfast at "The Flying Pan"

As far as how we spent out Sunday, it was a pretty active day for our family.

After taking care of all the family phone calls in the morning, Margaret took a nap and we then went to a late brunch at "The Flying Pan," which is a western style brunch / breakfast place.

Margaret especially liked picking at our omelettes and French Toast.

Unfortunately, for M, her mommy thought that the powdered sugar and butter was enough condiment on the French Toast.

NOW, I'm not pointing any fingers, but it is perhaps possible, that some syrup may have dripped on to M's French Toast this morning, explaining why she liked it so much.

In case Margaret is reading, she might want to investigate how this may have happened to learn which parent is willing to go the extra mile and resort to deception to treat her right.

Margaret enjoying her French Toast
After breakfast, we stopped by a Chinese children's bookstore to pick up some Chinese board books for the little one (SAM) before hitting the swings at Victoria Park.

She was super tired by then, but still had enough energy to spend a few minutes defying gravity before we headed home for naptime.

Click to enlarge and see the new teeth
The afternoon was more or less lazy, with us spending it indoors.

We did this in order to save up energy to go out for what we knew would be a later than nap time foray.

Being the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, one tradition is for children to go out at night with lanterns.

So after dinner and her bath, we took Margaret out to the park where they were holding events and had large lantern displays.

She's better and better at standing
With a glowstick in her hands, we traipsed all over the park, and even stopped again at the park for a little bit of nighttime swinging before finally heading home.

Margaret went down without a peep and was asleep by 8:00 PM.

Whew.

Mission accomplished, and we still have one more day of long-weekend to go!



Margaret out past her bedtime

With a lantern display in the background

Happy Saturdays Out

Story time in the morning
Today, was the start of our long weekend. We have the coming Monday off, so I actually get two and a half days! Woohoo!

Margaret decided to celebrate the long weekend by showing off a new talent - kissing.

No, not some dirty boy, but Leonard the Bear, formerly known as Ubi2.

This morning, while I was at work, I got a call from Sarah explaining that Margaret had learned to kiss on command. When asked in Chinese to, "qing qing" or, "Kiss kiss," Margaret planted a smacker on Leonard's nose, complete with the little kissy noises.

Margaret then kissed her mother on the mouth shortly later when asked to.

Unfortunately, no matter how much coaxing we throw at her, she has yet to "qing qing" her Dad.

Ready to go out with Mom and Dad in the afternoon


Trying to put her hat back on

Pictures of Margaret

Trying on Mommy's purse last night

Here are a couple of posts from the past couple of days.

Margaret is now in the stage where she likes to put things into other things, and take them out. Whether it's a small ball in a cup, the cards in SAM's wallet, or the paraphernalia in her purse, Margaret loves taking everything out from where they belong.

I am constantly having to hold my sense of order in check, but it's fun.

Taking everything out of Mommy's Purse

My favorite time, lately, is breakfast. Margaret is usually so happy in the mornings when I see her that I can't help but start my day with a smile.

It is incredibly satisfying to be the first person to pick her up out of her crib in the morning and take care of her. It's our special alone time.

Given, sometimes, feeding is... frustrating, but on the whole, she's such a cheerful little bean in the morning that it's infectious.

She really is my 開心果! I didn't know what it meant, really, until I had a child of my own.

Ready to go shopping

I don't know if you can tell or not, but M's tummy seems to be quite prominent these days. It's so funny to see her in the bath or with only a diaper on. Her little tummy sticks out so much that it seems out of proportion to her legs and arms.

I suppose that's good though... storing her nutrients for the winter and all.

She's not letting go

Hitting the bottle last night

Reading this morning

Happy playtime

Trying to get on Daddy's chair during breakfast