Myrrh

The yarn for one of my three Backtack projects has arrived. I ordered the yarn only after I found out my partner's color preferences (hi Louise!) Which was a bit of a risk because the finished projects - this one included - have to be in the mail at the end of November. Not much time, especially if the package got lost on its way to Taiwan. But it arrived! So now I have to just cast on and get knitting.

What is Backtack, you say? Well, it is a swap. The idea is that you make three items for a known recipient along these themes:

Gold - Something sparkly
Frankincense - Something with a sensory aspect (e.g., smell, taste)
Myrrh - Something special for the recipient

This yarn will become my myrrh. Something special. For Louise.

A Parting Gift

The director of Gioia's orphanage (technically - social welfare institute, or SWI) is retiring. Fuling Kids International, the organization for children who were formerly adopted from this institution, is going to present her with a farewell gift: a digital photo frame loaded with pictures of former Fulingers. This picture was the one we sent in as Gioia's contribution.

The Chinese characters in the picture represent Gioia's original Chinese name, Fu Le Xin, which was given by her ayis at the SWI. We have kept most of her Chinese name, changing only the first character to match Chris' surname character: Bei. But for this picture, she remains a Fu, just like her brothers and sisters* who will appear with her on this retirement gift.

I hope that when the director sees the pictures of all of the happy, healthy kids, she is reminded of the special role she played in their lives. All of our children were blessed to receive such good care while they were waiting in China. Even though each child's story invariably has dark, sad elements, there are some wonderful parts too which are worth celebrating.

*Mei Mei, Jie Jie, Ge Ge, Di Di - Chinese culture has a wonderful inclusiveness of language which links little children together in a community through naming conventions. All little boys in the neighborhood are big or little brothers to Gioia; all little girls are big or little sisters. In this case, Gioia's Fuling brothers and sisters are probably closer to true brothers and sisters, beyond just the standard community language, as they all share a common heritage in a single institutional experience.

End of the Day

Chris playing guitar, a salad made with arugula from the balcony.


Baby doll's new ride.


Gioia learning to play under the furniture. Crawling under chairs and tables.


A nice end to the day.

Toasty Topper

Toasty topper for our trip to Istanbul: done. Chances that Gioia will actually let it stay on her head for longer than two minutes: slim to none.

Perhaps she will tolerate it better when it is not 95 degrees outside. Perhaps.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

One little tomato plant, three squash plants, a few eggplant seedlings, some kale .... that's pretty much all that made it through the last typhoon. I am not sure if these survivors will produce anything edible, as I planted them so late in the season. But who knows. I keep watering and watching.

We do have a bumper arugula crop growing in the window baskets. Maybe we can have a yummy autumnal salad this weekend. The seeds came from a UK company, so every time I pass these little leaves I get the urge to say: Rocket...RRRRocket. It makes me laugh.


I have already gone through the seed catalog to make my wish list for next year's "real" season. Flowers for hanging baskets, lettuce mixes, beans. Hopefully next summer will be more successful. At least we have learned to bring the plants in during typhoons. That's something, anyway.

Hallo-Giving?

Our neighbors just hung this decoration outside their door. Perhaps I have been out of the US for too long, but somehow this doesn't seem quite right. I wonder - will they take this down after Halloween? Or leave it up until Thanksgiving?

I could not make this stuff up if I tried.

Smile

Gioia has learned how to smile on command. If you point a camera at her and say SMILE, she will do her very best. Sometimes it looks more like a grimace than a smile, but she is clearly getting the idea.



So the next time you see her, ask Miss G to smile. She will.

Sala

Our last evening in Phuket, we went to a boutique hotel called Sala for dinner. We met an expat British family* on Friday night, who highly recommended the place. So we went. And wow. Glad we did.

We had been staying at a larger, well known resort with standard food and standard rooms. But this place was quite different – unique, modern design. The restaurant was right on the beach, so we had cool breezes blowing as we ate. The food was outstanding, perhaps the best of the trip. Gioia even got to see a kitty cat, so everyone had a nice evening.

If we ever come back to Phuket, we will probably book one of this place’s 79 villas. It was really, really nice.


*As a side note, this couple had just sold their businesses in London and moved to Phuket six weeks ago with their kids. The little boy (who was about four) asked me: Are you English? I said no, I am from the United States. He looked at me strangely and then said: But if you aren’t English, then why is your skin white? Chuckle.

Learning to Swim

What a difference a few months make. When we were last on the beach in July, Gioia was very apprehensive of going into the pool. She would cling to you in terror, like a little monkey, as you entered the water. On this trip, however, she begged, pleaded, and cajoled us to drop her in the water.


This past weekend, she made progress in three main areas: putting her mouth in the water and blowing bubbles (well, attempting to, as you can see in the picture below); jumping from the steps or the side of the pool into a parent's arms; and lying on her stomach and kick, kick, kicking in the water. In the previous picture, she is jumping off of a step into her father's embrace. Pretty brave for a 16 month old.

Not bad progress, I would say. Pool. Pool. POOOOOOOOOL.

And That Is Why We Lug a Carseat Around Asia

We took a trip to Phuket Town today, which is about an hour's drive from where we are staying. We shopped (mostly browsed, actually) and lunched before heading back to the resort. About 15 minutes into the drive back we were jolted from behind. It was only a little fender bender; the car behind us bumped into our trunk.

We were a little startled, but no one was hurt. The driver pulled over and got out to deal with the issue. I looked over at Gioia and she made the baby sign for "scared," which basically involves patting her chest rapidly. I asked her: "Did that scare you?" And she responded "Pa." Which is Mandarin for fear. Ah, yes baby. I am sorry you were scared, but I am glad you can tell me how you feel and receive comfort.

At the end of the day, it was no big deal. Only a small delay on the way to a nap. But imagine what could have happened if I had been holding her. Even a little tap could have thrown her forward and led to injury. Instead, she was safe in her five point harness.

And that is why we always bring a carseat, even when it is a pain.

Phuket

We have always raved about how Gioia is such a good traveler. Well. That was true until yesterday. On our four hour flight to Thailand, she was THAT CHILD. You know the one. To be fair, it wasn't all her fault. She had a hard time napping on the noisy plane where they announced stupid things every five minutes: "And now the flight attendants will pass out juice and water." Argh, people. Do you really need to be that loud? In multiple languages? Sigh.

As soon as she got to the hotel, though, her mood cleared. Gioia loves hotels, most especially the fluffy beds with fancy sheets. She learned how to say "pool" this morning, and she seems unlikely to forget anytime soon. Pool. Pool. POOOOOOL. In addition to swimming, she has also met the hotel's resident baby elephant. A pretty good start to the trip, I think, despite her shenanegans on the flight.


More pictures from the trip so far are here.

Mini Break

Friday is a holiday in Taiwan, and I have to be in Singapore on Monday. Which means... mini break! We are flying to Phuket tomorrow for a few days on the beach.

Is it wrong that I am more concerned about packing the right camera lenses than the right clothes? It must mean that I am getting old.....

Photo from the JW Marriott Phuket Resort website.

New Restaurant: Paul

A new breakfast place has opened down the street from our house. I discovered it one day on a walk back from getting my hair cut. It was full of very stylish looking people: people wearing all black, carrying big purses, peering through fancy sunglasses and smoking. And it was packed, PACKED. Hmm, I said. What is this? "This" turned out to be a Parisian(esque) bakery and cafe.

Now, I am too old for long waits at restaurants and have little patience for smoke filled rooms. But I like eating breakfast out on Saturdays. And I like fancy sunglasses and wearing black. Sooooo. Perhaps it was worth a try.


We arrived early in the morning, before the night owls rolled out of bed and began lining up outside. We were seated right away, and they even had a baby chair. The menu was limited, but the food was AWESOME. Gioia had yogurt, a hard boiled egg and oranges. Chris and I had crispy/ chewy french baguettes and cheese eggs. All simple food, but insanely fresh and well prepared. And no one was smoking at 8:30 am. Bonus.

Must go back. Must definitely go back.

Operation Nap

Ever since we met her in Fuling, Gioia has been taking two naps a day: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This was the status quo for eight months, and it was working well until lately. She has been going down fine for her first nap, but she fights the second one like a champ. It takes her 45 minutes to an hour to fall asleep, which in turn pushes her wake up time to late in the day. Which interferes with dinner. Also, she has been staying awake in her crib at night longer than usual, sometimes all the way through her music. Not good.

Something had to be done.* Specifically, we need to make the inevitable transition to one nap a day. The key to success (we think) will be keeping her up through the morning without too much crankiness and tears. After all, her body is still used to going back to sleep at around 10 am.


The plan: keep her awake and distracted. Today was the first day. Operation Nap. We got up, went out for breakfast, came home and showered (I know - gross), and then went for a strategic, distracting walk in the park.

By the time we made it out the door for the park (10:45 am), Gioia was a little woozy. She demanded that we take bunny along, teetering on the edge of tears. We quickly caved in, even though we generally do not like for bunny to leave the house. God forbid he go AWOL. That would be a disaster akin to a nuclear war. Thankfully, no bunny was left behind on this mission.


It was a gorgeous day for the park - the sun was bright, but the wind was gentle and cool. When it got too hot, we ducked beneath the shade where students were practicing drumming exercises and old ladies were doing tai chi. We saw fish and birds, and Gioia danced around with bunny, tap tap taping in her new shoes.

At 12:20, we headed back home for lunch. She ate well and was yawning by the end. She went down at 1:30 with no fuss at all. And then, she slept for two hours and ten minutes. Enough time for me to take a deliciously long nap as well. You know - sleep when the baby sleeps and all that. Ha.

It was a success, this first day of Operation Nap. Let's see how tomorrow goes. And tomorrow. More pictures of today's outing are available here.


*She also is going to be attending Montessori school every morning (9 to 12) starting in January, so she needs to learn to be active in the morning and save the sleeping for later in the day. Truth be told, though, this decision was not 100% driven by Gioia's needs. We have a beach trip coming up next week and a larger family vacation to Turkey in December. Two naps a day is not so convenient for traipsing around Istanbul. Like I said, something had to be done.

Learnin'