Sunday, January 27, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Uh-oh...
Looks like Hen is becoming quite the lady's man. At brunch on Sunday, after being freed from his high chair, Henri approached a little girl from a neighboring table and grabbed her hand. Perhaps he had been eying her all along, I'm not sure... Not to be left out our friends' who we were dining with little girl joined in. I tried to close the circle to play ring around the rosie with them but Henri and I were the only ones that "fell down."
Jacie and Hen
The other day at the park these two grabbed hands, totally unprovoked. As they walked through the park they babbled at each other, gesturing at things, like the swings in the distance... It was really quite cute.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
First Day of School
This morning was Henri's first day of school. Nine hours per week. It's not that big a deal... But that didn't stop me from tearing up repeatedly.
It was rainy so we had to taxi to school. My neighbor and her girls carpooled with us and jumped out at the American School. Henri threw a little tantrum when they got out so we arrived at Tiger Tots in not the best of moods.
Once we entered the classroom Henri immediately started to play with the toys which I thought was positive. I stuck around, per the teacher's instruction, for about 15 minutes and then left for 15 minutes. I listened to him scream and cry that entire time out in the hallway, out of sight. I went back into the classroom for about 20 minutes then out again, this time for good. He was crying - But this time he said bye bye and I told him I was going to exercise, which is what I usually tell him (honestly those times) when I left him with our helper.
I arrived to pick him up 20 minutes before they brought the class down. I was hoping that when I saw him he would be in better shape than when I left him - sadly, when they arrived Henri was holding onto the little rope with little loops for each kid's hand, crying his little head off.
They told me that he did fine on the playground and that he ate his snack after but then he whined and carried on (Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma) until the end. The teacher said he still played while he cried which was a good sign and stopped crying a little when they sang a song. I hate to put him through this but I believe that this environment is better than being home (bored, trying to steal my iPad) in the morning when there is nothing open and often the weather keeps us indoors. I keep reminding myself - it's only 9 hours per week - it's not such a big deal - but you hate to see your child upset.
On the upside, he loves his backpack (thanks Aunt Vanessa) though he wants to hold it even when he is up in his highchair eating lunch... I think if we can just get through the next week or two he's really going to like it there.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Welcome 2013 (sniff sniff)
Well, I think 2013 will bring much change in the de La
Grange house. Already big changes are
afoot. Indeed, last night was Henri’s first night in a big kid bed. He seemed
to do okay but I barely got any sleep since I was so worried about him falling
out. Then today I took the changing table off his dresser, which brought tears
to my eyes (as did taking apart the crib). I needed a spot to put a lamp and
lately he’s been putting up a big fight every time I put him up there. He was a
bit large for it, I guess. Henri now has a big kid room and I have a heavy
heart. As if this wasn’t enough, Henri starts preschool three mornings a week, a
week from today.
2013 will likely find us heading to our next posting - though the when and where is still a great
mystery.
I don’t have resolutions, this year - I just hope to adjust
well to the changes I will be faced with and to do a better job taking care of
myself and my family.
More Sights
It was such a pleasure having my mom here for a visit over the past three weeks. I was sad to see her go yesterday. While she was here, it was nice to have a reason to get out of Tianmu a little bit. Here are two places I had not been before Mom's visit:
Lin An Tai Ancestral House (built in the 1780's):
Lin An Tai Ancestral House (built in the 1780's):
Longshan Temple (built in 1738):
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)