Back to School

Today Henri starts a normal schedule at school: 8:45 a.m.-11:45 a.m., Monday through Friday. This morning was a little rough. Henri got a really good cry going for a while once I left the classroom. It is a tough thing to listen to your child crying and carrying on and not be able to step in and comfort him. I had to say a confident goodbye and then hide in the "separation anxiety waiting room." You can wait there until you receive confirmation from the school that they think it's safe leave. I spied on him through the window before I left and he was sitting there, red eyed, eating his snack. I know in two weeks he'll be happy to be going to school but right now he's a little afraid of the new classroom and new people. Plus add in all the parents that are sticking around and it's kind of a madhouse. Here are a few pics from this morning:

Here's Hen, waiting on his ride to school (thanks, Kat!)

Still smiling, as we arrive

Ryan is in the same class Henri was in last term

In the classroom, attacking a transportation themed puzzle

I love that they have midget toilets at school but the fact that he can reach the toilet paper is not a good thing...

A Typhoon, the Potty and Dinosaurs

This week has been a big week.

 

 It’s the week before school starts. It’s also the week that Typhoon Trami forced us to be indoors for about 3 days thanks to torrential downpours… which made this week a great week for potty training!  

 

Luckily this typhoon just brought a lot of rain and not much in terms of wind. But more importantly it brought a perfect opportunity to potty train. We were forced indoors hence we didn’t have to risk too many outings without the diaper safety net.

 

Wow. No one tells you that you will actually spend more time thinking about poo and pee after the diapers come off! A 30 second diaper change is now replaced with about 1,000 trips to the potty.  Seriously and how long will I have to stay on him to go to the potty? Another few months? Try years…  Years and years. I’ll probably still be asking him if he needs to go on our way to drop him off at college.

Henri had three accidents the first day we attempted a full day of wearing underwear.  Since that day he has had a grand total of zero accidents! But, this would only be the third accident free day, so I guess it’s a little too soon to celebrate… He also isn’t telling me when it’s time to potty but instead I’m telling him – so he won’t be potty trained until it’s his idea – but I’m still proud of him. He gets it.   

Today I took Henri to school for a one hour visitation with his classmates and teachers in his classroom. It took Henri a little while to warm up to the room but eventually he was pretending to sweep the floor, playing with cars, blocks, coloring… He even started interacting with the teachers. At first Henri was clinging to me and hiding behind my legs. I think next week will be a little rougher than I anticipated on the separation anxiety front.

Yesterday was a treat because Maxime was off of work in the middle of the week! We celebrated by visiting a dinosaur exhibit at the Taiwan National Science Education Center. Henri loves watching Dinosaur Train so I thought he might enjoy it. Along with bone recreations, they had true to size models of dinosaurs that were animated. They even had some that would start moving after you pushed a button so Henri loved that. When I ask him to tell people what he saw he doesn’t mention the dinosaurs, just the buttons.

 

The smart look

photo.JPG, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

From modeling today. We did at least 10 outfits in an hour and a half - it was hot, the clothes didn't breath... But he did great. I loved that Hen wore fake glasses in half the shots.

Horse back riding

Horse, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

Choo choo!

Train, a photo by mdelagrange on Flickr.

Happy Birthday to me…

Yesterday I turned the big 3-5. It was a great birthday because my husband and friends conspired to have a surprise birthday dinner for me. Not only did that make me feel very special it was a lot of fun. I even got lots of presents which doesn’t happen every birthday so I’m very grateful! 

The morning started with me listening to Maxime whispering to Henri, coaching him to say “happy birthday” when he brought him in to where I was “sleeping.” So when they did come in, Henri mimicked Maxime by saying Happy Birthday but only in a whisper (which was cute). Then two of my closest friends here took me to have pancakes at the new American style diner here in Tianmu. Later we swam and the kids played and it was an enjoyable day and I was supposed to meet Maxime for a dinner, just the two of us. The girls I had spent the day with basically had to lie to me all day to make it a surprise dinner. I’m still laughing at how creative they had to get to explain inconsistencies like why my friend had a babysitter coming over (she created a whole backstory to where she was going and who with….). It made for an enjoyable evening and the best birthday I’ve had in a long while.  

I think I’ve readjusted to being here. I’m so happy basically everyone has returned from their summer vacations and school is just a few short weeks away. I’ve even gotten in a few tennis games a week so this always cheers me. Henri has modeled twice in the last couple of weeks and has one more shoot on Sunday afternoon. I’m hoping that’s it until the winter season since it’s actually a lot of work for both of us. Today’s shoot was rough because it was shot at a very small antique store. There was no room to spread out and relax between shots and it was a room where everything in it was a “no no.” So I had to be on top of Henri the entire time. Luckily it was an easy shoot, just three outfits. 

This week also marks our 2-year anniversary in Taiwan. What a life changing two years it has been. The first year I just survived and only started to thrive. I learned a lot about myself that year and what it’s like to be a foreigner. This last year has been a lot better – Henri is growing into an unbelievable little boy. He is so sweet , funny,  smart and really cute to top it off.  I have amazing friends. People I really love and respect.  Taiwan has become my home as much as it can be outside of my country and away from my family.