Weekend Woes, Playing with Food, Picnic in the Park

I drafted this post 3 days ago and then didn't get around to pressing send!  Doh!  Original post below:

Greetings from hump day - two more days until the weekend! 

This past weekend was sorely disappointing.  I had had such high hopes for a relaxing, fun, fulfilling few days, and instead I ended up working the entire time.  About the only good thing about it is that the weather was so terrible (roiling thunderstorms and slashing rain) that I wasn't missing out on, say, sunny days at the beach or a relaxing sail on a junk trip.

It's no surprise that working in private practice is tough - the intensity of client demands, quick turnaround time and high expectations for strong work product all lend to stress and unpredictability. Sometimes my days are incredibly quiet, other times things come up at the last minute and ruin all of my plans.  It's hard to know when to continue to make plans anyway, and also how to take advantage of the quiet times.  I've been in the industry for ten years now (10 years!) and sometimes it still surprises me how much this uneven schedule can unbalance me. 

Having a baby adds to the challenge, because there are even greater, more compelling (read: incredibly cute and pleasurable) factors competing with work!

These days, every day brings about new changes in Lola. 

Lately she has become very attached to me - I can't pop into her room at night or in the morning if I don't intend to stay.  She will commence a very high pitched, insistent yell until I return. I've taken to slipping out of the door to go to work while her back is turned or when her nanny takes her into her room.

We are trying to encourage Lola to interact with her food more.  Everyone tells us that messy play is incredibly important - including in the weaning process.  I would say that Lola has learned this lesson well...she freaking loves messy play!

Broccoli, broccoli, everywhere!  Incidentally, Lola's apron matched her food.  Never let it be said that we do not color coordinate!

Speaking of taking advantage of down times, I was able to catch an afternoon at home with Lola during a rare interlude yesterday.  We went to Sun Yat Sen park and hung out on the grass.  I was amazed at how many babies and toddlers were running around and having fun in the park.  There was a huge circle of moms (stay at home dads in the expat circle are still rare here), helpers and babies circling blankets and a picnic spread.  So this is what happens on a lovely weekday when I'm usually toiling away at my desk locked in my glass box!

Turns out, Lola loves grass (or more accurately, weeds)!  Well, actually, she loves anything new that she has not encountered before.  She is so curious about textures and colors.  When plopped on the lawn, she began insistently and fervently pulling at it.  Don't be fooled, her little fingers are strong and her strength is mighty!

 We had so much fun - although in these pictures she looks kind of upset, and that's likely because she wanted to get back on the grass!  I love her so.

Blogging Blur

The days have just been rushing by me this month - I honestly don't know why it is that every weekend I come to my laptop to discover that I have yet again failed to update during the week!

Other than work (which has been full of ups and downs - insane one week and then quiet the next) I have been plotting a trip to Italy this late summer / early fall.  We were originally planning to head back to the U.S. in July, but now that I have managed to locate tickets for us in December (booked with miles), I thought it might be better to try a shorter long-haul trip first.  Plus, my sister will be traveling at the same time and could meet up with us in Italy, which would be amazing!   Lola will be about 9 months at the time of our travels - it's hard to tell how cooperative she will be with the bassinet.

It's been really fun to look at beautiful villas and farmhouses in Tuscany, but the logistics of planning out a 2 week itinerary have been a bit daunting.  Plus, as Americans, we totally take for granted how easy it is to travel to nearly any country in nearly any part of the world.  But because we want to take our helper with us on this journey, I am learning firsthand how painful it is to travel with a less favorable passport.  The visa process is very time consuming and requires insurance coverage, guarantee letters, and verification of all parts of the itinerary - never mind that you don't really want to book all of your accommodations if you don't know if you're going to get the visa or not!

My other dilemma with the travels is which airport to fly into - I am not sure if we should pay more to fly directly into Florence (and suck up a layover in Zurich along the way), which would give us an under 1 hour drive to the villa, or if we should pay a little bit less (but still a lot) to fly direct into Rome but then do a 3 or 4 hour drive up the coast.  I also want to explore northern Tuscany more (Florence, Siena, Lucca, Arezzo) and so it seems being based farther north for the entire two weeks would be better.  Hmmm, decisions.  About the only thing I am certain is that I want to go!

Other than trip planning, I have been taking Lola to some trial playgroup classes to acquaint her with other babies and kids and to get some story time, messy play, and music exposure.  She continues to go to the playgroup in our building as well.

She has been making leaps and bounds in her development this month - her sitting skills have improved steadily and just yesterday, she managed to crawl!  She's not fully up on her knees yet, but she is managing very well on her tummy (and it's not just an army crawl as she is using her legs and not just dragging them behind her).

At the advice of her pediatrician, we have tried a couple of times to give her pieces of food that she can eat by herself, but it usually turns into her licking the bowl or spoon, or getting the food anywhere but in her mouth...

 

Happy Father's Day!

We celebrated Michael's first father's day at a "whole hog" brunch at Rhoda, a restaurant in Sai Ying Pun.  It was Lola's first time out where she could sit in a high chair, and she behaved beautifully!  We had a little bit of a tough time getting her adjusted to being strapped in at first, but then with her toys and some bits of potato, she was quite happy (and made her delight known by mashing up the potatoes and occasionally letting out a loud shriek).

Happy Father's Day, Michael!   You are wonderful and Lola is so lucky to have you!

 

Apples and Playdates

Well, what do you know, it's now the weekend again.  My blog updates have become quite sporadic and for that I do apologize! 

I wanted to share some pictures of Lola enjoying her favorite fruit - how happy apples make her!

 

 

Her two bottom teeth have emerged now and she likes to rub them and tap them with her fingers. 
Lola also went to the building playgroup this week and played with another little girl and didn't cry  (hurrah!) 

We are slated to go to another birthday party today, and I'm super excited to bring Lola around to meet some new babies and adults. 

A Fun Filled and Action Packed Saturday

Wow, we did a lot of stuff this Saturday! 

The morning started off with a call between me and my sister to catch up while Lola enjoyed her rice cereal.  She loves eating with a spoon, and continues to love her high chair, as it allows her to be at adult eye-level and feel like she's part of the party. 

She also really likes hitting the table with her open palms and dropping every object from such a great height.  The high chair - who knew it would provide such entertainment.

Here she is, once she was cleaned up, but before she dropped all of her toys off the edge.

 Objects are mysteriously disappearing!

 

Then I took Lola to our swimming pool for the first time.  She has been in a plunge pool in Vietnam and Singapore, but not the one in our building.  She liked the baby pool, getting comfortable enough that, while propped up on my knees, she reached her legs out and splashed around a little bit. 

But she only barely tolerated being held by me in the big pool, as evidenced here.  Our building pool continues to be amazing - not at all crowded even over the weekend (if you go in the morning).  The pool will be a nice respite this summer because Hong Kong has already been so incredibly hot and stifling.

Does she look worried to you?

After the pool, I squeezed in a yoga class with my favorite teacher before taking Lola on a playdate with a few other girl friends and babies!  I dressed her up and put a bow in her hair.  She has a bald spot at the top of her head so her front fringe is particularly like a bad comb-over currently, but a pretty clip hides that problem quite well.  We really can't complain given she has a lot of hair for a 6 month old.  It's getting pretty curly at the ends in this humidity too.

Hello!

Peace out

 I had a great time at our mommy and baby lunch date with my friends and our babies.  One boy was two and a half and the other boy was just 3 days older than Lola.  In fact, they had first hung out as newborns side by side in their bassinets in the maternity ward, although they will never remember it.

Everyone was so happy to see Lola when we first arrived that she got a bit panicked, cried and clung to me for dear life.  Eventually she allowed my friends to hold her but not for long.  She also tolerated one of my friends feeding her butternut squash.  It's a tough life, having all this attention and people wanting to hold you and feed you! 

We ate at Rosie Jean's which was a lovely cafe with decent food and a really nice outdoor area full of toys for kids.  They also had a nice set up with industrial fans and lots of air conditioning (a must in this sweltering heat)! I think we'll be heading back there soon!

Lola is Six Months!

I can't believe my baby has hit the 6 month milestone!

 It's amazing how quickly the time has gone - there were many days during those first few months (especially the first month!) when I really wondered if I would make it to this day.

 I know I'm completely biased but Lola is so cute right now.  Her big eyes, little nose, rosebud lips, and hilarious mop of hair!  She makes my heart melt.

Lola continues to love to eat pureed foods, having tried a wide variety spanning squash, pumpkin, beans, beets, sweet potatoes, potatoes, rice cereal, carrots, peas, and avocado.  She loves being spoon fed and when she's hungry or when she's eating something particularly delicious (avocado and apples being her top favorites) she will try to bite her bowl because the spoon isn't transferring the food fast enough.  We have tried to give her a sippy cup and a regular cup but both confound her a little bit as she's not quite sure what to do with them. 

Lola loves (loves loves!) to play and has gotten much stronger, and can prop herself up straight on both arms for long periods of time.  She's still trying to get the hang of crawling by sticking her butt up high, putting her head down, and trying to worm her way forward.  Often, she ends up going backwards.  She also tends to vocalize when her toys are close but not quite within reach, as if she can summon her toys to her instead of the other way around.

One of her new things recently is patting us on the back when we hold her up on our shoulders.  She will repeatedly tap her little left hand on my shoulder as I pat her back.  She also will splash the water during her bath time now.  And if she's really happy or in a good mood, she will swing her left foot with great vigor.  It is adorable!

She has figured out how to push the buttons on her crib music mobile with her fingers and her feet and really enjoys doing all kinds of flips and rolls in her crib.  I often find her asleep with her little feet wedged between the crib slats, or curled up right next to the edge of her crib.  We joke that with all things (baby bjorn bouncer, crib, high chair) Lola is always trying to escape.

She continues to be obsessed with our mouths, always observing when we talk or eat.  We've just recently put her into a high chair so she can join us at the dinner table and that has been really fun.

She has also developed some hilariously weird quirks that we can't figure out.  For example, lately she hasn't wanted to drink milk out of her bottle at all.  We have to take her to the playroom on the fifth floor of our building (basically, anywhere outside of our apartment), otherwise she cries at the sight of her bottle.  What the what?  Perhaps it has to do with her teeth coming in but I've never heard of a baby who won't eat in her own room but will gladly gulp down all of her milk as soon as she's in her stroller and out of the house.

Getting her to sleep continues to be a struggle as she fights it with every bit of strength that she has.  Even if she is yawning and exhausted, she will try to stay awake and play.  Once she is asleep, though, she usually sleeps pretty well - with the exception that ately she has been having some bad nightmares and will sometimes wake up a few times throughout the night.

Our building has a lot of babies so the moms have gotten together and organized a playgroup, which is fantastic.  Lola goes once a week but so far for both times that she has gone, she spent her time semi-crying and being upset at the other babies.  I'm not sure if she doesn't like the room or if she's just frustrated that they're all mobile and she's not (they're all older than her), but she's fine when we take her to other playrooms where there are lots of other children running around.  Again, what the what?

One thing is very clear - this little one has a ton of personality and it's been evident from day one.  She knows what she wants and she isn't at all worried about indicating so!