This past Thursday, I brought Lola with me to work for a quick visit for the first time. Everyone had been asking about her for a while now and I kept promising I would bring her in, so finally it seemed about time. When we arrived, it didn't take long before everyone figured out there was a baby in the office and flocked out to meet her.
Lola was incredibly well behaved, staring solemnly at all of my co-workers in turn. After a while, she started nervously chewing on her fist, and then her bracelet - probably because the enthusiasm and attention were too overwhelming!
But when I put her in my office chair, she started laughing and loosening up a bit. (Those mystery hands belong to my secretary, who hid behind the chair and held Lola in place because she was worried Lola would tumble out of it).
Lola has also officially started playgroup at Baby Buddies, a play center and nursery school in Sheung Wan. Of all the trial classes, she seemed to love this one the best, shrieking and sighing her happiness during the second half of the class and then existing in a happy, hyper mood for hours afterward. She's now going there once a week, every Friday, and playing with a small group (it's limited to 10) of 6-12 month old babies. This past Friday was her first "real" class, and luckily I was able to attend even though it was in the afternoon from 2-4.
The schedule is as follows:
- first half hour is voluntary (free play) as babies trickle in with their mom/dad/helper
- second half hour is focused on some group activities, usually of the bouncing/jumping or dancing variety (we did tick-tock the cuckoo clock in one class, and then rocket ship in another) accompanied to music, followed by story time, followed by singing (every baby is sung to while sitting in a circle) followed by some motor-skill exercise (clapping hands, grabbing stuff, etc.), followed by a break for snack time
- third half hour is messy play (Lola's favorite) where they strip the babies down to their diapers and have them crawl around dabbling in three or four different kinds of foods (jello, custard, rice, spaghetti, bananas, etc.) and playing with each other
- last half hour is bath time followed by more playing and singing
During the second hour is when Lola just loses it - in a good way (I think). She is so happy (something about rolling around in corn starch and jello naked really causes her to lose her inhibitions, ha) that she starts shrieking at the top of her lungs. This time, she shrieked for so loud and so long that she made two (TWO!) babies cry! To give you an idea of the volume, she actually prepares by inhaling a huge lungful of air before letting loose, and she turns bright red. What a hilarious baby!
Michael and I also discovered a restaurant, Okra, right near our apartment, that we love. I wish we had gone there sooner - to think, it's been there for the 2.5 years that we've lived here - all those missed opportunities! It's a simple Japanese izakaya restaurant on an unassuming stretch of Queen's Road West, next to some hardware stores. I had read about it a while ago but everything about the place seemed odd and mismatched to me. Well, turns out you really shouldn't judge anything by appearances because this place rocks. Everything tastes good and is thoughtfully prepared. Flooded by enthusiasm, we went to the restaurant twice in two weeks! My pictures really suck though - the overhead lights are bright and it's hard to take pictures without including your phone shadow.
Their chicken sandwich is amazing, in particular.
Lola was incredibly well behaved, staring solemnly at all of my co-workers in turn. After a while, she started nervously chewing on her fist, and then her bracelet - probably because the enthusiasm and attention were too overwhelming!
But when I put her in my office chair, she started laughing and loosening up a bit. (Those mystery hands belong to my secretary, who hid behind the chair and held Lola in place because she was worried Lola would tumble out of it).
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| Boss. Yeah, what? |
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| Lola the executive |
The schedule is as follows:
- first half hour is voluntary (free play) as babies trickle in with their mom/dad/helper
- second half hour is focused on some group activities, usually of the bouncing/jumping or dancing variety (we did tick-tock the cuckoo clock in one class, and then rocket ship in another) accompanied to music, followed by story time, followed by singing (every baby is sung to while sitting in a circle) followed by some motor-skill exercise (clapping hands, grabbing stuff, etc.), followed by a break for snack time
- third half hour is messy play (Lola's favorite) where they strip the babies down to their diapers and have them crawl around dabbling in three or four different kinds of foods (jello, custard, rice, spaghetti, bananas, etc.) and playing with each other
- last half hour is bath time followed by more playing and singing
During the second hour is when Lola just loses it - in a good way (I think). She is so happy (something about rolling around in corn starch and jello naked really causes her to lose her inhibitions, ha) that she starts shrieking at the top of her lungs. This time, she shrieked for so loud and so long that she made two (TWO!) babies cry! To give you an idea of the volume, she actually prepares by inhaling a huge lungful of air before letting loose, and she turns bright red. What a hilarious baby!
Michael and I also discovered a restaurant, Okra, right near our apartment, that we love. I wish we had gone there sooner - to think, it's been there for the 2.5 years that we've lived here - all those missed opportunities! It's a simple Japanese izakaya restaurant on an unassuming stretch of Queen's Road West, next to some hardware stores. I had read about it a while ago but everything about the place seemed odd and mismatched to me. Well, turns out you really shouldn't judge anything by appearances because this place rocks. Everything tastes good and is thoughtfully prepared. Flooded by enthusiasm, we went to the restaurant twice in two weeks! My pictures really suck though - the overhead lights are bright and it's hard to take pictures without including your phone shadow.
Their chicken sandwich is amazing, in particular.
Finally, the other news is that Michael is headed to the US this week on a work trip. It's his first time spending a night away from Lola since she was born! I think he is going to be miss her a lot. As he told me just now, "I've seen her every single night since she was born."
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