Turbulent Weeks Ahead and a Major Lola Update

I interrupt my idyllic and relaxing vacation updates for a much needed update on what's been happening since we got back to Hong Kong.  Turns out, it was exactly right to seize the opportunity and take vacation when it was available to me.  Everything has picked up considerably since being back, and I leave on a work trip tomorrow night.

I am so sad to be leaving Lola, this time for three full nights.

While that's not so bad and would be inherently doable, it's the fact that I will certainly have a few more successive back to back trips in the next month that is making me feel... well, there's no other word for it: terrified.  I am just not sure how I will be able to handle this - I miss her every day after a few hours at work.  And essentially, I am planning to do long commutes during the week (sounds kind of ridiculous) and return to Hong Kong to squeeze in as much time with Lola as possible.  To top it off, my schedule down under is going to be packed and punishing.

At the end of this long, dark and stressful tunnel is the light of hope and knowing that my parents will be coming to visit us. I know they are extremely excited.  They arrive on the 10th of October but will be touring China for a week before they return to Hong Kong.  Turns out that's a good thing, as I will likely have my hands full and won't be able to entertain them before!

Putting that aside, what have we been up to since we returned from Italy (which feels so long ago now)?   We were hit by a mega typhoon last week (it was apparently Hong Kong's worst storm on record), Typhoon Mangkhut, but we really didn't feel much of the effect from where we are situated.  During the Sunday day, Michael and I played with Lola and wouldn't have known anything was going on but for the fact that we didn't go outside and occasionally the wind would whistle and rock our balcony doors.

Lola felt the effects though, mainly because she wanted to go outside and couldn't understand why she was being confined to our living room.  She had to entertain herself with all kinds of silly things, like this water bottle (she loves spinning the top). 

Imagine my surprise when I walked out the door next morning and saw the aftermath, all along my way to work!

The park outside our building

The trees outside my work building

 Buildings still had all of their protective coverings

The poor trees

Tomorrow is mid-autumn festival, a public holiday here.  Michael and I are marveling at how quickly a year has gone by.  This time last year I was in my third trimester and starting to feel unwieldy, and we were full of wonder about what huge changes were about to take place in our lives.

And now, on to updates of our little star!  Lola now has not two, or four, but six teeth.  Her top two teeth are really big and really crooked... but to me that just adds to her appeal.  The only downside so far is that she wants to bite everything, including me!  She got me really good this past weekend, striking like a little rattlesnake.  She bit down on my arm hard enough to slightly break the skin and leave me with a bruise, which was really shocking because it was through my shirt.  I hope that doesn't happen again.   

As a result of all these teeth, we got her a little toothbrush so she can start brushing those big chompers.  Here she is trying it out for the first time.  As I said to my sister, I hope she retains this joy over brushing her teeth throughout her life!

 

 

 

 And her hair is long enough that we can braid it - how cute is that? but the downside is it's constantly in her eyes.  We may need a haircut soon.

She continues to love her high chair, and has started to want to grab her food and feed herself. 

 

Sometimes, if she's not yet full but all the food is gone from her plate, she'll reach into her bib and pluck out whatever tasty morsel she dropped the first time.  She has learned to spit out whatever she doesn't like, by repeatedly thrusting her tongue out - but give her something she likes to eat, and she can devour it in seconds.

She has also been trying to figure out how to smile.  They are usually these big cheesy grins, full of teeth and gums, and I realized she manages them mostly by squeezing her eyes shut.  This baby!  She cracks me up.

I love this picture.

 Given her penchant for getting out of the apartment (this one is definitely an adventurer) and observing new things, I've signed her up for another playgroup twice a week.  She seems to like it.

I also love this picture...  I may be biased on the subject matter.

 

 Lola continues to shower me with squeals and excited panting breaths when she catches sight of me, especially when I come home from work.  It is the sweetest and sometimes, after a long day, I feel like those few moments, however fleeting, are the only sparks of pure and abiding joy that I need to buoy me.

Someone should be sleeping, but is completely awake.  But this is a pretty great reception after a work day!